geen grenzen meer: an american musical’s unlimited border ... · macdonald and halman an american...

theatre research international middot vol 39 | no 3 | pp198ndash216

Ccopy International Federation for Theatre Research 2014 middot doi101017S0307883314000479

Geen Grenzen Meer An American MusicalrsquosUnlimited Border Crossing1

laura macdonald and myrte halman

Since its 2003 Broadway debut Wickedrsquos international audiences have embraced productions of

the musical in a variety of countries Wicked has thus conquered the world with its ideological

framework of American values as much as with its story of friendship between two young women

In transcending national borders Wicked becomes a transnational commodity We interview Dutch

actress Willemijn Verkaik who discusses her multiple multilingual and transnational performances

as Elphaba in Wicked and analyse DutchndashAmerican relations and the Netherlandsrsquo lasting role as

cultural middleman suggesting that Verkaikrsquos multinational Elphabas constructed through a Dutch

filter make her a cultural diplomat one consistent with the Netherlandsrsquo larger role since the Pilgrims

migrated there prior to crossing the Atlantic The pilgrimages made by the actress as well as by her

international fan base offer insight into Wickedrsquos powerful position in constructing identities and

communities that may no longer be bound by borders

After Dutch actress Willemijn Verkaikrsquos final performance as the green witch Elphaba inthe Dutch production of the musical Wicked the showrsquos producer Joop van den Endeacknowledged her earlier German residency as Elphaba in Stuttgart and Oberhausen Inhis speech from the stage of the Circustheater in Scheveningen he said lsquoWhat I lovedabout your performance tonight was your ability to so freely express your emotionsand give your own interpretation of this role in your native language I hope you canbe similarly free in your performance in Americanrsquo2 Van den Endersquos slip of the tonguedescribing Verkaikrsquos Broadway debut in American rather than in English is tellingHe seemed to emphasize the Americanness of her New York performances despiteher Dutch nationality This raises the question of whether her previous German- andDutch-language performances were also performances of Germanness and DutchnessPerformance studies scholar Stacy Wolf discusses Wickedrsquos Act I finale when Elphaba flieson a broomstick for the first time and sings about lsquoDefying Gravityrsquo lsquoAs she levitates totwenty feet above the stage floor and most crucially belts a loud and long ldquomerdquo Elphabatells the audience that this show is hersrsquo3 But what happens when Verkaik as Elphabaclaims the show as hers in German Dutch and English

Although Verkaik is not the first foreign performer to take over the lead in anAmerican musical on Broadway4 her performances of Elphaba in four countries aremore complicated than the journeys of the actress alone In her first foray as Elphabain Germany in 2007 Verkaik constructed a version of an American character outsideof America She then played a Dutch Elphaba at home in the Netherlands from 2011 to

httpswwwcambridgeorgcoreterms httpsdoiorg101017S0307883314000479Downloaded from httpswwwcambridgeorgcore Open University Library on 28 Jan 2017 at 122810 subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use available at

macdonald and halman An American Musicalrsquos Unlimited Border Crossing 199

Fig 1 (Colour online) AFAS Circustheater Scheveningen The Netherlands Credit Laura MacDonald

2013 before returning the character to Wickedrsquos home on Broadway in February 2013In November 2013 she debuted her Elphaba in the West End production of WickedVerkaikrsquos international performances thus provide an exceptional and rich snapshot ofmusical theatrersquos complicated transnational circulation With this kind of musical-theatrecultural diplomacy Verkaik is not unlike a diplomat carrying out the Netherlandsrsquo roleas a middleman in cultural diplomacy This dates back to the Pilgrimsrsquo initial journey tothe Netherlands whence the potential of the New World first beckoned A considerationof DutchndashAmerican relations is therefore a crucial part of this article The world-leadingDutch musical theatre production company Stage Entertainment also functions as amiddleman in transnational musical theatre

Based on Gregory Maguirersquos novel about the unlikely friendship of the witches ofOz Wicked was adapted in 2003 as a musical by writer Winnie Holzman and composer


200 macdonald and halman An American Musicalrsquos Unlimited Border Crossing

Stephen Schwartz In the musical we meet Glinda who functions as a role model forspectators as she matures from giddy schoolgirl to political leader We also meet Elphabaa young talented green-skinned witch who ultimately becomes the Wicked Witch ofthe West Having celebrated its tenth anniversary Wicked continues to run on Broadwayat the Gershwin Theatre where it has played more than four thousand performances andis the eleventh-longest-running musical in Broadway history5 Its success and popularityare not limited to Broadway and the United States Wicked may be the most widelycirculated global musical theatre hit of the twenty-first century Audiences have embracedproductions of Wicked in Australia New Zealand Korea Japan the Philippines theUnited Kingdom Germany Finland Denmark the Netherlands and Mexico A Brazilianproduction is in development for a 2015 opening

Wicked has thus conquered the world and by transcending national borders weargue Wicked becomes a transnational commodity A consideration of Wickedrsquos sitesof performance will begin to establish the stickiness of transnational musical-theatrecirculation whereby both spectator and spectacle are affected by their encounter Inher germinal study Theatre Audiences A Theory of Production and Reception SusanBennett acknowledges this interplay lsquoBoth texts and performances have shown a growingabsorption with the relationship of their art to those who view it actively in the theatrersquo6

In probing Wickedrsquos transnational circulation and reception this article builds onBennettrsquos observations to expand scholarly understanding of this active spectatorship Asresearchers of transnational musical theatre we have attended performances of Wickedin New York City Washington DC Toronto London Scheveningen and Oberhausenevaluating these international productions as well as live and online fan responses Alongwith the live events and sites of performance we analyse the range of translations andaccents used in these productions

Rather than becoming standardized McTheatre in its global productions Wickedoffers unique performances to spectators who simultaneously consume both itsAmericanness and a local authenticity With her multiple multilingual performancesthe Dutch lsquomiddlewomanrsquo Willemijn Verkaik helps to reveal the potential for originallocal experiences of a globally successful American mega-musical The posters outsidethe Gershwin Theatre in New York City quote reviews crediting Wicked with defining theAmerican musical but as Stacy Wolf points out lsquoWickedrsquos producers not surprisinglyemphatically stress its universality asserting that Elphabarsquos ldquodifferencerdquo stands in forall differencersquo7 Re-created and reshaped by its various sites of performance ndash VerkaikrsquosDutch filter and spectatorsrsquo active transnational consumption of her range of Elphabasndash Wicked has become a flexible transnational commodity

Dutch middlemen

Many scholars of globalization have been concerned with a basic single-directioncirculation of ready-made American popular culture and view its potential tohomogenize culture as a threat to national identity Dutch American studies scholar RobKroes however identifies lsquofreedom and voluntarism involved in processes of culturalreceptionrsquo8 indicating a certain willingness if not desire to receive American cultural



influences Memories of the Second World War and the German occupation along witha fear of economic dependence on Germany contributed to a general turn by the Dutchtowards the culture of the English-speaking world Although the Dutch were criticalof American foreign policy throughout the Vietnam War many lsquofelt a deep solidaritywith the opposition movements within the USArsquo sociologist Nico Wilterdink notes lsquoandwere positively oriented to cultural achievements which were connected to or could beassociated with these movementsrsquo9 The relationship of the Netherlands with the UnitedStates could be characterized as a lovendashhate one as criticisms of the American lsquosystemrsquowere accompanied by imitation of American styles and fashion American films danceforms fashion and advertising have been important carriers of alternative lifestyles inthe Netherlands and have been incorporated into Dutch society to such an extent thatthey are hardly perceived as lsquoAmericanrsquo any more

The widespread use of English in the Netherlands is seen not as an Americaninfluence but rather as a part of a process of internationalization Wilterdink describesthe openness of the Dutch to foreign cultures as lsquopeculiarrsquo but with their internationalismlsquothey are in a unique position to play the role of international cultural middlemen and combine foreign influences with indigenous elements to create a compositeculture which is uniquely their ownrsquo10 The Netherlands continues to play the role of amiddleman through the theatre ownership and production of the Dutch corporationStage Entertainment Actress Willemijn Verkaik further establishes this middleman rolewith her multiple international performances in Wicked This casting of the Dutch ascultural middleman originated with the Pilgrimsrsquo escape to the Netherlands as theyfled religious persecution in England The Pilgrims or Separatists stayed in the UnitedProvinces from 1607 to 1620 However as Plymouth Colony governor William Bradforddescribes in Of Plymouth Plantation the Netherlands eventually proved too religiouslytolerant for the Pilgrims11 During their years in the Netherlands they would have learneda great deal about the New World Despite the relative inactivity of the Netherlands inthe Atlantic world with regard to colonization the Dutch were superior in printing andlsquoat the center of the cartographic trade and this meant that maps and (by 1570) atlasesconveyed still further images of the Atlanticrsquo12 Here the Netherlands thus functioned as acultural middleman a role it would also assume in the New Netherland colony in NorthAmerica

The Dutch colony depended on border-crossers like Isaac Allerton who sailed onboard the Mayflower with the Pilgrims from the Netherlands to Plymouth AlthoughAllerton was of English origin he differed greatly from Bradford and the other SeparatistsAllerton valued learning the Dutch language and learning about other cultures and setup extensive trade networks

During Allertonrsquos life in North America which spanned most of the period of Dutch

control of New Netherland the colonies were filled with other people who used the

same strategies Moreover with one of the most heterogeneous populations New

Netherland provided a haven for such people whose cross-cultural skills were crucial

for its relationships with other colonies and with Native Americans13



This is not to say that the Netherlands has a colonial history marked by acts oftolerance alone Dutch practices in the Dutch East Indies illustrate in particular thedarker side of Dutch colonial rule marked in this region by a strict social and racialclass system However in the New World the Dutch thrived with their tolerance ofother colonists and especially of Native Americans People like Isaac Allerton basedthemselves in New Netherland ultimately acting as agents of this cosmopolitan colonyBecause many American ideologies stem from these first Pilgrims who as demonstratedwere influenced by Dutch knowledge of and perspectives on the New World analysingDutchndashAmerican relations not only helps explain American ideologies in the twenty-firstcentury but also establishes that unique contemporary roles played by a Dutch actressand a Dutch production company are not random but rather the latest developments ina centuries-old trend

Transnational change for good

Stage Entertainmentrsquos latest venture is Rocky a new musical based on the American filmand created by an American team of songwriters Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty bookwriter Thomas Meehan and director Alex Timbers Translated into German the musicalpremiered in Hamburg in 2012 prior to a 2014 Broadway opening David Savran debatesRockyrsquos Americanness and Germanness to conclude that this particular musical is lsquoasymptom of the increased portability of transnational musicalsrsquo14 As a transnationalcorporation Stage Entertainment facilitates theatre spectatorsrsquo active consumptionof American popular culture circulating images of the United States and Americanideology not unlike the sixteenth-century circulation of images of America by Dutchcartographers Its productions enjoying critical and popular success before and oftenwithout opening in London or New York are evidence of the lsquonewly deterritorializedBroadwayrsquo that Savran identifies15 Stage Entertainment is among lsquoa generation ofproducers writers and directors who have absorbed the musicalrsquos conventions andvernaculars and who disseminate locally-produced US-style musical entertainmentsrsquo16

But as will be shortly discussed Wicked is a glocal product modified by its performersand audiences in each performance site Indeed the production invites this as directorJoe Mantello explains

What we try to do is instil this sense of ownership to every company that itrsquos not a

replication but that therersquos a form there which is there to provide a kind of a structure

for them but within that we really want it to be infused with their own personalities

their own sense of humor17

This seems to oppose Joanne Tompkins and Dan Rebellatorsquos readings of globallycirculating musical theatre Tompkins suggests lsquoTheatrical phenomena such as TheLion King almost preclude the performance of any representation of the ldquolocalrdquo in favourof a global theatrical language international uniformity rather than cultural specificityis the pointrsquo18 Rebellato concurs proposing that lsquothese shows appear almost entirelyunchanged wherever they arersquo and that lsquothe workers have little or no control over theirconditions of work all the creative decisions were taken years ago and are locked downrsquo19



If globally circulating mega-musicals like Wicked are uniform and unchanged from theirBroadway premieres as Tompkins and Rebellato argue then why do fans of the musicalcompile clips of the musicalrsquos different stars to compare their performances If theworkers have no input into creative decisions how can spectators discern any differencesbetween their performances Fansrsquo choices to compare performances of the vocal riffon the lyric lsquoFiyerorsquo are telling because the characterrsquos name remains consistent despitetranslation providing a clear basis for comparison regardless of the given performerrsquoslanguage of performance20 Further if the actors in Wicked were offering such uniformperformances what would prompt features such as Time Out New Yorkrsquos profile of allthe women who have starred as Elphaba on Broadway including Dutch actress Verkaikand British actress Kerry Ellis If creative decisions began and ended with the originalElphaba Idina Menzel why bother spotlighting the work of her successors21 Finallyif lsquoin McTheatre even the biggest star is replaceablersquo why would spectators travel fromSydney to New York or Scotland to the Netherlands to see specific stars in Wicked whenother performers giving uniform performances (according to Tompkins and Rebellato)were more easily and affordably accessible Wicked has instead clearly had the impactthat Tompkins values in the global circulation of theatre

Certainly any play that is performed in another cultural context is likely to yield differing

interpretations and part of the attraction of theatre is its potential for introducing

audiences to the cultural specificity of other lsquolocalrsquo cultural contexts This in turn

provides significant opportunities to interpret (or re-interpret) onersquos own culture and

its local context from a new perspective22

These opportunities might not just be reinterpretation but potentially even the socialaction and empowerment that Wickedrsquos characters model and its productions encourageIndeed Wicked appears to be playing the role that Rebellato envisions theatre playingin cosmopolitanism whereby audiencesrsquo lsquoidentification with characters on stage ndash oftenkinds of people that we would not ordinarily encounter ndash perhaps prepares the way forsuch identifications outside the theatrersquo23 Rebellato goes on to value how lsquoin a theatreaudience we can have a very sharp sense of being both ourselves and part of a largerunityrsquo an experience which it would be difficult for Wicked spectators not to have giventhe musicalrsquos celebration of individualism its global brand and active fan communities24

Wicked has shown greater engagement with the world outside the theatres in whichit is performed than many other long-running globally circulating musicals Althoughit is not uncommon for theatre companies to raise funds for charities Wicked goesa step further In November 2013 the company of the London production of Wickedremained onstage following the curtain call and actress Savannah Stevenson whohad just played Glinda solicited donations for the Ben Cohen Standup Foundationan anti-bullying charity25 She explained how Wicked companies around the worldsupport anti-bullying campaigns and bucket-wielding ushers collected donations fromspectators exiting the theatre What distinguishes the efforts of Wickedrsquos multiplecompanies is that the anti-bullying campaign is just one initiative within the musicalrsquoslsquoFor Goodrsquo programme through which each production lsquospearheads and supports arange of causes born out of themes of the award-winning musicalrsquo26 Through such



local engagement Wicked becomes more than a live event and thereby demonstrates itsalive-ness This is just one of several ways in which Wicked counters critiques of globallysuccessfully commercial musicals as standardized McTheatre with diminished liveness27

The audiencersquos awareness of local potential for change and of its productive relationshipwith the musical onstage thus contributes to Wickedrsquos appeal and leads to the ultimatepurchase of a ticket

Finding America in Wicked

In its transnational travels Wicked circulates American myths and ideologies andAmerican myths and ideologies actively received via global musical theatre stages ratherthan restricting Oz may frame the live theatre event as a launch for global spectatorsrsquoongoing relationships with American society and culture In his discussion of one ofmusical theatrersquos most iconic heroes Alberto Sandoval-Sanchez calls Don Quixotersquosvocalized resolve in Man of La Mancha uniquely American

In its musical creed mobilizes the ideology of the American Dream and its set of

ideologemes that define the American way of life lsquoI am what I amrsquo lsquoThe sky is the

limitrsquo lsquoBe all you can bersquo lsquoLiberty and justice for allrsquo lsquoThere can be a better dayrsquo lsquoThe

sun will come out tomorrowrsquo These are all poetically transcoded in the musical into

lsquoTo dream the impossible dreamrsquo and lsquoTo reach the unreachable starrsquo becoming an

integral metaphorical translation of the American spirit of resilience and the American

way of life in the collective consciousness28

One might now add lsquoDefy gravityrsquo to Sandoval-Sanchezrsquos list all the more so for its workin translating the American way of life into a global collective consciousness

Stacy Wolf identifies just what Wicked is mobilizing when she states lsquoThe musicalfeatures an all-American tale in which the underdog is different and unique triumphantto the audience if not in the musicalrsquos world the land of Ozrsquo29 Wickedrsquos Americanness hasits roots in the sequel (though it pre-dates Wickedrsquos publication and performance) thatis still seen as a significant part of American culture The Wizard of Oz In The WonderfulWizard of Oz in American Popular Culture Neil Earle compares the tale of the Land of Ozwith the myths of the American frontier and the City on a Hill30 Such mythology claimsa certain exceptional role for the United States as a chosen country a world power androle model Although Wicked does not explicitly refer to these myths it certainly buildson them Elphabarsquos desire to pursue her dreams and be accepted establishes a parallelbetween the Emerald City and any big American city where people might go to live theirdreams

For Elphaba the Emerald City offers opportunities to develop her skills and feelaccepted and at home Upon her arrival this is expressed very clearly in the song lsquoOneShort Dayrsquo which not only celebrates greenness (and therefore Elphabarsquos difference) butalso extols the virtues of the city as Elphaba sings lsquoI think wersquove found the place wherewe belong I wanna be in this hoi polloi So Irsquoll be back for good someday to make my lifeand make my wayrsquo31 Immigrants moving to America as well as Americans migrating tourban centres often experience similar feelings and expectations of (job) opportunities



skill development and a sense of belonging Elphaba also takes up the American myth ofexceptionalism This myth began with the separatists who sailed from the Netherlandsto America on the Mayflower in 1620 Conceiving of themselves as Godrsquos chosen peoplethe Pilgrims elevated their lifestyle as a model for the rest of the world to look up to andaspire to and American exceptionalism can be traced back to this narrative of superiority

More generally the term lsquopilgrimrsquo has also referred to people embarking on a questto find a place they can call their home where they might live out their destiny InAmerican society interpretations both of the Pilgrims and of pilgrims have carriedgreat weight These labels are equally useful when reading Elphaba in Wicked Audiencesand Ozians may view Elphaba as exceptional in that she has great (magical) potentiala great deal of courage and fierce determination Indeed like the Pilgrims in the songlsquoDefying Gravityrsquo Elphaba conceives of herself as a figure to be lauded

Unlimited My future is unlimited

And Irsquove just had a vision almost like a prophecy

I knowmdashit sounds truly crazy And true the visionrsquos hazy

But I swear someday therersquoll be a celebration throughout Oz

Thatrsquos all to do with me

Later while literally elevating herself by drawing on her magical powers soaring aboveher persecutors and peers Elphaba declares lsquoI think Irsquoll try defying gravity And youcanrsquot pull me downrsquo Elphaba separates herself from society with this declaration andact of exceptionalism She invites Glinda to follow her lead and when Glinda declinesElphaba reasserts her elevated position lsquoSo if you care to find me look to the westernsky Nobody in all of Oz no wizard that there is or was is ever gonna bring medownrsquo

Though declaring her secession as established earlier Elphaba is also embarkingon a pilgrimage to find herself and to find home She makes a number of journeysthroughout Wicked first travelling to Shiz University From there she travels to theEmerald City then takes to her broomstick and travels throughout Oz as an advocatefor Talking Animals finally her ultimate pilgrimage takes her out of Oz forever Elphabacan thus be linked to one of Americarsquos most beloved founding narratives as well as tocontemporary pilgrimages executed by people all over the world thereby creating a senseof recognition for Americans and international spectators alike

Though showcasing New World achievements and potential analyses of Wickedcan also problematize the myth of the American Dream revealing the possibilityof failed promises lsquoWhile opportunity abounds so does the stress and tension thatattends potential for loss or reemphasisrsquo theatre scholar William W Demastes writesin Interrogating America through Theatre and Performance32 The promise of acceptanceinitially proffered by the Emerald City eventually fails Elphaba miserably Consequentlyeven if Elphaba eventually gets Fiyero she loses everything else including her sister andher best friend who can never know she is still alive Additionally she is forced to flee Ozthe only place she was sure she belonged and must abandon her dreams of working forthe Wizard living in hiding instead In this sense then Wicked portrays a problematicside of the American dream as despite venturing to the Emerald City to escape a life



of oppression Elphaba must ultimately go into hiding or face constant danger neverfulfilling her political agenda or doing the good she aspired to accomplish This failedpromise of success and the associated costs inspired by the promised land are notunfamiliar to contemporary pilgrims whether immigrant or native-born American

Demastes considers the cult of the individual and builds on Tocqueville to suggestthat lsquothe dream of the individual actually works against the very goals that dreamaims to retain in that the rare successes of individualism has inspired virtually a wholenation of aspirants whose odds of success guarantee majority disappointmentrsquo33 Apilgrimrsquos or Elphabarsquos potential to fulfil an American dream is threatened not onlyby competition but as demonstrated by the Wizardrsquos dictatorship also by lsquotaboosthat hedge in and constrain those on whom the normative structure loses its griprsquolimiting the Oz-as-America paradigm as a liminal space and reducing pilgrimsrsquo ability toformulate lsquoa potentially unlimited series of alternative social arrangementsrsquo34 By offeringthe kind of model for change that anthropologist Victor Turner describes along withstaging the hurdles and limitations he identifies Wicked becomes even more valuablefor its spectators The transnational Elphaba Willemijn Verkaik sums up the musicalrsquosimpact and influence as revealed by her stage-door and social-media conversations withfans

In one sentence lsquoIf Elphaba can do it I can do it toorsquo thatrsquos so great And thatrsquos just me

being onstage telling a story What more do you want That people are walking away

out of the theatre with a smile and maybe even it helps them a little Thatrsquos me but

itrsquos also the role the character A lot of Elphabas experience that and itrsquos so rewarding

itrsquos fantastic35

Although Elphaba does not achieve all of her goals her strength and perseverance andher lsquoadvocacy for the Talking Animals [make] her one of Broadwayrsquos most memorableagitatorsrsquo (and thus a memorable model for potential social action)36

As a musical Wickedrsquos Americanness is also confirmed by the promises itsnarrative presents lsquoThe American Musical has been most consistently successfulwhen its stories and themes resolve through the formation of conventional romanticrelationshipsrsquo musicologist Raymond Knapp posits and although one conventionalromantic relationship forms in Wicked neither the conventional relationship nor twounconventional relationships fully succeed for the characters involved37 Glinda andFiyero meet at university and declare they are lsquoperfect togetherrsquo Later she manoeuvrestheir engagement but when his imperfections are revealed and he chooses ElphabaWickedrsquos most conventional romance dissolves Fiyero and Elphaba make up the musicalrsquosfirst unconventional romance and although they are a couple by the musicalrsquos end theymust leave Oz forever unable to celebrate their relationship with their friends and familyas musical theatre couples typically do in finales The second unconventional relationshipthat Knapp refers to is the friendship between the two leading women In Changed forGood A Feminist History of the Broadway Musical Stacy Wolf makes a queer readingand suggests that lsquothe women form the musicalrsquos main romantic couplersquo38 Wolf noteshow the musical lsquosignals that it will follow the conventions of mid-twentieth-centurymusical theatre but queerly with two women as the musicalrsquos couplersquo39 However a



queer reading of Wicked is complicated most significantly by the fact that eventuallyElphaba runs away with Fiyero choosing him and not Glinda The possibility of a queerreading is therefore also ultimately a failed promise Lastly Elphabarsquos sister Nessarosemust also reconcile herself to the failure of the romance she constructs with the MunchkinBoq

Tribal consumers and transnational performances

Theatre studies scholar Jill Dolan usefully identifies the potential in spectators attendinga performance together potential only multiplied by Wickedrsquos multiple companieslsquoAudiences form temporary communities sites of public discourse that along withthe intense experiences of utopian performatives can model new investments in andinteractions with variously constituted public spheresrsquo40 Building as we have on TurnerDolan notes how lsquothe communitas they experience through utopian performatives mightbecome a model for other social interactionsrsquo41 We have already suggested that Wickedrecruits spectators to agitate outside the theatre like Elphaba but Dolanrsquos concern withcommunity and social interactions is also significant for the members of the spectatingcommunities which include the temporary community in a specific theatre the imaginedcommunity of all Wicked spectators and the communities sustained online via socialmedia

As a twenty-first-century mega-musical Wicked has benefited from musical-theatreconsumersrsquo and fansrsquo engagement with the show via the Internet and social media avenue not available to earlier mega-musicals circulating through the 1980s In responseto Willemijn Verkaikrsquos performances in Wicked an international community of fans havelabelled themselves lsquoVerkaikingsrsquo discussing her performances on social media fora aswell as building sites to express their enthusiasm for her work42 On the German Wickedfan forum for example plans were made to travel from Dortmund to Scheveningen justto see Verkaik again lsquoIs there anybody here who would go to Scheveningen with me fora day That means driving there seeing the show and going back I would love to seeWillemijn againrsquo43 Additionally on the Willemijn Verkaik fanpage on Facebook FroukeMillet de St Aubin posted that she would love a CD of Wicked sung by Willemijn and doesnot care in which language She even jokes about a possible Japanese edition illustratingthat Verkaikrsquos multinational multilingual performances have not gone unnoticed andthat her skills are admired44 In response to an announcement on the same fan page of aspecial concert by Willemijn Verkaik in the Netherlands another fan remarked lsquoI needto go there No matter how farrsquo45

These comments illustrate fansrsquo commitment to Willemijn Verkaik andtheir appreciation of her multinational performances lsquoThey sometimes tweetproudtobeaverkaikingrsquo Verkaik explains citing the Twitter hashtag used to link onlinecomments46 Friendship as a result of fandom is valuable to the Verkaikings and as a tribethey illustrate how their consumption of Wicked as a commodity is extended beyondthe live performance event In Consumer Tribes marketing scholars Cova Kozinets andShankar discuss consumption and participatory culture observing



Fig 2 (Colour online) Branding on a washroom mirror in Scheveningen invites Dutch spectators like theauthor Myrte Halman to see themselves as Elphaba and to interact with the musical via social mediaCredit Laura MacDonald

Active and enthusiastic in their consumption sometimes in the extreme tribes produce

a range of identities practices rituals meanings and even material culture itself They

re-script roles twist meanings and shout back to producers and other groups of people

while they fashion their own differentiation strategies They both absorb and resist the

pre-packaged off-the-shelf brand-and-product meanings of marketers47

Wicked thereby becomes more than a night of entertainment for Verkaikings and otherfans of the musical Further because this active consumption is occurring daily in



Fig 3 (Colour online) A souvenir T-shirt featuring Elphabarsquos hat in the shape of the map of Britain brandsthe London production Credit Laura MacDonald

multiple cities in multiple countries Wicked prompts the development of multiple tribesand thus an even wider range of associated identities practices rituals and meaningsFan fiction and artwork are a major manifestation of tribal output in which Glinda andElphabarsquos story is extended beyond the musical combined with other popular-culturetexts and manipulated to create different relationships and plots than those imagined byGregory Maguire Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman

The musical thus satisfies a range of different audiencesrsquo tastes effectively beingfilled in and completed as multiple foreign Wickeds The musical acknowledges this to a



certain degree via some of the souvenirs available in theatres where Wicked is performedA keychain with the musicalrsquos title transposed on top of Londonrsquos iconic skyline isavailable as is a T-shirt with Elphabarsquos hat drawn as a map of Britain Such local filteringhelps make musicals like Wicked universal according to music theatre scholar Bruce KirlelsquoEven the most popular of musicals is universal and timeless only in its willingness toadapt to the values anxieties and tensions of new audiences in new cultural momentsrsquo48

Other productions also maintain newsletters keeping fans updated on ticket availabilitycasting changes and special events In New York City T-shirts branding the performanceevent lsquoOne Short Day in NYCrsquo feature Elphaba with broomstick raised as the Statue ofLiberty

Beyond the basic translation of Wickedrsquos songs and dialogue into foreign languagesthe production itself via its producers and performers is prepared for glocal encountersKirle cites French director Michel Saint-Denis who lsquoargues that each country has aconstantly changing historical personality Since a theatre practitioner inevitably filters atext through his own country and his own time works from other countries and otherperiods must be recreated in contemporary termsrsquo49 We are particularly interested in thenotion of filtering American texts like Wicked through onersquos own country ndash what mightbe called a process of glocalization During her run as Elphaba on Broadway in 2013Willemijn Verkaik mentioned on Twitter that there is lsquo[n]othing like a nice warm cup ofcoffee and a stroopwafelrsquo50 In doing this Verkaik offered an illustration of the kind offiltering that this article is identifying More than just a delicious snack from home thestroopwafel Verkaik ate in New York City signified her Dutchness and the persistenceof her national identity through her performances in English on Broadway Thoughsinging in lsquoAmericanrsquo English Verkaik does not become American Her performancegoes through a Dutch filter a cultural negotiation as sticky as stroopwafel caramel

Onstage Verkaik thus sets down a performance of an American character based onher own interpretation of Elphaba as a Dutch national Following her debut as Elphabain London she noted lsquoI heard a few people at the stage door saying Irsquom bringing adifferent factor to the role and I think thatrsquos the Dutch But what it is exactly Irsquomnot surersquo51 She pointed out that given the small size of the Netherlands lsquowe tend toadjust very well to other cultures because people visit us all the time and we have tovisit them travelling for us is very normal to do So yeah I think Irsquom a world citizeneasily adjusting because Irsquom Dutchrsquo52 Verkaik is not the only Dutch actress enjoying aninternational musical-theatre career Pia Douwes Wietske van Tongeren Michelle vanden Ven Annemieke van Dam and Celinde Schoenmaker have also found success singingin German and English beyond Dutch borders

Along with this filtering and negotiation among the performer her identity thecharacter and the site of performance translation also plays a significant role as it canshift meanings For example the Dutch translation of the song lsquoDefying Gravityrsquo seems toput particular emphasis on the idea of crossing and being unlimited by physical borderslsquoNooit meer een grens aanvaarden omdat die grens daar isrsquo53 This literally translatesas lsquoNever accept a border any more just because that border is therersquo In English (onBroadway and in the West End) Elphaba sings lyrics which express a rather differentmeaning lsquoIrsquom through accepting limits cause someone says theyrsquore sorsquo54 Whereas



Fig 4 (Colour online) Willemijn Verkaik in Times Square Credit Winfried Winkler for StageEntertainment

the original English lyrics seem to refer to any barriers an individual might imposethe Dutch lyrics emphasize crossing actual land borders The German translation ofthis same line also emphasizes man-made borders lsquoMir setzt man keine Grenzen Ichhalt mich nicht daranrsquo55 which translated means lsquoYou cannot set limits for me Iwonrsquot uphold themrsquo These shifts in translation gain importance when Dutch actressVerkaik performs the same role in all three languages literally crossing borders to doso and fulfilling the tradition of Dutch middlemen The announcement on the officialUK Wicked website of her forthcoming West End debut as Elphaba demonstrated thisby referring to her as the lsquopreviously announced international Wicked star WillemijnVerkaikrsquo By classifying her as international rather than Dutch the site elided herDutchness in favour of her international performances thereby marking her as themiddleman The press release later labels Wicked lsquothe global musical phenomenonrsquofurther drawing consumersrsquo attention to the potential for an intercultural experience atLondonrsquos Apollo Victoria theatre should they purchase a ticket56

Discussing her language fluency and the translations she has performed Verkaikexplains that

if the translation goes in one particular direction you go with it Irsquom not sticking to

the lsquoUnlimitedrsquo if the translation is lsquoGeen grenzen meerrsquo It never loses the message that

Stephen Schwartz Winnie Holzman want to get across But yeah during the song it

definitely will give me a few different approaches And vocally also itrsquos very differentrsquo57



Fig 5 (Colour online) Willemijn Verkaik constructs Elphaba Credit Polle Willemsen

The consequences of language and performance location have resulted in differentperformances in the different productions she has appeared in lsquoI wouldnrsquot say thatthey are four different Elphabas but I think every time a new layer maybe two layers areadded to itrsquo Verkaik explains lsquoEspecially people who saw me everywhere could maybeconfirm that because of course there is always a basic Elphaba in me thatrsquos the basicone but every city every language every accent every experience gave me a new layerrsquo58

Verkaikrsquos performance requires the elimination of one accent and the performance ofanother as she strives to achieve for the audience an accent-less experience She admittedto being particularly satisfied with her work when lsquopeople in the audience especially donrsquothave to think about where that person comes fromrsquo59 Verkaikrsquos work with accents is notunlike the work of translators those translating Wicked included as translation scholarLawrence Venuti explains lsquoThe translator works to make his or her work ldquoinvisiblerdquoproducing the illusory effect of transparency that simultaneously masks its status as anillusion the translated text seems ldquonaturalrdquo ie not translatedrsquo60

Despite changes in lyrics and accents however Verkaik also clearly states thatthe same ideas will still endure despite translation as for example with the Americanideologies that Wickedrsquos storyline carries lsquoWhat is really American about it The passionto tell this kind of a story to people Itrsquos very close to the heart very honest not afraidto show what yoursquore passionate about not afraid to shout that from the rooftopsrsquo61

Verkaikrsquos experiences thus demonstrate that translations and accents can be used asa tool of cultural negotiation by amending foreign productions of Wicked to the



nation-as-site-of-performance but these productions nonetheless continue carrying thesame Americanness of the essential Wicked

In Dutch Elphaba sings lsquoEr zijn voor ons geen grenzen meerrsquo62 For us there areno longer any borders This Elphaba seems to advocate for futures unlimited by anynational borders That Willemijn Verkaik has crossed multiple borders herself to star asElphaba in several countries makes her performances even more rich and complex andher example seems to offer an affirmative answer to theatre scholar Dennis Kennedyrsquosquestion whether lsquoa spectator shifts cultural ground by watching interculturalism atworkrsquo63 Such interculturalism activated by transnational musical theatre lsquodoes notrepresent a meeting of two cultures but many engaged in a complex network ofdynamic exchangersquo64 Within the network of cultures meeting in exchange throughperformances of Wicked (very likely shepherded there by a Dutch actress or a Dutchproducer) American culture though borderless thanks to Wicked persists As Verkaikhas observed

In America itrsquos really like you know what donrsquot be afraid just say how you feel I think

thatrsquos a very American thing and thatrsquos what Stephen Schwartz does [with Wicked] And

the funny thing is is that it works very well in different countries because they would

have never said it themselves65

notes

1 The authors would like to thank Tina Kosanke for her assistance with research in German and for the

German translations that appear here We are also grateful to Ruth Doughty Deborah Shaw and Mark

Thompson for their expertise and advice We would also like to thank Willemijn Verkaik for her

generosity in agreeing to be interviewed as part of this project Finally we are grateful to the two

anonymous readers for their thoughtful and thorough responses

2 lsquoEindapplaus Allerlaatste Wicked En Speech Joop van Den Ende ndash 11 Januari 2013rsquo YouTube 905

posted by lsquoMaikel Schramrsquo 12 January 2013 last accessed 23 May 2014 at httpyoutubeaX379w5AVNs

3 Stacy Wolf Changed for Good A Feminist History of the Broadway Musical (Oxford Oxford University

Press 2011) p 4

4 Foreign stars have been appearing in Broadway productions for many decades most notably in the

Festival of International Don Quixotes during Man of La Mancharsquos Broadway run as well as more

recently with exchanges between New York and London of leading performers in musicals such as Les

Miserables Spamalot and Chicago

5 lsquoWickedrsquo Internet Broadway Database last accessed 23 May 2014 at wwwibdbcomproductionphpid

=13485

6 Susan Bennett Theatre Audiences A Theory of Production and Reception (London Routledge 1997) p 7

7 Stacy Wolf lsquoldquoDefying Gravityrdquo Queer Conventions in the Musical Wickedrsquo Theatre Journal 60 1

(March 2008) pp 1ndash21 here p 11

8 Rob Kroes ed Within the US Orbit Small National Cultures Vis-a-Vis the United States (Amsterdam

VU University Press 1991) p 9

9 Nico Wilterdink lsquoThe Netherlands between the Greater Powers Expressions of Resistance to Perceived

or Feared Foreign Cultural Dominationrsquo in Kroes Within the US Orbit pp 13ndash31 here p 27

10 Ibid p 19

11 William Bradford Of Plymouth Plantation 1620ndash1647 The Complete Text ed Samuel Eliot Morison

(New York Alfred A Knopf 1952) p 162



12 Benjamin Schmidt lsquoThe Dutch Atlantic From Provincialism to Globalismrsquo in Jack P Greene and

Philip D Morgan eds Atlantic History A Critical Appraisal (Oxford Oxford University Press 2008)

pp 163ndash92 here p 167

13 Cynthia van Zandt lsquoDid Boundaries Really Matter in 17th Century North Americarsquo in Elisabeth

Paling Funk and Martha Dickinson Shattuck eds A Beautiful and Fruitful Place Selected

Rensselaerwijck Papers Vol II (Albany SUNY Press 2011) pp 173ndash9 here p 175

14 David Savran lsquoTrafficking in Transnational Brands The New ldquoBroadway-Stylerdquo Musicalrsquo Theatre

Survey (forthcoming)

15 Ibid

16 Ibid

17 lsquoWicked ndash 2013 Media Nightrsquo YouTube video 233 posted by lsquowickedthemusicalukrsquo 23 Decmber 2013

last accessed 23 May 2014 at httpyoutubeiS1UG8-OxL8

18 Joanne Tompkins lsquoBalancing the ldquoLocalrdquo and the ldquoGlobalrdquo in Theatre for the International Stage The

Stage Adaptation of David Maloufrsquos Johnnorsquo in Pirkko Koski and Melissa Sihra eds The Local Meets

the Global in Performance (Newcastle upon Tyne Cambridge Scholars Press 2010) pp 81ndash98 here

p 81

19 Dan Rebellato Theatre and Globalization (Basingstoke Palgrave Macmillan 2009) pp 42 44

20 lsquoSome of My Favourite ldquoFiyerordquo Riffsrsquo YouTube video 305 posted by lsquothewesternsky1rsquos channelrsquo 29

December 2011 last accessed 23 May 2014 at httpyoutubeNtqqfiomvB0

21 Diep Tran lsquoWicked on Broadway Talking to the 15 Wonderful Witchesrsquo Time Out 22 October 2013 last

accessed 23 May 2014 at wwwtimeoutcomnewyorktheaterwicked-on-broadway-talking-to-

the-15-wonderful-witches

22 Tompkins lsquoBalancing the ldquoLocalrdquo and the ldquoGlobalrdquorsquo p 82

23 Rebellato Theatre and Globalization p 72

24 Ibid

25 Savannah Stevenson and Willemijn Verkaik Wicked Apollo Victoria Theatre London 23 November

2013

26 Wicked programme (London The Araca Group November 2013)

27 Rebellato Theatre and Globalization pp 40ndash1

28 Alberto Sandoval-Sanchez lsquoCervantes Takes Some Detours to End up on Broadway Re-imagining Don

Quijote in Man of La Mancharsquo in Julio Velez-Sainz and Nieves Romero-Dıaz eds Cervantes andonin

the New World (Newark DE Juan de la Cuesta 2007) pp 179ndash212 here pp 195ndash6

29 Wolf lsquoldquoDefying Gravityrdquorsquo p 5

30 Neil Earle The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in American Popular Culture Uneasy in Eden (Lewiston NY

Edwin Mellen Press 1993) p xiii

31 These and subsequent lyrics are cited from the live performance Wicked Apollo Victoria Theatre

London 23 November 2013

32 William W Demastes lsquoIntroduction America Defined and Refinedrsquo in William W Demastes and Iris

Smith Fischer eds Interrogating America through Theatre and Performance (Basingstoke Palgrave

Macmillan 2007) p 3

33 Demastes lsquoIntroductionrsquo p 2

34 Victor Turner Dramas Fields and Metaphors Symbolic Action in Human Society (Ithaca NY Cornell

University Press 1975) pp 13ndash14

35 Willemijn Verkaik personal interview 29 November 2013

36 Paul R Laird Wicked A Musical Biography (Lanham MD Scarecrow Press 2011) p 290

37 Raymond Knapp The American Musical and the Performance of Personal Identity (Princeton NJ

Princeton University Press 2006) p 264

38 Wolf Changed for Good p 213

39 Ibid p 198



40 Jill Dolan Utopia in Performance Finding Hope at the Theater (Ann Arbor MI University of Michigan

Press 2005) p 10

41 Ibid p 11

42 Wicked in Emerald at httpwickedroleplayingweeblycomwillemijn-verkaikhtml accessed 23 May

2014

43 OZifizierte lsquoSuche Verruckte(n) aus dem Raum Dortmund u Umgebungrsquo Wicked die Hexen von Oz

Das Forum 9 October 2012 last accessed 23 May 2014 at httpwickedmusicaliphpbb3comforum

28147311nx41867niederlande-f73suche-verrueckten-aus-dem-raum-dortmund-uumgebung-t2014

html

44 Frouke Millet De St Aubin lsquoWillemijn Verkaik Fanpagersquo Facebook 15 April 2014 last accessed 23 May

2014 at wwwfacebookcomWillemijnVerkaikFanpage

45 Rebecca Zimtkeks lsquoWillemijn Verkaik Fanpagersquo Facebook 1 May 2014 last accessed 23 May 2014 at

wwwfacebookcomWillemijnVerkaikFanpage

46 Verkaik interview 29 November 2013

47 Bernard Cova Robert Kozinets and Avi Shankar Consumer Tribes (London and New York

Butterworth-Heinemann 2007) p 4

48 Bruce Kirle Unfinished Show Business Broadway Musicals as Works-in-Process (Carbondale Southern

Illinois University 2005) p 158

49 Ibid p 11 Emphasis added

50 Willemijn Verkaik lsquoNothing like a Nice Warm Cup of Coffee and a Stroopwafel to ldquoStartrdquo I Know Itrsquos

Already 450 pm) Your Day Withrsquo Twitter WVerkaik 11 March 2013 last accessed 23 May 2014 at

httpstwittercomWVerkaikstatus311218336254009346


52 Ibid

53 Wicked AFAS Circustheater Scheveningen 11 January 2013

54 Wicked Gershwin Theatre New York City 14 February 2013

55 Wicked Metronom Theater Oberhausen 20 November 2010

56 lsquoNew London Cast from 18 November 2013rsquo Wicked ndash OFFICIAL UK amp Ireland Website last accessed

23 May 2014 at wwwwickedthemusicalcoukreadnewsaspid=92wkd


58 Ibid

59 Ibid

60 Lawrence Venuti The Translatorrsquos Invisibility (London and New York Routledge 1995) p 5



63 Dennis Kennedy The Spectator and the Spectacle Audiences in Modernity and Postmodernity

(Cambridge Cambridge University Press 2011) p 132

64 Savran lsquoTrafficking in Transnational Brandsrsquo (forthcoming)


laura macdonald (lauramacdonaldportacuk) is Lecturer in Musical Theatre at the University of

Portsmouth UK She previously lectured in American studies at the University of Groningen the Netherlands Her

articles and reviews have appeared in Studies in Musical Theatre the Journal of American Drama and Theatre

New England Theatre Journal Theatre Journal and Theatre Survey With William A Everett she is editing The

Palgrave Handbook of Musical Theatre Producers Laura is currently preparing a monograph investigating the

persistence of the commercial musical through the 1960s and 1970s She is also interested in cultural imperialism

and postwar productions of American musicals in Germany Austria Japan and the Philippines

myrte halman (myrte_halmanhotmailcom) is an undergraduate student in both American studies and

international relations and organizations at the University of Groningen She has also pursued a minor in gender



studies and is currently pursuing minors in conflict studies and religious studies She previously studied law at the

Hogeschool Leiden In 2012 she co-presented the paper lsquoldquoTo Make My Life and Make My Wayrdquo A Dutch Girlrsquos

Complicated Romance with Wicked and Americarsquo at The Romance of Theater American Drama and Its Stories

University of Seville Additionally in 2013 she co-presented the paper lsquoSo Much Of Me Is Made from What I

Learned from Wicked Transnational Identity Formation and the American Musicalrsquo at the The Viewing of

Politics amp the Politics of Viewing international conference in Thessaloniki Myrte hopes to pursue a masters in

gender studies


Dutch middlemen





Fig 1 (Colour online) AFAS Circustheater Scheveningen The Netherlands Credit Laura MacDonald

2013 before returning the character to Wickedrsquos home on Broadway in February 2013In November 2013 she debuted her Elphaba in the West End production of WickedVerkaikrsquos international performances thus provide an exceptional and rich snapshot ofmusical theatrersquos complicated transnational circulation With this kind of musical-theatrecultural diplomacy Verkaik is not unlike a diplomat carrying out the Netherlandsrsquo roleas a middleman in cultural diplomacy This dates back to the Pilgrimsrsquo initial journey tothe Netherlands whence the potential of the New World first beckoned A considerationof DutchndashAmerican relations is therefore a crucial part of this article The world-leadingDutch musical theatre production company Stage Entertainment also functions as amiddleman in transnational musical theatre

Based on Gregory Maguirersquos novel about the unlikely friendship of the witches ofOz Wicked was adapted in 2003 as a musical by writer Winnie Holzman and composer







Dutch middlemen




























































































































notes









Press 2011) p 4






=13485








10 Ibid p 19













15 Ibid

16 Ibid






p 81









24 Ibid


2013













Macmillan 2007) p 3









39 Ibid p 198




Press 2005) p 10

41 Ibid p 11


2014




html















52 Ibid







58 Ibid

59 Ibid

























gender studies


Dutch middlemen









Dutch middlemen




























































































































notes









Press 2011) p 4






=13485








10 Ibid p 19













15 Ibid

16 Ibid






p 81









24 Ibid


2013













Macmillan 2007) p 3









39 Ibid p 198




Press 2005) p 10

41 Ibid p 11


2014




html















52 Ibid







58 Ibid

59 Ibid

























gender studies


Dutch middlemen





























































































































notes









Press 2011) p 4






=13485








10 Ibid p 19













15 Ibid

16 Ibid






p 81









24 Ibid


2013













Macmillan 2007) p 3









39 Ibid p 198




Press 2005) p 10

41 Ibid p 11


2014




html















52 Ibid







58 Ibid

59 Ibid

























gender studies


Dutch middlemen













15 Ibid

16 Ibid






p 81









24 Ibid


2013













Macmillan 2007) p 3









39 Ibid p 198




Press 2005) p 10

41 Ibid p 11


2014




html















52 Ibid







58 Ibid

59 Ibid

























gender studies


Dutch middlemen






Press 2005) p 10

41 Ibid p 11


2014




html















52 Ibid







58 Ibid

59 Ibid

























gender studies


Dutch middlemen











gender studies


Dutch middlemen




geen grenzen meer: an american musical’s unlimited border ... · macdonald and halman an american...

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