The Dutch musical Joe, which opened 31 August 1997 in Amsterdam, will give it's last performance on Sunday 29 March 1998 in The Hague. Joe, which received mixed reviews, had a production budget of 12 million Dutch Guilders (approx. 6 million US dollars) and was seen by an estimated 300.000 people.

The musical by composer Ad van Dijk and lyricist Koen van Dijk (who also wrote the only Dutch musical to be performed on Broadway, Cyrano, the Musical) and was based on the 1943 film A Guy Named Joe directed by Victor Fleming and starring Spencer Tracy. The musical Joe was directed by Jos Thie and had a cast of 38, starring Stanley Burleson, Vera Mann, Mathilde Santing, Rolf Koster, Simone Kleinsma and Will van der Meer. The original cast CD is released on Endemol Home Records.

This weekend will also see the last performance of the Dutch touring version of West Side Story and the musical Nilsson, based on the life of Harry Nilsson. Nilsson starred musical actor Bill van Dijk, who played the role of Cyrano in the musical of the same name in The Netherlands and on Broadway.

All three musicals were produced by Holland's largest legit theater producer, Joop van den Ende Theaterprodukties, which also has formed a joint-venture with Dodger Productions for the American market.

--By Maxim Bezembinder
Netherlands