Willemijn Verkaik

At 48 years old, Willemijn Verkaik physical status not available right now. We will update Willemijn Verkaik's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.

Willemijn Verkaik (born 16 June 1975) is a Dutch singer and actress.

She is best known for her stage roles in Wicked and Elisabeth, and for providing the singing voice for Elsa in both the German and Dutch versions of Disney's Frozen.

She was the longest running Elphaba in the musical Wicked, having played the role over 2,000 times, and is the only person to have played the role in three different languages .

Her first performance as Elphaba was on 31 October 2007 in Stuttgart, Germany and her final performance in the role was on 22 July 2017 in the West End of London.

Early life

Verkaik was born in Son en Breugel, Netherlands, on 16 June 1975, and grew up in Nuenen near Eindhoven. She graduated from the Rotterdam Conservatory.

Personal life

Verkaik is multilingual, speaking Dutch, German and English. She is married to musician Bart van Hoof, a saxophone player.

Source

Career

Verkaik performed in various pop bands for more than ten years before her acting career began. In Elisabeth's Dutch production, she played an ensemble member.

In the Dutch version of Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper, Verkaik recorded Erica's singing voice. She was Lydia's Dutch voice in Barbie & the Diamond Castle in 2008.

Since then, Elisabeth (in Holland and Thun, Switzerland), The Three Musketeers, We Will Rock You, and, most notably, Wicked, in which she was named as the "Wicked Personality of the Year" in a online poll of over 16,000 voters. Verkaik is the only actress in the world to perform Elphaba in three languages: she has appeared in German, Dutch, Broadway, and West End productions.

Verkaik originated Elphaba in the original German-language version of Wicked, which was called "Wicked: Die Hexen Von Oz" and debuted in Stuttgart on November 1, 2007, just before an official opening night on November 15. Sabrina Weckerlin was her first substitute, appearing in the two shows for the first week, during which Verkaik was not contracted to perform.

After previews from 26 October, Verkaik quickly reprised her role in the Dutch-language production, which premiered in Scheveningen on 6 November 2011. This required her to learn the job in her native language. Verkaik's performance ended on January 11, 2013 and she and her husband Jack Elton went to North America, making her Broadway debut in Wicked's English-speaking New York company and marking her third language production. Verkaik appeared at the Gershwin Theatre from 12 February 2013 to May 2013.

Donna appeared in Mamma Mia's Stuttgart production later in the role. Before appearing as Elphaba again, he had a limited run starting 26 July 2013. She made her West End debut in Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre in London on November 18, 2013. Verkaik had to leave Wicked early on July 19th, 2014, and was replaced by original cast member Kerry Ellis due to health reasons.

Wicked's German-language cast recording, as well as Scott Alan's album What I Want When I Grow Up, and Scott Alan's Scott Alan album LIVE, which was recorded at the Birdland jazz club in New York City on April 30th. On June 26, 2012, the CD was released.

In Disney's 2013 animated film Frozen, Verkaik provided Elsa's Dutch speaking and singing voice as well as the German speaking voice of Elsa, the Snow Queen (the German speaking voice was provided by Dina Kürten). At the UK premiere of the film, she also performed the song "Let It Go" in English.

Verkaik will be cast in the musical Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, with Tasmin Greig, Rigisto Afonso, Hadyn Gwynne, Jérôme Pradon, and Anna Skellern playing Paulina. The previews began on December 16, 2014 at the Playhouse Theatre in the West End, with an opening night on January 12, 2015. The festival lasted until May 23, 2015. After her surgery in 2014, Verkaik's first role was her first role.

Verkaik will be returning to Stuttgart, as Kala in Tarzan, on July 14, 2015, according to the Stage Apollo Theater.

Verkaik would reprise her role as Elphaba in Wicked's West End production on September 14, 2016, as part of the production's tenth anniversary celebrations, on September 14, 2016. Alice Fearn took over her last appearance on July 22, 2017 after she was replaced by Alice Fearn. Verkaik said in her address at the end of her last appearance as Elphaba after ten years that it was her last ever appearance as Elphaba.

Verkaik will appear in Ghost – Das Musical in Berlin from 7 December 2017 to 7 October 2018, as Molly, according to the actor.

Sloane was the new actress in the Metronom Theater's Bat Out of Hell production from 8 November 2018 to 30 March 2019, with previews starting from 2 November.

She appeared in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown from 4 July 2019 to 14 July 2019.

Miss Hannigan in Annie, from 26 November 2019 to 24 May 2020, with previews beginning 5 November in Hoorn.

It was confirmed on November 14 that Jenna in Waitress would be the lead role in the Netherlands in 2020–2021.

During the 92nd Academy Awards, Verkaik was invited to perform "Into the Unknown" by American actress and singer Idina Menzel, Aurora, and eight others of Elsa's international dubbers. In each world language, every international performer performed one line of the song: Maria Lucia Heiberg Rosenberg in Danish, Verkaik in German, Carmen Sarah in Japanese, Takako Matsu in Japanese, Anna Buturlina in Russian, Gisela in Thai, and Gam Wichayanee in Thai.

Source

Awards

• In 2008 and 2010 Verkaik was elected best actress by readers of the German music magazine Da Capo for her portrayal of Elphaba in the German production of Wicked.
• In 2009 she was elected best actress by readers of the German music magazine Da Capo for her portrayal of Amneris in the German production of Aïda.
• In 2009 and 2010 she won the audience prize from the German magazine Musicals for best musical actress.
• In 2010 Verkaik won the voting organised by the site BroadwayisWicked.com where people could vote for the best Elphaba that played in a production of Wicked worldwide. She received 49.9% of a total of 16,705 cast votes.
• On 9 January 2012 it was announced that Verkaik again, in a voting organised by BroadwayisWicked.com, was titled Wicked Personality of the Year 2011. She received 55% of a total of 590,000 cast votes.
• In May 2012 Verkaik won the Musicalworld Award for "best female lead in a big musical" for the portrayal of Elphaba in the Dutch production of Wicked.