Willemijn Verkaik
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Willemijn Verkaik (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈʋɪləmɛiɱ vərˈkɑik]; born 16 June 1975) is a Dutch singer and actress. She is best known for her stage roles in the musicals Wicked and Elisabeth, and for providing the voice of Elsa in the German version (singing only) and the Dutch version of Disney's Frozen. Verkaik is the only person to have played the role of Elphaba in the musical Wicked in three languages and more than 2,000 times – more than any other actress. Her first performance as Elphaba was in 2007, in Stuttgart, Germany, and her last performance was in 2017 in the West End in London.
Verkaik began her career singing in bands for over ten years. She moved to musical theatre, appearing in ensembles and smaller roles from 2001, and finally starring in the title role of Elisabeth (2006). This was followed by Elphaba in Wicked in several productions from 2007 to 2017, including on Broadway and in the West End. Other starring roles have included Donna in Mamma Mia! (2013), Paulina and later Pepa in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (2014–2015 and 2019), Kala in Tarzan (2015), Molly in Ghost – Das Musical (2017–2018), Sloane in Bat Out of Hell (2018–2019), Miss Hannigan in Annie (2019–2020), Mrs. Danvers in Rebecca (2022–2023), Elsa in Frozen (2023) and Anne Hathaway in & Juliet (2024). Most of her work has been in the Netherlands and Germany, with roles in Switzerland, the US, the UK and Austria.
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