Antwerp Zoo is already canceling musical for Easter holidays: “There i… (Antwerp)
In July, the Antwerp Zoo proudly announced that another musical was in the works. After the success of Zoo of life, the Zoo hoped to score with obaia. “An ode to nature”, original producer Anja Stas told the story during the performance. The show is now deleted in its entirety. “Too much uncertainty”, explains Zoo spokeswoman Ilse Segers.
obaia was scheduled during the Easter holidays and was to take place in the Queen Elisabeth Hall. At the performance of the musical last summer, the beautiful message of obaia number. “We want to honor nature”, Anja Stas sounds convinced. “During the corona period, we discovered together how important it is for our well-being. We want people to fall in love with the beauty of Mother Earth again.”
“The message remains intact”, responds Ilse Segers. “We will also be very happy to bring, but with a heavy heart we are now informing all involved that the fairy tale is not going to happen. Actors, dancers, singers,… but also photographers, printers and other employees. There is too much ambiguity. Can such a production continue during the Easter holidays? What is allowed and what is not allowed? And will people want to buy tickets by then?”
tickets
Although the organization screens with safety measures to tell you. “The ventilation is enormous. There is a lot of focus on people’s health, but if visitors do not feel good about going to a large hall, they will not buy tickets for the time being.”
“Procrastinating was not an option. That is very difficult in terms of agenda. For the actors and employees, but also for recording the room. It’s a big production that’s played several days in a row, that’s not easy. Ultimately, in terms of timing, we arrived at 2024 and that ran into a failure with the management. That is far too far ahead to commit now and so it has been decided to pull out. Much to our regret.” The sale has been stopped and the tickets sold will be refunded.
crying hard
It is also a cold shower for the cast and crew. Director Luc Stevens is at the heart of it. “We are all deeply affected. I have notified all actors. There was real crying. That is not only a job and income that are lost for us, our passion and our morals are also heavily taxed,” says Stevens. “Of course we understand the decision of the Zoo. This kind of production requires a huge investment and the situation is very uncertain at the moment. So no blame, just a lot of regret. Especially because we met this great team.”
Three years of work in the trash? “Unfortunately. Although I still hope that it might come about. Everything is ready. Scenario, music, even the voice recordings have happened. It is a real shame to let that get lost, but it is not in it for the time being. ”
Road connection
“What I find so unfortunate about the whole crisis is that what I have stood for for years, the connection and the warmth between people, is now completely lost,” Stevens sighs. “People should keep their distance and avoid each other. Vaccinated and unvaccinated are diametrically opposed. Hopefully we will find each other again soon. Not only in the theater and on stage, but also beyond. Hopefully it will get better soon, otherwise we will have to look for another job with many. Let’s hope that christmas magic, which is planned in December in ten castles, can continue. A lot of people have worked hard on that too.”