About town with... Alex Klaasen
This month, Alex Klaasen (34) plays the lead role in Sunday in the Park with George. Stephen Sondheim’s musical, staged at M-Lab, is inspired by the work of nineteenth-century French painter Georges Seurat.
Culture in Amsterdam
Amsterdam is complete in every sense of the word. The diversity, colours, various atmospheres and the many contrasts within the different neighbourhoods all give me energy.
Theatre
I like to be surprised by out-of-the-ordinary productions in minor theatres. Open Bak in de Engelenbak, for example. And I’ve been meaning to visit the Amsterdam Marionette Theatre near the Nieuwmarkt for ages. I wouldn’t mind doing something with dolls sometime myself.
Music
I saw Brigitte Kaandorp perform with the Metropole Orchestra at the beginning of April in the Concertgebouw. It was fantastic, so funny. Everyone loved it! .
I don’t go to the Concertgebouw as often as I would like. I’m always intrigued by the sight of all the violinists moving their bows back and forth in harmony - it’s beautiful.
Dance
I thought the National Ballet’s production of Coppelia was extremely original, the décor was designed by Sieb Posthuma in a cartoonesque style. It’s just such a shame that ballet dancers are always such bad actors. They use elaborate arm gestures to portray the ‘market square’ and a hand held in front of their mouth denotes ‘surprise’.
Evening out
I often go to Mulitsexi, a gay-minded event held every first Saturday of the month in Studio 80 on Rembrandtplein. I also like De Trut in Bilderdijkstraat. That’s a bijkletskamer (Translator: a place to relax and catch up with friends) founded in the eighties by squatters and volunteers. They support gay and lesbian activities with any profits they make.
Museum
I thought the Niet Normaal exhibition in the Beurs van Berlage was interesting, all about people who are, in one way or another, a few beers short of a six-pack. I often play the role of people who are less than perfect.
In preparation for my role playing Seurat, I visited The National Gallery in London to view a number of Georges Seurat’s paintings. He used dots of paint in only four colours to create forms. I couldn’t say whether you can see examples of Seurat’s work in Amsterdam. (Ed. – you certainly can! His oil on canvas The Seine at Courbevoie has been on display at the Van Gogh Museum since 1998).
Restaurant
I like good food and I always read food critic Johannes van Damme’s column in Het Parool. I also check out the Iens Index (a restaurant review internet site). I’ve got a long list of restaurants that I still want to visit. I recently went to Bedington’s in Utrechtsedwarsstraat. It was sublime, from the bread as appetiser to the chocolate drops in the dessert. Just perfect.
Café
If I go to a café, it’s usually for lunch. If the weather’s good, I head to Belhemel on the Brouwersgracht. I like to sit at a table next to the bridge railing, behind the flower pots. It’s where the Brouwersgracht crosses the Herengracht. Fantastic.
Musicals
I’ve had roles in a number of musicals at M-Lab in Amsterdam Noord, such as The Wild Party and Toon: The Musical – in which I’ll play the role of Dutch entertainer and artist Toon Hermans next season. And you can also see me in Sunday in the Park with George, directed by Koen van Dijk. I’ve seen various experimental productions at M-Lab, such as No Way To Treat a Lady with Remko Vrijdag and the musical Urinetown. I think M-Lab’s great – it was founded in 2007 as a music theatre laboratory to allow the development and performance of small-scale musicals. It’s unique, there’s nowhere else in the Netherlands where this is possible.
My motto
A day without a motto is a day lived.
Sunday in the Park with George (In Dutch) is on at M-Lab, 9 June – 4 July.
Interview by Anne-Rose Bantzinger
Translation by David Nice
First published in the Uitkrant, June 2010
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