Willemijn Verkaik 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 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.

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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.\n

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.\n

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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.\n

Career

Verkaik began her career singing in various pop bands for over ten years. Her first professional theatre credit was in the ensemble of the Dutch production of Elisabeth (2001). In 2004, Verkaik recorded the singing voice of Erica for the Dutch version of the animated movie Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper. In 2008, she was the Dutch voice of Lydia in Barbie & the Diamond Castle.\n

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Her other musical theatre credits have included Elisabeth (in Holland (2001) and Thun, Switzerland (2006)), 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, She originated the role in the first German-language production, Wicked: Die Hexen Von Oz, in Stuttgart from 1 November 2007 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.\n

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.\n

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.\n

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, but then returned to Frozen, and her last performance as Elsa was on 29 September 2024.\n

On 28 April 2026, it was announced that Verkaik would return to the Netherlands in a touring production of Next to Normal. The production premiered on 10 October 2026 and is set to close on 29 December 2026.\n

Recordings

Verkaik appears on Wicked's 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.\n

Personal life

She is married to musician Bart van Hoof, a saxophone player.\n

Theatre

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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)
Wicked, German cast recording (Stage Entertainment Germany, 2007) Two of her tracks from the album, \"Solang ich dich hab\" (\"As Long As You're Mine\") and \"Gutes tun\" (\"No Good Deed\") were included on the Broadway 5th anniversary cast recording Bonus CD (Decca Broadway, 2008) also on the Broadway 2013 Deluxe edition's 2nd CD (Decca Broadway, 2013).
Frozen, Dutch cast recording (Walt Disney Records, 2014)
Frozen, German cast recording (Walt Disney Records, 2014)
Olaf's Frozen Adventure, Dutch cast recording (Walt Disney Records, 2017)
Olaf's Frozen Adventure, German cast recording (Walt Disney Records, 2017)
Frozen II, Dutch cast recording (Walt Disney Records, 2019)
Frozen II, German cast recording (Walt Disney Records, 2019)
Frozen Fever, German cast recording (Walt Disney Records, 2021)
Frozen Fever, Dutch cast recording (Walt Disney Records, 2021)
Rebecca (HitSquad Records, 2022)

Other albums

Stage Entertainment Presents Part 9 (Stage Entertainment, 2007)
Musical Gala Ludwigsburg (Sound Of Music, 2008)
Stage Entertainment Presents Part 10 (Stage Entertainment, 2008)
Musicalballads Unplugged – with Mark Seibert (Sound of Music, 2010)
Superstars des Musicals – collection of 3 CDs (Sound of Music, 2010)
Best of Musical – Gala 2010 (Stage Entertainment, 2010)
Scott Alan: What I Wanna Be when I Grow Up (Billy-Boo Records, 2012)
Scott Alan: Live – double CD recorded at Birdland (Billy-Boo Records, 2012)
Let It Go: The Complete Set (From \"Frozen) (Walt Disney Records, 2014)
Disney's Grootste Hits (Walt Disney Records, 2014)
Reflection – Kevin Tarte (Sound of Music)
Kidszone – Zomer 2015 (Universal Music, 2015)
Disney Magic Moments (Die Größten Disney Filmhits) (Walt Disney Records, 2016)
Disney's Grootste Hits (Walt Disney Records, 2024)

Filmography

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References

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External links

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Official website
Willemijn Verkaik at IMDb
Willemijn Verkaik at the Internet Broadway Database
Verkaik sings Defying Gravity, Covent Garden market, outside the 2014 Laurence Olivier Awards

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Willemijn Verkaik

Broadcast History