Pia Douwes
Encyclopedia
Pia Douwes is a Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...

 actress who is extremly successful in Europe.

Biography

Douwes was born in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

, North Holland
North Holland
North Holland |West Frisian]]: Noard-Holland) is a province situated on the North Sea in the northwest part of the Netherlands. The provincial capital is Haarlem and its largest city is Amsterdam.-Geography:...

 as Petronella Irene Allegonda Douwes, to an arts dealer and a social worker and the grandniece of Doris Day
Doris Day
Doris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...

. Initially Douwes wanted to become a nurse for mentally handicapped children, then, she danced in a disco when she was 19 years old and realised that she wanted to dance. She went to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 and searched for a dance school in the Yellow Pages. She chose the Brooking School of Ballet. Without any prior dance education, she auditioned (with a sprained ankle) and was accepted. One year later she attended a musical workshop with Susi Nicoletti
Susi Nicoletti
Susi Nicoletti was a Bavarian-born actress best remembered today for over 100 supporting roles mostly in comedy films....

 and Sam Cane in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

. Cane is said to have told Douwes' father at that time: "If she doesn't become a star, I'll hang myself!".

In 1986, she got her first small part in the German-language premiere of Little Shop of Horrors
Little Shop of Horrors (musical)
Little Shop of Horrors is a rock musical, by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman, about a hapless florist shop worker who raises a plant that feeds on human blood. The musical is based on the low-budget 1960 black comedy film The Little Shop of Horrors, directed by Roger Corman...

in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

. More small parts followed afterwards. In 1987 she got her first part in a larger production. She was a Swing
Understudy
In theater, an understudy is a performer who learns the lines and blocking/choreography of a regular actor or actress in a play. Should the regular actor or actress be unable to appear on stage because of illness or emergencies, the understudy takes over the part...

 in Cats
Cats (musical)
Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot...

in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

. With this production she toured Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 in 1988, playing Grizabella and Jellylorum.

More parts followed, including Fantine in the original Amsterdam production of Les Misérables
Les Misérables (musical)
Les Misérables , colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz , is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg, based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo....

in 1991, but the great break through came in 1992, when the she got the title role in the world premiere of Elisabeth
Elisabeth (musical)
Elisabeth is a Viennese, German-language musical commissioned by the Vereinigte Bühnen Wien , with book/lyrics by Michael Kunze and music by Sylvester Levay. It portrays the life and death of the Empress consort of Austria, Elisabeth of Bavaria, wife of Emperor Franz Joseph I...

in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

. Though the Viennese papers wrote a lot of scathing criticism, such as "Munter geht die Sisi unter" ("Sisi perishes") and they denied Douwes singing and acting talent of any kind, Douwes became (along with Uwe Kröger
Uwe Kröger
Uwe Kröger is a famous musical star in the German-speaking countries of the world. Besides starring on stage, Kröger has taken part in numerous galas and concerts, as well as making a few television and film appearances...

) an acclaimed musical star and reprised the title role numerous times. Elisabeth is today the most successful German-language musical of all-time.

Until 1994 she played Elisabeth, then followed more parts like Rizzo in Grease
Grease (musical)
Grease is a 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. The musical is named for the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as the greasers. The musical, set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School , follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of love,...

(Vienna) and Eva Perón
Eva Perón
María Eva Duarte de Perón was the second wife of President Juan Perón and served as the First Lady of Argentina from 1946 until her death in 1952. She is often referred to as simply Eva Perón, or by the affectionate Spanish language diminutive Evita.She was born in the village of Los Toldos in...

 in Evita in the Dutch touring production.

She was also active in other areas; she sang and spoke the leading part for the Dutch versions of the movies Pocahontas
Pocahontas (1995 film)
Pocahontas is the 33rd animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. It was produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and was originally released to selected theaters on June 16, 1995 by Walt Disney Pictures...

and Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World
Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World
Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World is a 1998 straight-to-video sequel to the 1995 Disney film Pocahontas. The film is inspired by true events in the life of Pocahontas which took place several years after her encounter with John Smith and the founders of Jamestown...

. Additionally she did the gala evenings In love with Musical along with her colleagues Uwe Kröger, Marika Lichter and Viktor Gernot.

In 1999 she played Velma Kelly
Velma Kelly
Velma Kelly is one of the main characters in the successful Broadway musical Chicago. The Velma Kelly in Chicago: The Movie is a nightclub singer/vaudevillian who was accused of murder of her husband and sister. She is sent to the Cook County Jail where she hires the best soliciting lawyer, Billy...

 in the Dutch premiere of Chicago
Chicago (musical)
Chicago is a musical set in Prohibition-era Chicago. The music is by John Kander with lyrics by Fred Ebb and a book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the "celebrity criminal"...

. But Douwes went back to her roots and played the leading part of Elisabeth again in the Dutch and German premieres of the musical. After all in all 900 performances as the Austrian empress she went back to Holland in February 2002 to take along with Dutch musical stars Simone Kleinsma
Simone Kleinsma
Simone Kleinsma is an award winning musical theatre actress in the Netherlands.-Personal life:On June 5, 1990, Simone married Guus Verstraete, a Dutch television director...

 and Stanley Burleson part in the Broadway musical Fosse
Fosse
Fosse is a three-act musical revue showcasing the choreography of Bob Fosse. After 21 previews, the original Broadway production, conceived and directed by Richard Maltby, Jr...

.

In March 2003 she got the chance to play Milady de Winter
Milady de Winter
Milady Clarick de Winter, often referred to as simply Milady, is a fictional character in the novel The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, père. She acts as a spy for Cardinal Richelieu and is one of the chief antagonists of the story....

 at the world premiere of the Dutch musical 3 Musketiers
3 Musketiers
3 Musketiers is a Dutch musical, also known as 3 Musketiere , 3 Musketeers and A 3 Testőr written by Ferdi Bolland and Rob Bolland. The story is based on Alexandre Dumas, père's novel The Three Musketeers...

(The Three Musketeers). The musical was later recorded (with her) and is now available on DVD.

In 2004 she played again Velma Kelly in Chicago. But this time she performed in the West End of London
West End of London
The West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...

 and then on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

, being the first Dutch actress to take a leading role in a production on Broadway.

Back again in Holland she played Clara in Passion. Then she went back to Germany to play again Milady de Winter at the German premiere of 3 Musketiere in Theater des Westens in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

. She played the part until October 30, 2005.

Pia Douwes is the most famous European musical actress alongside Ute Lemper
Ute Lemper
Ute Lemper is a German chanteuse and actress renowned for her interpretation of the work of Kurt Weill.- Biography :Born in Münster, Germany, Ute Lemper was raised in a Roman Catholic family. She joined the punk music group known as the Panama Drive Band at the age of 16...

. She took part at over 25 CD productions and was a duet partner of José Carreras
José Carreras
Josep Maria Carreras i Coll , better known as José Carreras , is a Spanish Catalan tenor particularly known for his performances in the operas of Verdi and Puccini...

.

In 2007, she was seen as a judge on Op zoek naar Evita (In search for Evita), a Dutch reality show. The winner was cast as Eva Perón, a role Douwes played over a decade ago, in a new Dutch production of Evita.

In 2008, Pia was a judge on the German reality show Ich Tarzan du Jane in which they will be looking for both Tarzan and Jane to star in the new German production of Tarzan
Tarzan (musical)
Tarzan: The Musical is based on the Disney film of the same name and the story by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Music and lyrics are written by Phil Collins, with a book by David Henry Hwang.-Production:...

and returned as a judge and coach on "Op zoek naar Joseph", similar to the search for Evita, but this series searched for the male lead in the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical with lyrics by Tim Rice. The story is based on the "coat of many colors" story of Joseph from the Hebrew Bible's Book of Genesis. This was the first Lloyd Webber and Rice musical to be performed publicly...

.

In late 2008, she donned the turban as the infamous Norma Desmond in the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 touring production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...

 Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard (musical)
Sunset Boulevard is a musical with book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Based on the 1950 film of the same title, the plot revolves around Norma Desmond, a faded star of the silent screen era, living in the past in her decaying mansion on the...

, alternating in the lead role with her friend and previous Les Misérables, Chicago and Fosse co-star, Simone Kleinsma
Simone Kleinsma
Simone Kleinsma is an award winning musical theatre actress in the Netherlands.-Personal life:On June 5, 1990, Simone married Guus Verstraete, a Dutch television director...

.

In 2009 she returned yet again to judge and coach the contestants of a new Op Zoek Naar... series, this time searching for the woman who will play Mary Poppins.

After the programm ended, Pia played the role 'Velma Kelly' for six weeks on the West End in 2009.

From August 2010 until January 2011 she played the part 'Killer Queen' in the rock musical We Will Rock You
We Will Rock You (musical)
We Will Rock You is a jukebox musical, based on the songs of Queen and named after their hit single of the same name. The musical was written by British comedian and author Ben Elton in collaboration with Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor...

in Utrecht.

Pia is currently touring all over the Netherlands with the Dutch production of Master Class, in which she is playing the part of Maria Callas. The tour will last until the end of May, with two extra performances in September.

Musical Engagements

  • 1986 Little Shop of Horrors, Crystal in Vienna
  • 1986 - 1987Sammy Mario and Dancers, Dancer in Vienna
  • 1987 Cats, Swing, Grizabella, Jellylorum in Amsterdam
  • 1988 - 1989 Cats, Grizabella, Jellylorum, Demeter in Vienna
  • 1988 Cats, Grizabella, Jellylorum at the tour through Russia
  • 1990 West Side Story, Maria at the tour through Belgium and the Netherlands
  • 1991 - 1992 Les Misérables, Fantine in Amsterdam & Schevenigen
  • 1992 - 1994 Elisabeth, Empress Elisabeth in Vienna
  • 1994 Other People's Money, Kate Sullivan in Prague
  • 1994 West Side Story, Maria in Summer of Musical Amstetten
  • 1994 - 1995 Grease, Rizzo in Vienna
  • 1995 / 1996 Cabaret, Sally Bowles in Bad Hersfeld, Germany
  • August 10, 1995 Cats, Grizabella and guest at the premiere in Vienna
  • 1995 - 1996 and January 1997 Evita, Eva Péron at the tour through the Netherlands
  • 1997 Rocky Horror Show, Janet in Bad Hersfeld, Germany
  • 1997 - 1999 Dance! Dance! Dance!, Soloist in Vienna
  • 1997 - 1998 Jane Eyre, Jane Eyre at the tour through the Netherlands
  • November 1998 Savanah Bay, Young Woman in the Netherlands
  • December 1999 The Andrew Lloyd Webber Musical Gala, Soloist at the tour through Germany
  • 1999 Chicago, Velma Kelly in Utrecht
  • 1999 - 2000 Elisabeth, Elisabeth in Schevenigen
  • 2000 Sweeney Todd, Beggar Woman, Debut in the West End of London
  • December 2000 Cole Porter's Songbook, Soloist
  • 2001 - 2002 Elisabeth, Empress Elisabeth in Essen
  • 2002 Fosse, Soloist at the tour through the Netherlands
  • 2003 - 2004 3 Musketiers, Milady de Winter in Rotterdam
  • 2004 Chicago, Velma Kelly in London
  • 2004 Chicago, Velma Kelly, Debut on broadway
  • 2004 - 2005 Passion, Clara at the tour through the Netherlands
  • 2005 3 Musketiere, Milady de Winter in Berlin
  • 2006 Cabaret in Amsterdam
  • 2006 Elisabeth, Empress Elisabeth in Stuttgart
  • November 2006 - March 4, 2007 3 Musketiere, Milady de Winter in Stuttgart
  • April - June 2007 Best of Musical 2007
  • July 2007 "Cats", Grizabella
  • December 5th 2007, "Chicago: 10th Anniversary Gala" as Velma Kelly.
  • 2008 04.01. - 27.01. "Die drei Musketiere", Milady de Winter in Stuttgart
  • 2008 20.04 - 06.07 "Elisbeth das Musical", Elisabeth in Berlin
  • 2008-2009 "Sunset Boulevard"
  • 2009 14.09 - 24.10 "Chicago",West End as Velma Kelly
  • September 2010 - December 2010 "We will rock you", The Netherlands as Killer Queen
  • December 2011- ?? Rebecca the musical, Stuttgart
    Stuttgart
    Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....

    , Germany
    Germany
    Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

     as mrs. Danvers

Discography

  • 1987 Cats, Cast recording
  • 1989 It's time to say we care, Single for the benefit of the Aids-Gala in Vienna
  • 1991 Les Misérables, Cast recording
  • 1992 Hier sta ik, Single
  • 1992 Ich gehör nur mir / I belong to me, Single
  • 1992 Elisabeth, Cast recording
  • 1994 Aidan Bell: Time Warp Duett: Maybe we can make it
  • 1994 Grease, Live recording
  • 1995 Living Water, Benefit CD
  • 1995 Musical Christmas in Vienna, Sampler
  • 1995 Pocahontas, Original Soundtrack Holland
  • 1995 Evita, Cast recording
  • 1995 Cabaret, Cast recording
  • 1996 Stars singen Weihnachtslieder, Sampler
  • 1996 Rocky Horror Show, Cast recording
  • 1997 Still in love with Muiscal, Live recording
  • 1997 Shades of night, Musicals go rock, Sampler
  • 1998 10 für Zehn, Benefit CD
  • 1998 Pocahontas II, Original Soundtrack Holland
  • 1998 Joop van den Enden presenteert: De beste uit de musicals, Sampler
  • 1998 Chicago, Cast recording
  • 1999 Elisabeth, Cast recording (Netherlands)
  • 1999 Mijn leven is van mij, Single (Dutch version of Ich gehör nur mir / I belong to me)
  • 2000 Die fantastische Welt des Musicals, Sampler
  • 2000 Alles Musical, Sampler
  • 2000 Hoogtepunten uit de musicals, aangeboden door Persil, Sampler
  • 2000 Hilversum Calling, Sampler
  • 2000 Zing dan! Luisterliedjes, Sampler
  • 2001 Ernst Daniel Smit e amici: Una voce particulare - Duet, Sampler "Tu Cosa Fai Stasera"
  • 2001 Elisabeth, Cast recording in Essen, Germany
  • 2001 3 CD-Track: "Ich gehör nur mir", Single
  • 2001 In love with musical again, Live recording
  • 2001 Steve Barton memorial concert, Live recording
  • 2001 Uwe Kröger: Only the best
  • 2001 Uwe Kröger: Musical Moments
  • 2002 Het mooiste uit de nederlandse musicals, Sampler
  • 2002 Fosse (Bye bye, blackbird), Promotional single
  • 2003 De drie Musketiers, Cast recording
  • 2003 De drie Musketiers - Special Edition, Cast recording, extra's CD & DVD
  • 2003 Uwe Kröger: Musical Moments 2
  • 2004 Het mooiste uit de nederlandse musicals II, Sampler
  • 2004 Passion, Cast recording
  • 2005 Die drei Musketiere, Cast recording
  • 2006 Cabaret, Cast recording
  • 2007 Dezemberlieder (December Songs), Solo CD of Maury Yeston's famous song cycle in German language
  • 2009 Sunset Boulevard CD to the Dutch Tourproduction, complete live recording with Simone Kleinsma (disc 1) and some studiotracks with Pia Douwes (disc 2)

Awards and nominations

  • Image 1996 for Elisabeth in Vienna [Won]
  • 1996 Bad Hersfeld Audience Award for Cabaret in Bad Hersfeld [Won]
  • 2000 John Kraaijkamp Musical Award, Best Actress in a Leading Role for Elisabeth in Scheveningen [Nominated]
  • 2002 John Kraaijkamp Musical Award, Best Actress Abroad for Elisabeth in Essen [Won]
  • 2003 John Kraaijkamp Musical Award, Best Actress in a Leading Role for 3 Musketiers in Rotterdam [Nominated]
  • 2005 John Kraaijkamp Musical Award, Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Passion in the Netherlands [Nominated]
  • 2006 Da Capo Award, Best Musical Actress for 3 Musketiere in Berlin [Won]
  • 2006 Da Capo Award, Best Female Voice [Won], she won this award 6 times.


Pia has also been given the award for Female Leading Role six times by the readers of the German magazine "Musicals" for her performances in Elisabeth also the best Female with the most beautiful voice.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK