In her anniversary performance ‘The Landlady’, Simone Kleinsma is convincingly the villainous diva

The days when she was the star of the revue are long behind Madeleine Coutard (Simone Kleinsma). She is now well into her seventies, and the fame and tinsel have been exchanged for obscurity and automatic pill boxes. All the glamor she has left is her extravagant best friend and former costume designer ‘Kimono’ (Paul Groot), and her beautiful house on the canal.

But on the advice of the overly involved community nurse Nancy (Lottie Hellingman), Madeleine gives up part of that house. To pay the bills, she sublets some rooms to a bunch of young theater students. And in the meantime, an ambitious biographer occasionally appears in her home, who wants to record Madeleine’s tumultuous life – the men, the affairs, the sudden end of her career – in detail.

A lot happens in the new musical The landlady, which was written especially for Kleinsma in honor of her anniversary year. The grand lady of the musical has been on stage for 45 years and celebrated its 65th anniversary in May. The leading role she was given as a gift gives her the opportunity to play a dryly funny diva with a small heart. She can do that like no other, especially when she is assisted by Groot. The pair create a convincing friendship between two cynical artists, who have clung to each other harder with every disappointment in the outside world.

The highlight of Kleinsma’s diva act is the song ‘I’ll be fine’, which she sings during a flashback, wrapped in fur and glitter, after an argument with her lover. The warm voice with which she sings to her love that all may go well for him, her villainous smile when the lyrics take a different turn (“You said: ‘I love you’, but I always knew you were lying/And hopefully you will get she’d raise it once in a while”), the flawless outburst that drips with self-confidence – this song alone would have been enough to bring the character of Madeleine Coutard to life.

After such a direct hit it becomes clear that the majority of the many other songs are less memorable, and that the majority of the many characters add little to the story. This is in no way due to their singing and acting talent: it is the text that is lacking here. Young theater students in particular, who have to represent a new generation that clashes with the old, are faring poorly.

They express their frustrations about the world with sentences such as: “the baby boomers, all of them, are eating our world bare”, but ultimately realize that they do have something to learn from older generations. This leads to a rather cringeworthy climax when the most assertive student expresses this new insight in a good rap, while his friends softly chant the lyrics “Respect is allowed/ Think before you speak.”

The landlady could have benefited from fewer forced storylines and moral edges, but fortunately it has a strong cast to overcome those flaws. And with such a tightly directed show, beautiful costumes and colorful decor, you will ultimately be welcomed by hostess Kleinsma.

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