Linn van der Zanden

Linn van der Zanden Linn joined Theatre Guild for our 2004 production of Oklahoma!. Read on to discover more about Linn and her performing family [N.B. I didn't mean that to sound like a circus act!]. Linn first caught 'the bug' performing in ballet shows in the Netherlands at an early age, but performing opportunities dried up when she emigrated to a small village in the Highlands in her early teens. However, she did managed to get cast as 'Frankensteins Monster' in a High School production of Frankenstein, during which she learned the ins and outs of using a banana gun! She is delighted that she plucked up the courage to get back on stage with Theatre Guild in 2004 and she returned to chorus roles in our 2005 production of Hello, Dolly! and our 2006 production of Kiss Me Kate. She enjoyed the challenge of her first principal role with the Guild as 'Shy' in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas! She joined our busy Concert Party in 2005 and thoroughly enjoyed the experience until she was forced to leave in 2010 due to other commitments. Says Linn: "... it certainly brightens up the dark winter nights!". Regarding her FIRST ever stage performance, she is not quite sure what or when that was ... "but", continues Linn, "I can tell you I'll be aiming to follow in my grandmother's footsteps for my LAST ever performance as she is still landing parts at the age of 83!". Offstage, (when the glitter wears off!) Linn works for an exam body, looking at how emerging technologies can be used within education. So, it's "back in the suit for the moment!". She claims to have very itchy feet (not literally!), though, so she likes to travel as often as she can! We asked Linn to tell us a funny theatre story: "At the age of 12 I landed my first part as lifeguard Penny Plomp in our Primary School's end of year production where I had to perform a passionate tango with the leading man in my bathrobe, swimcap and goggles (the leading man being the boy I fancied at the time!). Needless to say, things didn't work out...." (Linn's secret: Her mum appeared in the original Oscar-Nominated film adaptation of rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar, filmed in Israel in 1973.)