In the Key Moments series, the main character highlights five benchmarks from his/her life. This week: Huub van der Lubbe. He was the singer of De Dijk and now plays the title role in the musical De man van La Mancha. “The trick is not to be limited by the boundaries that others impose on you.”
He wanted something different, after forty years at De Dijk. “I knew there was more to discover. But I didn’t know what. To figure that out I had to clear my head. And my hands are free.” It became a musical. Behind the scenes of the performance The man from La Mancha he talks about the benchmarks of his life.
Key moment 1
The day: a spring day in 1968
The place: St. Michaël College in Zaandam
On stage for the first time
“I was born in Amsterdam, I lived in Krommenie from the age of 10. It was a time of playing football at village club GVO, lots of volleyball and skating at De Ham. Always enough time, it seemed. In the second year of high school I took part in the school theater. We played The imagined illness by Moliere. I had a role as a pharmacist. I was the only second grader standing between fourth and fifth year students. Still, I liked it. Music was soon added. I had bands with friends. We played wherever they wanted us.”
He attended grammar school and was an altar boy at church. But he considers the football club as his real learning experience. “In the locker room and on the field I learned that there are many types of people. And that they all have their beautiful sides. It didn’t really matter to me that my performances were different from the rest. I never cared much about what others thought. I just did what I felt like. It’s fine that others are different. And the fact that most of them have no desire to be on stage is also a good thing. People should come and watch, right?”
About being different: “If you ask others how things are going, many people say: ‘it’s business as usual’. They are satisfied with that. But I don’t want to think that things are ‘going their own way’ for me. That would make me very unhappy. Way too boring. Something has to happen to me.”
Key moment 2
The day: an autumn day in 1981
The place: a houseboat in Amsterdam
The start of De Dijk
“After studying Dutch for a few years, I switched to directing. In the meantime, I was also in bands with English-language work. I then lived with my brother on a houseboat, which was moored in the Oude Schans. We bought that thing for next to nothing. Enough space, also to make music with friends. One day those boys were rehearsing there. Good music, great guests. But I thought: there needs to be a singer. And there must be texts. Well, that’s what I started doing.” The boat was close to the Zeedijk. Hence the name: De Dijk.
It is the birth of a band that would last for more than forty years. They make twenty albums, good for classics like bleeding heart, Dancing on the volcano, When she’s not there and I can’t do it alone.
He abandons his directorial ambitions. “After I had been involved in that world for a few years, I discovered that the will to direct well is almost a recipe for unhappiness. Because in practice you usually only achieve half of what you have in mind. In addition, I lacked the wisdom to give instructions to experienced actors. With the guys from the band I sat among peers and we could determine our own course. That happened quickly and enthusiastically. That happened immediately and in front of you, without you having to explain to half the world what your plan was. That’s why I was able to express myself better in it.”
Key moment 3
The day: a spring day in 1976.
The place: the theater school in Amsterdam
Meeting with Teuntje Klinkenberg, who would become his partner
“We were both in the directing course at the theater school. She is a year higher than me. She is the most beautiful, sweetest, best, most intelligent and warmest woman I know. It helps that we both love theater.” No, he didn’t have to conquer her, he says. “She had me in the snot before I had her. I am very lucky in my life.” They had a daughter and are now grandparents of a grandson.
Key moment 4
The day: December 18, 2022
The place: Paradiso, Amsterdam
De Dijk’s farewell concert
“We had a great time. Performed everywhere, done everything. But no matter how wonderful we had it, after more than forty years I knew it.”
“We tried new things in the theaters, but that didn’t go well. Perhaps understandable, because theater occasionally requires silence and musicians want to make music. And coming up with something new again was no longer an option. So eventually it didn’t challenge me anymore. We could have continued with it for years, but eventually we started to get tired of it. For me it was time for a new step.”
Key moment 5
Day: Sunday December 17, 2023
The place: the Amsterdam DeLaMar Theater
Debut in a major musical
“When they asked me for The man from La Mancha I immediately said yes, because it is my favorite musical. I play Don Quixote, a colorful, expressive man of ideals. A man after my own heart. He is bullied, he is beaten up and he is taunted, but he continues to believe in a better world and speaks out about it.”
“So he does not accept the impossibility of his dreams, as many people do. I like that, because it is the art of not being limited by the boundaries that others prescribe for you. Anyone who does accept this will become a grump. I admit that it is an art to remain optimistic in these times, but we still owe it to the generations after us. That belief in your ideals is now more necessary than ever. That’s why I like to see Don Quixote as an example.”
“We have been working with a small team to prepare the performance for a few years. The lyrics were updated and they asked me to translate the songs again. I had never done translation before, but it is close to my old craft, so it was immediately familiar.”
Does this mean a new career in the musical world? “Maybe. But I’m not worried about what comes next. I’ve been so lucky already.”
IN BRIEF
Huub van der Lubbe (1953) studied Dutch at the University of Amsterdam and trained in theater directing at the Amsterdam Theater School. From 1981 he was the singer and lyricist of De Dijk. He also acted in fifteen films, such as the Oscar-winning film De Aanslag. Huub is the father of a daughter and grandfather of a grandson. He lives with his wife in Amsterdam. Plays from next Saturday (February 17) to March 3 The man from La Mancha at MartiniPlaza in Groningen. The performance will then be held in Breda, The Hague, Hoorn, Apeldoorn, Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Rotterdam and Haarlem. • manvanlamancha.nl