Feature: Recap Of MUSICAL AWARDS GALA 2017

All prized have been awarded, afterparties been celebrated and tuxedo's and dresses safely stowed for next year: in short, it's time to look back at this year's Musical Awards Ceremony! With lots of amazing performances, emotional speeches and lots of happy winners, it sure is a night to remember!

The ceremony took over the Beatrix Theater - usually home of THE BODYGUARD - last Thursday. In addition to all nominees, the star-studded evening featured performances and appearances of Romy Monteiro, the Broadway Cast of ON YOUR FEET! and Gloria Estefan herself, who was the in the center of attention during the whole evening. After all nominees and other presenters had arrived, she entered the theatre and walked the red carpet with her husband Emilio Estefan. They were present to promote the upcoming Dutch production of ON YOUR FEET! and to present the Audience Award.

After the pre-recording the creative awards (which can be found here), the show was opened by THE BODYGUARD's Romy Monteiro with a performance of "One Night Only", featuring host Frits Sissing and performers from other musicals.

All awards for actors are split up between small and large musicals: large musicals have 10 or more actors on stage at any time during the performance, while small musicals only have 9 or less actors on stage at any time during the whole musical. After the awards for supporting actors, won by Freek Bartels and Marjolein Teepen for their performances in large musicals and Jeremy Baker and Bianca Krijgsman for small musicals, the awards for leading actors in small musicals were presented. These were awarded to Stefan Rokebrand for his portrayal of Herman Brood in CHEZ BROOD and to Loes Luca for her role in IN DE BAN VAN BROADWAY. The award for upcoming talent went to eight-year-old Silver Metz for his performance as Ciske in CISKE DE RAT. He also performed together with the cast of CISKE DE RAT including Danny de Munk, who was nominated for Leading Actor.

One of the most important awards is the lifetime achievement award, which is awarded each year to anyone who has contributed a lot to Dutch musicals, both on stage and behind the scenes. This year's award was given to Simone Kleinsma for 40 years of acting in all kinds of productions. She was honoured with a special performance of all kinds of songs from her musicals and a speech of Joop Van Den Ende, with whom she worked together for a long time.

Now on to the awards for leading actors in large musicals: Vera Mann is this year's best leading actress and won the award for her role in SWEENEY TODD as Miss Lovett. Alex Klaasen won the best leading actor award for separate roles in DE GELAARSDE POES. This year's best musicals are CHEZ BROOD (small musical) and CISKE DE RAT (large musical).

After above performance of the Broadway Cast of ON YOUR FEET!, Gloria Estefan appeared on stage to award the Audience Award. SOLDAAT VAN ORANJE won the last three awards, but this year's award went to THE BODYGUARD against all odds. Even producer Albert Verlinde himself was very surprised to win this award.

Of course all winners gave speeches and there were more performances than shown. If you want to watch the whole evening once more, you can find it here: http://www.npo.nl/musical-awards-gala/12-01-2017/AT_2070271. For more information on the MUSICAL AWARDS, please visit musicalawards.nl. All winners (in bold) and nominees of all awards can be found below:

Leading actress in a large musical:

• Vera Mann (Sweeney Todd)

• Joanne Telesford (Amandla! Mandela)

• Keja Klaasje Kwestro (De Gelaarsde Poes)

Leading actor in a large musical:

• Alex Klaasen (De Gelaarsde Poes)

• Danny de Munk (Ciske de Rat)

• Jorrit Ruijs (Disney's The Lion King)

Leading actress in a small musical:

• Loes Luca (In de ban van Broadway)

• Anne-Mieke Ruyten (Opvliegers)

• Brigitte Heitzer (Nonsens)

Leading actor in a small musical:

• Stefan Rokebrand (Chez Brood)

• Paul Groot (Robert Long)

• Mike Weerts (Dansen met de vijand)

Supporting actress in a large musical:

• Marjolein Teepen (Sweeney Todd)

• Eva van der Gucht (SKY de Musical)

• Ellen Evers (Ciske de Rat)

Supporting actor in a large musical:

• Freek Bartels (Beauty and the Beast)

• Dick van den Toorn (De Gelaarsde Poes)

• Steve Beirnaert (Disney's The Lion King)

Supporting actress in a small musical:

• Bianca Krijgsman (In de ban van Broadway)

• Rosa Reuten (Chez Brood)

• Leny Breederveld (In de ban van Broadway)

Supporting actor in a small musical:

• Jeremy Baker (Robert Long)

• Owen Schumacher (Chez Brood)

• Tibor Lukács (Chez Brood)

Upcoming talent:

• Silver Metz (Ciske de Rat)

• Valéry van Gorp (Dansen met de vijand)

• Lisse Knaapen (SKY de Musical)

• Jeffrey Italiaander (HAIR)

• Gaia Aikman (Disney's The Lion King)

Best script/lyrics/translation:

• Nathan Vecht (In de ban van Broadway)

• Bart Chabot (Chez Brood)

• Erris van Ginkel (Dansen met de vijand)

• Alex Klaasen (De Gelaarsde Poes)

• Don Duyns (De Gelaarsde Poes)

Best music/arrangements:

• Jeroen Sleyfer (Ciske de Rat)

• Ad Van Dijk (Robert Long)

• Jeroen Sleyfer (Chez Brood)

• Fons Merkies (Vals - Thrillermusical)

• Marco Braam (Sweeney Todd)

Best director/choreographer:

• Pieter Kramer (De Gelaarsde Poes)

• Victor Löw (Chez Brood)

• Daan Wijnands (De Gelaarsde Poes)

• Paul Eenens (Ciske de Rat)

• Keone en Mariel Madrid (SKY de Musical)

Best design:

• Thomas Rupert (In de ban van Broadway)

• Ascon de Nijs (Chez Brood)

• Marc Heinz en Stefan Dijkman (In de ban van Broadway)

• Niek Kortekaas (De Gelaarsde Poes)

• Sabine Snijders (De Gelaarsde Poes)

Best large musical:

• Ciske de Rat - Stage Entertainment Nederland

• De Gelaarsde Poes - RO Theater

• Disney's The Lion King - Stage Entertainment Nederland

Best small musical:

• Chez Brood - Bos Theaterproducties

• Dansen met de vijand - Stichting Janke Dekker Producties

• In de ban van Broadway - DeLaMar Theater

AD Audience Award:

• The Bodyguard - Stage Entertainment Nederland

• The Lion King - Stage Entertainment Nederland

• Soldaat van Oranje - NEW Productions

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