Author Russell Shorto to Collaborate On Musical About Dutch Origins of New York

NEW Productions, the company behind the immensely successful "SOLDAAT VAN ORANJE", has announced its upcoming project, a musical about the Dutch origins of the city of New York. It will be based on the book "The Island at the Center of the World" by American author and historian Russell Shorto. Shorto will be attached to the production as artistic advisor.

The book by Shorto is a narrative history of Manhattan’s founding. In it, he argues that the Dutch founding of Manhattan seeded not only New York’s immigrant culture, but America’s melting pot. "The Island at the Center of the World" was a bestseller in the U.S. and published in Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Brazil. The Wall Street Journal called it “a masterpiece of storytelling and first-rate intellectual history.” 

Earlier, the book sparked a four-part documentary on Dutch public television (featuring Shorto) called “The New York Connection.” Now, it will serve as inspiration for a new musical.

The show will succeed "SOLDAAT VAN ORANJE" ("Soldier of Orange") about Dutch members of the resistance in World War Two, which is currently playing a two-year sold-out run at a former hangar for military airplanes. The show features an auditorium that slowly revolves, taking the audience from one set to another. It was recently announced that it is the longest running original Dutch musical in Dutch history. In a time when all other productions are struggling to fill seats, "SOLDAAT" is the singular exception. Bookings to "SOLDAAT" have been extended to May 2013.

It is unclear when the new musical is planned to open and whether it will use the same venue and technical approach as "SOLDAAT". Edwin de Vries will write the script, Theu Boermans will direct. 

Photo credit: NEW Productions

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