Performance: Andrea van Beek
DUETS WITH JIM
A very personal music theater performance about a mother and her multiple handicapped son. Jim could not walk or talk, but made beautiful sounds. Seized by the musicality of it, his mother absorbed these sounds. Composed by different authors, each composition highlights a different aspect of their life and is in a different musical style. Together with bass clarinet player Gareth Davis and Jim (on tape), Van Beek sings about her struggle with reality and about finding beauty. Her story is about the pain of having a child who is severely handicapped, the need to look at life differently, the simplicity of unconditional love, the fun of daily life and the hardness of death. The story of Jim himself is about pure zest for life and surrender.
Photo (c) Annelies van der Vegt
Andrea van Beek studied classical singing at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. She has sung in choirs including the Collegium Vocale Gent, Amsterdam Baroque Choir and, since 1999, in Cappella Amsterdam. She has worked on many musical theatre productions with contemporary music. She also teaches singing for the acting course at the HKU University of the Arts Utrecht and gives workshops for arts organisation Buitenkunst. She likes to work in a wide variety of locations, and to combine different musical styles. The production DUETS WITH JIM is the most important production she has been involved into date – a monument to her son.