Part of the MECC conference center in Maastricht will be given a metamorphosis into a theater with 1,250 seats. That is the maximum number of seats that the MECC can place within the corona rules.
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Under the name M-theater, artists such as Najib Amhali, Jeroen van der Boom, Dutch Eagles and the Metropole Orchestra are on the program.
Vrijthof
M-theater is an initiative of the Theater aan het Vrijthof and the MECC. The idea of converting the conference hall into a theater stage arose at Jean Boelen, director of the Maastrichtse Schouwburg, even before the corona virus emerged in the Netherlands.
Rieu
It was André Rieu who inspired the theater director with his Christmas concerts at the MECC in 2019. “This is great, we can really create something beautiful here”, Boelen thought when he saw the space as Rieu had dressed it.
South hall
“It was actually very simple”, adds commercial director Frank Mimpen of the MECC. “The theater was looking for space for more performances, we have the opportunity to use our hall for this.” The pop-up theater is being built in the South Hall of the conference center and is separate from the renovation of the MECC.
Biggest
The initiative does not stand alone: the Brabanthallen in Den Bosch and MartiniPlaza in Groningen have also transformed a conference hall into a theater. With 1,250 seats ‘corona proof’, the temporary M-theater is the largest theater in Limburg.
Basting
The theater project must be able to support itself financially. Boelen and Mimpen have every confidence in this. “We notice from the presale of Musica Sacra that people are eager to visit a performance again”, says Boelen. Mimpen, in turn, is happy with the extra buzz in his MECC. “This shows that together we can mean something for the city and the region.”
Limitations
Despite its size, the temporary theater does have a number of limitations. For example, there is no fly tower with a pull wall. In a theater, that is the construction to which canvases and set pieces are attached. Because these facilities are not available, there is no possibility to stage technically ingenious musicals in the M theater. As a result, the emphasis of the programming is mainly on cabaret and musical performances.
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