Celinde Schoenmaker

Celinde Schoenmaker (born 15 January 1989) is a Dutch musical artist .^[1] She studied Music at the Fontys Academy of Arts in Tilburg; she graduated this training in 2012 with summa cum laude honors. At that time she had already been cast for the female lead in the Dutch version of Ghost the Musical , but this production was postponed indefinitely and never came to pass. Since then, she has appeared as Fantine in the West End production of the musical Les Misérables and as Jenny Cavalleri in the Dutch touring production of Love Story. From 7 September 2015 she has been playing in the West End production of The Phantom of the Opera in the role of Christine Daaè.

Life and career

Early life and education

Shoenmaker lived during her childhood in Dordrecht, Papendrecht, Miami, and Etten-Leur. From a very young age, she studied with youth theater schools, including the Brabants Bont Theater in Etten-Leur. Later, she played two seasons in the role of Tessie in Annie and starred in Oliver! and Pinocchio.^[2][3]

After obtaining her high school diploma, Shoenmaker studied Liberal Arts for a year at Oxford Brookes University. She chose this broad study because she did not know exactly what she wanted to study. At the end of that year, in April 2008, she played Dorothy in a school production of The Wizard of Oz.^[4] She never had singing lessons prior to that time. Once back in the Netherlands, she was admitted to the Fontys Academy of Arts in Tilburg. During the training she played roles in A Little Night Music, The Secret Garden, and Grand Hotel. She was taught by Edward Hoepelman, Ingrid Zeegers, Marc Krone, Roeland Vos, Julia Bless and Danielle Waijers, among others.

In April 2012 she completed the Music course summa cum laude.^[5] In June of that year she was awarded the Jacques de Leeuw Prize, as the most talented student of executive education in the Netherlands. This award is designed to give young, talented artists the opportunity to develop themselves.^[5] The prize money she spent largely other courses in Estill Voice Training System (ETVS, a vocal technique) and extra singing lessons.

Career

During the last year of her training, Shoenmaker was cast in the starring role of Molly Jensen in the Dutch production of Ghost the Musical, alongside Freek Bartels, Ton Sieben and Joanne Telesford.^[6] The first performance was to be on 28 August 2012 in the Beatrix Theater. However, the production was delayed for an indefinite period of time; This also affected the productions in the West End, Broadway, and the planned Australian production.^[7][8]

Shoenmaker herself said that the disappointment that came from the cancellation of Ghost was overcome quickly. She moved to London after being cast in the role of Fantine in the West End production of Les Misérables.^[9] a role which Schoenmaker has referred to as a "dream role".^[10] On 14 January 2013 she replaced Sierra Boggess in the role, and thus made her official West End debut. After 15 June of that year, Schoenmaker passed the baton to Na-Young Jeon.^[11][12]

On 7 September 2015, Schoenmaker returned to the West End Stage in the female lead of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera as the female lead of Christine Daaé. On 27 September 2016, Schoenmaker performed opposite Ben Forster in the show's 30th Anniversary performance; also performing alongside Michael Ball, Sierra Boggess, and John Owen-Jones in the encore.

References