To ensure that the production does not lack in quality the board is employing a team of creatives. These creatives will each work on their own division, staging and advising the students according to the concept. For the upcoming performance the board chose:
Director – Robert Middelburg
Robert is an actor/director who has directed many theatre pieces over the years in Enschede. He has directed, among others, Theatre Association NEST, Stichting In Spe and Enschedees Vrije Toneel. He directed West Side Story (2019) and Fiddler on the Roof (2021). In 2016, he started the cultural collaboration project Jesus Christ Superstar, which resulted in the formation of InSpe.
Robert acted alongside Renée van Wegberg (Joseph, Wicked) and Steyn de Leeuwe (BNN Try Before You Die, VOC) in ‘De Freule’ in 2022 at de Steengroeve in Winterswijk. De Freule was directed by Jasper Verheugd (Stork! , Het Verzet Kraakt) and choreographed by Chiara Re (Evita, The Prom, Mamma Mia).
Aside from this, Robert works at the University of Twente as an educational consultant at the Centre of Expertise in Learning & Teaching. Here, he coaches and trains (beginning) teachers, advices on educational aspects and works on community learning and promoting diversity and inclusion in education. Furthermore, he set up a Performance Skills course for university teachers.
Conductor -Michael Rein
During the recent years he studied conducting at the Maastricht Conservatory and at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague with Enrico Delamboye, Jan Stulen, Jac van Steen and Arjan Tien and he participated in various masterclasses with Jorma Panula, Isaac Karabtchevsky, Julius Kalmar, Mark Heron and Clark Rundell. He conducted the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, the Lüneburger Sinfoniker, the Vaasa City Orchestra, the World Youth Orchestra, the Orchestra Regionale Filarmonia Veneta and the Orquestra de Câmara SESIMINAS and was assistant conductor for Jan Willem de Vriend (Schwetzinger Festspiele), Arjan Tien (Jeugd Orkest Nederland and Nederlands Studenten Orkest) and Alpesh Chauhan (Netherlands Symphony Orchestra). In the scope of his masters-studies he has focused on ensemble-works from the time of Arnold Schoenbergs Viennese “Society for private musical performances”. He writes arrangements of orchestral music of the 20th century for this type of ensemble, most recently Alexander Zemlinskys “Symphonic Songs op. 20” He is in great demand for coaching violin sections of the Youth Orchestras of the Netherlands, Nederlands Studenten Orkest, Nederlands Strijkersgilde, Nieuw Nijmeegs Kamerorkest, Symfonia Jong Twente, Twents Jeugd Symfonie Orkest and the World Doctor’s Orchestra. For many years he has a close relation to South America: he toured already in Chile, Bolivia and Brasil and was six times invited to play and teach at the FIMUPA festival in Belém do Para in the Amazonas region.
Choreographer – Melanie Leferink
Melanie has been a dance teacher since 2002 and choreographer for different age groups and levels. From her early age she was already on the stage, in dance shows and musical productions a lot. The theater is like her home.
In her own dance school she teaches toddlers with their first steps on the dance floor and helps them to push to their limits. She does the teaching not only for the little ones but also for adult dancers who she supports with a lot of passion and personal involvement. Her strength is that she can make one strong group of different individuals in which everyone feels at home.
Melanie: “For me, dancing is an outlet and I can be completely free. It is nice when my students experience the same. Whether it is with a simple routine or a spicy choreography, the feeling of pride and respect remains the same. ”
Vocal Coach – Roxine Engelberts