DeLaMar Theater opened near Amsterdam Leidseplein

Yesterday was the official opening of the DeLaMar Theater in Amsterdam, near Leidseplein square.

The opening was carried out by HRH Queen Beatrix.
The theater is a major addition to the theater landscape of Amsterdam, and has been set up by musical producer Joop van den Ende, through his VanDenEnde Foundation.

It took 5 years and E 65 million to complete the new theater, that comes in the place of the old Nieuwe De La Mar theater on the same location.
The building means a dramatica change in the architecture of the Marnixstraat. Some old of old gables have been left intact, against a backdrop of a large glass facade.

The theater will program mainly comedy, musicals and stage plays. It has two halls, with together more than 1,500 seats.
The DeLaMar will mainly serve a Dutch audience, as for most performances knowledge of Dutch is require (also, the website (www.delamar.nl) has information in Dutch only).

Last week Joop van den Ende received the official Gold Medal of the City of Amsterdam, a decoration normally only awarded to mayors of the city who leave office.
The medal bears the inscription 'Mecenas van Mokum' (Patron of the Arts of Amsterdam; the word Mokum is a slang word for Amsterdam, of Jewish origin).
While the current government of the Netherlands is slashing the budgets for the arts, the arts scene will have to rely more on commercial enterprise and rich well-doers, like Mr Joop van den Ende. As such, the medal can be seen as a sign of the times.
Van den Ende is, however, not the first to give a theater to Amsterdam - Oscar Carré gave the famous Carré Theater (along the river Amstel) to Amsterdam in 1887.