Al Zylstra

It has been a hot minute since I stage managed a musical. They are SOOOOO much work but, at the end of it all, I truly enjoy them. Here is my latest Stage Managing gig:

Synopsis:

Take a musical trip down memory lane through classic ‘50s and ‘60s tunes with this smash Off-Broadway hit jukebox musical. In Act I, we meet Springfield High School Song Leaders Cindy Lou, Missy, Betty Jean and Suzy when they’ve been called upon to entertain as last-minute replacements at their 1958 Super Senior Prom. 

Then in Act II, the Wonderettes reunite and take the stage at their ten-year reunion, and we learn about everything life has thrown their way in the decade since they were last together. 

​The Marvelous Wonderettes features over 30 classic hits ranging from “Lipstick on Your Collar” and “Sincerely” to “It’s My Party” and “Son of a Preacher Man”.  It’s the show The New York Times called “Effervescent and irresistible! An utter charm bomb!”

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Meet the Cast!

To order tickets, click here

You may even hear a familiar voice in the show. I have been cast as Principal Farley and I will be making several announcements during the show! My musical theatrical debut where I am not seen and I don’t have to sing! What could be better ?

Our last full day in the Netherlands led us to Leiden – a wonderful little community with a huge Botanical Garden! Alex was in his glory!

On our last trip to the Netherlands back in 2018, we visited Sneek, a small town where my mom grew up. It is such a great little town that we decided to go again. We were not disappointed.

Our second museum that we visited in The Hague – Naturalis

Another museum which far exceeded our expecations. 7 levels of everything related to the natural history of the world with specific information about the Netherlands

Our next stop was Madurodam – a park filled with the most iconic buildings in the Netherlands! https://www.madurodam.nl/en/the-park

Louwman Automative Museum

In a decidedly different thing for us to do – Alex and I made our way to the Hague and picked the first museum that we googled – the Louwman Automotive museum. The history of the automobile in Europe is showcased in a massive building.

We actually enjoyed every bit of the museum and marvelled at some of the vehicles.

Saturday, September 9 saw us hit the Amsterdam suburb of Amstelveen. Another beautiful community. Little fact: Our airline that we used, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has their international headquarters in Amstelveen!

Our next stop was Haarlem. The capital of the province of North Holland,

We spent an afternoon just touring around exploring this quiet city with its amazing architecture.

Our hotel is more like a long term stay facility. When we were there in 2018, we had an amazing time – in no small part due to the on-site 24 hour grocery store located on the main floor. There, we could buy fresh groceries including dairy, baked goods, fresh fruits and vegetables. There was a convection over that you could flash cook as wide variety of frozen meals. This proved to be a bit of a life saver for Alex due to his dietary issues. It was also very cost effective.

This trip, the hotel was under new management and we were disappointed that the grocery store now stocked more beer and wine than anything else. Gone were the dairy, fresh fruits and veggies and baked goods. Replaced with alcohol. It made us sad. Our room was also disappointing in that we had no kleenex, face cloths and only one small package of shampoo and conditioner. So, we had to find a local grocery store to purchase those items along with some food such as milk, fresh fruit, sandwich stuff and the like.

This proved to be a bit of a life saver as Alex had more than his usual stomach issues. Our first meal out resulted in Alex being up most of the night with stomach distress. Fortunately, we had the foresight to bring along a variety of stomach remedies. *Whew

Anyway, outside our hotel was a beautiful canal with some amazing Houseboats – we were suitably impressed with a number of them.