Adapting a book into a film or play, or a film into a musical, is always a risky venture. The acclaimed 2000 film 'Iedereen Beroemd' by Dominique Deruddere, which he described as 'une comédie humaine', was even nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
Frank Van Laecke, script and direction, possesses exceptional skill to avoid any missteps. He surrounded himself with an iron-strong cast and a fantastic creative team and conjures all the magic from his hat to make you forget the film.
Nineties atmosphere
The set breathes nostalgia and immediately evokes the atmosphere of an old parish hall. The intimate nature of the setting makes the story all the more compelling. The set has a double playing level which allows for smooth scene changes and ensures that the action never stops. On both sides there is a staircase where the ballet girls get to show off the art of elegantly descending stairs, they are also present as a background choir and ballet.
Antwerp idiom
Location of action, Flora hall in Hoboken, the time of the soundmix shows. Young and older people who crave fame. The audience is immediately grabbed by the collar by Steven Colombeen, the busy, eloquent showmaster à la Willem Ruis who lets a few candidates pass in review. One by one, clumsy imitations of, among others: Olivia Newton John, Sandra Kim, Isabella A, Andrea Boccelli and Marva performed by Joke Emmers, who is the center of attention, with her interpretation of 'Like a Virgin' by Madonna. She has not a shred of stage presence but is steadfastly supported by her parents. Especially the father, Sven De Ridder, believes in her talent.
Frank Van Laecke wrote sharp dialogues which Sven De Ridder delivers like a machine gun. The songs he gets to sing come across beautifully. Growing up as a child between the wings and the stage, the stage is his habitat. As a counterpart there is the quiet mother, Nele Goossens, more pragmatic and realistic about the feasibility of dreams. Touching is the thin melody of the song from which her concern and motherly love speaks.
The young popstar Debbie, played by Ianthe Tavernier, is the talk of the town. Her number 'Vuur' is number one on the hit list and Ianthe can sing like the best. This little star is lived by her manager, Peter Thyssen, and dragged from one stage to another. He embodies the malicious, manipulating manager who, à la Weinstein, promises fame if the girls share his bed, completely under his control. Debby longs for a normal existence in anonymity, away from all the fuss. Very beautiful is the duet between Marva and Debby, as they descend the stairs on either side. Their opposite expectations of life are captured in the poignant song 'Ik zou zo graag'.
In the middle of the stage their paths cross. Somewhat symbolically, Marva climbs the stairs and Debby's path and vice versa. With subtle projections and a rotating stage, Van Laecke leads the audience to the different places of action. Bert Verbeke as Willy Van Outreve is the accomplice of papa Verbeke in the kidnapping of Debby. A coward who is played against the determined father figure. We won't tell everything, but another big compliment for Joke Emmers, she leaves an iron-strong impression. Her song 'Lucky Manuelo' resounds confidently through the hall at the end. An actress who has already had a beautiful career and will make herself heard again, a young super-talented lady who can truly metamorphose into a role, pure mimicry.
'Iedereen Beroemd' is a musical with a popular Flemish character with laughter and tears. The debut of Jelle Cleymans as a musical composer is very commendable, here and there it turns out to be a bit thin, not as far as the lyrics and arrangements are concerned, but in the surrounding music as an atmosphere creation. But all in all: fine work. Here and there the acting of Sven De Ridder is somewhat exaggerated (perhaps premiere nerves), but when he knows how to keep measure you eat out of his hand. Together with Joke Emmers, this duo performs their first musical. There will certainly be a follow-up to this.
A bull's-eye
'Iedereen Beroemd' is a piece of cake for anyone who likes the musical genre with credible characters, songs that appeal to the ear and draw you into the story of Marva, from zero to hero. The enthusiastic, prolonged applause was the best measure to know that the audience embraces this musical. Another carefully crafted and high-quality production by Judas TheaterProducties with talented performers from home soil, their 9th musical creation already. Still to be seen until March 17 at Theater Elckerlyc, then in Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, Heist-op-den-Berg, Aalst, Roeselare and Leuven.
- WHAT: 'Iedereen Beroemd' feelgood musical
- WHO: Judas TheaterProducties vzw
- WHERE & WHEN: Premiere Sunday February 17 2019 Theater Elckerlyc
