Circustheater

The Circustheater (AFAS Circustheater) is a musical theatre in The Hague, owned and operated by Stage Entertainment.

AFAS Circustheater

AFAS Circustheater in 2016
Address	Circusstraat 4, 2586 CW The Hague Netherlands
Coordinates	52.110833°N 4.2825°E / 52.110833; 4.2825
Owner	Stage Entertainment
Capacity	1852
Production	Current: Anastasia Fall 2021: Aladdin
Website
AFAS Circustheater

History

The theatre dates back to 1904, when it was designed by Wilhelmus Barnardus van Liefland and was built to house Circus Schumann during the summer season. When the publics interest in the circus declined, the theatre was transformed in 1964 to a regular theater to house concerts among others. Over the following decades the theatre started to deteriorate. Joop van den Ende, Stardust B.V. and Xelat Recrea B.V. acquired the theatre from the municipality of The Hague for the symbolic amount of ƒ 1,-. The consortium invested ƒ 25 million and transformed the site into the first open-end musical theatre of The Netherlands, the new theatre was designed by architect Meijs.^[1] The theatre is currently owned and operated by Stage Entertainment, the international live-entertainment company founded by Joop van den Ende.

Sponsorship

The theatre has had a sponsor since the re-opening in 1991. This started with VSB from 1991 till 2004, when VSB merged with Fortis changing the name into Fortis Circustheater. When the bank failed during the 2008 financial crisis the sponsorship stopped in 2010. In 2011 a new sponsor was found in AFAS, resulting in the current name of the complex.^[2]

Productions

Show	Start	End	Notes
Les Misérables	6 December 1991	24 May 1992	Opened originally on 28 February 1991 at Carré Theatre.
The Phantom of the Opera	15 August 1993	3 August 1996
Miss Saigon	24 November 1996	4 July 1999
Elisabeth	21 November 1999	22 July 2001
Aida	21 October 2001	3 August 2003
The Sound of Music	9 September 2003	9 January 2004	Continuation of the original tour premiering on 23 September 2002 at Carré Theatre.
The Lion King	4 April 2004	27 August 2006
Beauty and the Beast	September 2006	13 January 2007	Continuation of the original tour premiering on 2 October 2005 at Carré Theatre.
Tarzan	15 April 2007	24 May 2009	European premiere.
Ciske de Rat	25 June 2009	29 November 2009	Continuation of the original tour premiering on 7 October 2005 at Carré Theatre.
Mary Poppins	11 April 2010	28 August 2011
Wicked	6 November 2011	11 January 2013
Sister Act	3 March 2013	10 August 2014
Billy Elliot	30 November 2014	7 November 2015
Beauty and the Beast	13 December 2015	4 September 2016	Revival production.
The Lion King	30 October 2016	21 July 2019
Anastasia	5 September 2019	On hold	The production has been put on hold, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Sound of Music	June 2021	September 2021	Start of a national tour.
Aladdin	September 2021	26 February 2023	The production was set to premiere in autumn 2020 but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Aida	12 April 2023	14 April 2024	Revival production.
Frozen	31 May 2024	TBA	Previews until 8 June 2024; Premiere 9 June 2024; Performances (Wed-Sun) from 12 June 2024.

Trivia

Replica in Madurodam

• In honour of its 100-year anniversary, Madurodam unveiled a replica of the building on 5 October 2004.