STILL SINGING AFTER ALL THESE YEARS

Veteran Dutch musical actress recalls her favorite memories of important productions and how Chinese audiences surprise her, Zhang Kun reports.

Dutch musical actress Maya Hakvoort won the Shanghai Magnolia Stage Performance Award on Feb 27. She is one of a few foreign artists to have won the award at all 33 sessions.

The Magnolia Award is Shanghai's annual celebration of live theater and honors the best stage productions and actors. Hakvoort won the award for her performance in the title role of Lady M, a musical production in English by Shanghai Culture Square and Xu Jun Drama and Musical.

Since landing a role in the musical Chicago in 1988, Hakvoort has built a prolific career on the German and English-language musical scene, performing in several important productions such as Elisabeth, Mozart!, and Evita, among others.