Willemijn Verkaik (; 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."New Cast to Fly Into London’s Wicked", Playbill, 25 May 2017"New photos of Alice Fearn and Sophie Evans in Wicked released", London Theatre, 18 July 2017
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.
Early life Verkaik was born in Son en Breugel, Netherlands, on 16 June 1975, and grew up in Nuenen near Eindhoven. She graduated from the Rotterdam Conservatory."Willemijn Verkaik and Mark Seibert", Zibb
Career Verkaik began her career singing in various pop bands for over ten years."Willemijn Verkaik maakt debuut in New York", Musical Reports, 2 August 2011 Her first professional theatre credit was in the ensemble of the Dutch production of Elisabeth (2001)."Diva Talk: A Chat with Dutch Actress Willemijn Verkaik, Star of Broadway's Wicked", Playbill In 2004, Verkaik recorded the singing voice of Erica for the Dutch version of the animated movie Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper.Characters: Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper, Weebly In 2008, she was the Dutch voice of Lydia in Barbie & the Diamond Castle.
Her other musical theatre credits have included Elisabeth (in Holland (2001) and Thun, Switzerland (2006)),"Willemijn: alweer Nederlandse Elisabeth", Musical Site The Three Musketeers (2003), We Will Rock You (2004–2005) and Elphaba in Wicked several times; Verkaik was the only actress to have played Elphaba in three languages,Kennedy, Mark. "Wicked gets a tri-lingual Elphaba", Standard-Times, 9 March 2013 She originated the role in the first German-language production, Wicked: Die Hexen Von Oz, in Stuttgart from 1 November 2007"Dutch obtains in leading German musical", Nieuws "Willemijn Verkaik ist die grüne Hexe von 'Ozerhausen'", staff writer, City News, 5 December 2009 and played the role more than 2,000 times, more than any other actress, until 29 January 2010. She played it in the Dutch-language production in Scheveningen from 6 November 2011 until 11 January 2013, and transferred to the Broadway production from 12 February 2013 to 26 May 2013.
Verkaik played the role of Donna in the Stuttgart production of Mamma Mia! from 26 July 2013 for a three-month run, before reprising the role of Elphaba in the West End Wicked from 18 November 2013. She left the production on 19 July 2014 for health reasons. She played Pauline in musical Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown in the West End from 16 December 2014 until 23 May 2015. This was her first role after a surgery in 2014. She returned to Stuttgart as Kala in Tarzan from August 2015 to May 2016.
Verkaik returned to the role of Elphaba in the West End production of Wicked from 30 January to 22 July 2017. She next starred in Ghost – Das Musical in Berlin from 7 December 2017 to 7 October 2018, as Molly. She appeared as Sloane at the Metronom Theater in Bat Out of Hell from 8 November 2018 to 30 March 2019. She played Pepa in the Amsterdam production of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown from 4 July 2019 to 14 July 2019 and toured the Netherlands as Miss Hannigan in Annie from 26 November 2019 to 24 May 2020.
On 9 February 2020, Verkaik joined Idina Menzel, Aurora and eight more of Elsa's international dubbers to perform the song "Into the Unknown" during the 92nd Academy Awards. Every international performer sang one line of the song in a different language. From 2022 to 2023, she played Mrs. Danvers in Rebecca in Vienna, Austria. In 2023, she took over the role of Elsa in the German production of Frozen. She left the show to star as Anne Hathaway in & Juliet, also in Hamburg,Willemijn Verkaik vanaf dit najaar in & Julia – Das Musical, Musicalweb, 10 May 2024 (in Dutch) but then returned to Frozen, and her last performance as Elsa was on 29 September 2024.
On 28 April 2026, it was announced that Verkaik would return to the Netherlands in a touring production of Next to Normal. The production is set to premiere on 10 October 2026 and close on 29 December 2026.
Recordings Verkaik appears on Wickeds German-language cast recording and the Scott Alan albums What I Wanna Be When I Grow Up and Live, recorded at the Birdland jazz club in New York City on 30 April 2012. The CD was released on 26 June 2012. Verkaik provided the Dutch speaking and singing voice and the German singing voice of Elsa in dubs of Disney's 2013 animated movie Frozen.
Personal life She is married to musician Bart van Hoof, a saxophone player.
Theatre
Show Location Role Year Ref Elisabeth Scheveningen, The Netherlands Ensemble 2001 Willemijn Verkaik Vrije Tijd Amsterdam, 11 + 12 April 2025 (in Dutch) Jeans 11 Tour, The Netherlands Soloist 2001–2002 Willemijn Verkaik viert 25-jarig jubileum in DeLaMar Musicalsites Robert Bal, 12 April 2025 (in Dutch) The Three Musketeers Rotterdam, The Netherlands Ensemble / understudy Queen Anna and Milady de Winter 2003 3 Musketiers (2003) De Musicaldatabase (in Dutch) Eternity Rotterdam, The Netherlands Barbara 2004 Recordings Eternity 2003 Dutch Cast, Castalbum We Will Rock You Cologne, Germany Killer Queen u/s 2004–2005 We Will Rock You, Musicallexikon EU, last change 10 April 2024 (in German) Elisabeth Thun, Switzerland Elisabeth 2006 Ich wollte sie verstehen, Willemijn Verkaik über »Elisabeth« in Thun, United Musicals We Will Rock You Cologne, Germany Killer Queen Willemijn Verkaik – im Porträt, Wir Musicalfans (in German) Wicked Stuttgart, Germany Elphaba 2007–2010 Shows Willemijn Verkaik, Stage Entertainment (in German) Aida Tecklenburg, Germany Amneris 2009 Willemijn Verkaik zingt nummers uit musical Aida in openluchtconcert, Door NU, 15 January 2019 (in Dutch) Wicked Oberhausen Germany Elphaba 2010–2011 Wicked – Die Hexen von Oz (Oberhausen 2010), United Musicals Scheveningen, The Netherlands 2011–2013 Willemijn Verkaik duizendste keer in musical Wicked, Door NU, 14 June 2012 New York (Broadway), United States of America 2013 Willemijn Verkaik Will Make Broadway Debut in Wicked in 2013, Playbill, December 17, 2012 Mamma Mia! Stuttgart, Germany Donna Willemijn Verkaik in Duitse Mamma Mia!, 19 July 2013 Wicked London (West End), United Kingdom Elphaba 2013–2014 Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown Paulina 2014–2015 Willemijn Verkaik and more join cast of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, WhatsOnStage, 24 October 2014 Tarzan Stuttgart, Germany Kala 2015–2016 Willemijn Verkaik übernimmt Rolle der "Kala" in Disneys Musical TARZAN, Musical Radio, 02 July 2015 (in German) Wicked London (West End), United Kingdom Elphaba 2017 Willemijn Verkaik Will Return to Wicked in the West End, 14 September 2016, Broadway.com Ghost the Musical Berlin, Germany Molly 2017–2018 GHOST in Berlin mit Willemijn Verkaik und Alexander Klaws, Musicalradio, 29 August 2017 Bat Out of Hell Oberhausen, Germany Sloane 2018–2019 BAT OUT OF HELL mit Alex Melcher und Willemijn Verkaik, Musicalradio, 19 September 2018Best of BroadwayTour, The Netherlands -2019 Best of Broadway: Concert Tour – 2019 (Netherlands), Curtis BrownAida in ConcertRosmalen, The NetherlandsAmneris2019 AIDA IN CONCERT (2019), Musicalzentrale, 9 May 2019 Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown Amsterdam, the Netherlands Pepa 2019 Review of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, London Theatre, 6 May 2019 Annie Tour, The Netherlands Mrs. Hannigan 2019–2020 Willemijn Verkaik in ANNIE, Musicalworld, 01 December 2019, (in Dutch)Come from AwayTour, The NetherlandsBeverly Bass, Annette2021–2022 Willemijn Verkaik, Come From Away de Musical, (in Dutch) RebeccaVienna, AustriaMrs. Danvers2022–2023 FrozenHamburg, GermanyElsa2023–2024 BROADWAY-STAR BEI „DIE EISKÖNIGIN“, die Eiskönigin das Musical, 28 July 2023 (in German)& JulietHamburg, GermanyAnne Hathaway2024–2025
Concert performances Pfingstgala (Tecklenburg, Openluchttheater, Whit Monday 2006, 2008, 2014 and 2020) Concert with Mark Seibert (Stuttgart, Palladium Theater, 26 May 2008) Benefit concert with Roberta Valentini (Oberhausen, Metronomtheatre 30 August 2010) Simply the Music of Scott Alan (London, New Players Theatre, 26 September 2010) Sommernacht des Musicals (Germany, Dinslaken, 2011, 2016 & 2025) Backstage with Philippe Ducloux (Essen, hall Lukas, 22 and 23 January 2011) Concert with Scott Alan (Hamburger Kammerspiele, 20 June 2011) Concert with Jason Robert Brown & Scott Alan (New York, Birdland, 22 August 2011) "Like Nobody Else..." concert with Alex Melcher (Oberhausen, hall Ebertbad, 31 March 2012) Jesus Christ Superstar in Concert – Maria (Amsterdam, DeLaMar Theater, 16 and 17 March 2015) Solo concert with Victoria Hamilton-Barritt and James Fox (London, Ambassadors Theatre, 25 August 2015) Solo concert with Stephen Schwartz (New York, 54 Below, 27 & 28 August 2015) From Broadway to Breda (Breda, Chassé Theatre, 15 November 2015) Disney in Concert (Germany, Switzerland, Austria, 2016, 2017 & 2024) Song and Dance of Broadway with Earl Carpenter, Siobhan Dillon, Eric Kunze, Jaime Verazin, Michelle Camaya, Daniel Gaymon, and Colby Lindeman (Tokyu Theatre Orb, Tokyo, 7–9 October 2017) Bevrijdingsfestival with CB Milton, Bastiaan Everink, and Noa Wildschut (Amsterdam, Amstel, 5 May 2018) SpaceXperience (Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam, 3 November 2018) Alexander Klaws – Jetzt und Hier (Kulturwerk am See, Norderstedt 7 May 2018, Filharmonie, Filderstadt, 28 May 2018 & Admiralspalast Studio, Berlin, 18 June 2018) Disney's Broadway Hits with Anton Zetterholm, Ava Brennan, and Shaune Scoffery (Royal Albert Hall, London, 1 & 2 March 2019) De Uitmarkt with René van Kooten and Stanly Burleson (2019) 92nd Academy Award Ceremony with nine other international Elsas (Dolby Theatre, Los Angeles, CA, U.S., February 9, 2020) And Now... with Mark Kuypers and Bart van Hoof (DeLaMar Theater, Amsterdam, 9 July 2020 – 25 July 2020) Brightest Colors (Niederrhein-Stadion, Oberhausen, August 8, 2020, July 5, 2021) Power Women Sessions (26 February 2021) Verkaik's 25th anniversary concerts in 2025: DeLaMar, Amsterdam (11–12 April), Neue Flora, Hamburg (16 June), Stage Apollo Theater, Stuttgart (23 June), and Neue Flora, Hamburg (1 September). Leading Ladies Tour throughout the Netherlands (November 2025 to January 2026)
Discography
Cast recordings Jeans 11 (Jeanscompany, 2001) Eternity (Orkest Kon. Luchtmacht, 2003) Drie Musketiers (Three Musketeers) (Joop van den Ende Theaterproducties, 2003); DVD release We Will Rock You – Das Original Musical (Parlophone, 2005)