I could say something like “I liked Willemijn back in 2008, when people were still harping on about the past [aka idina menzel]” or that “I liked her before she was popular” or some stupid hipster shit. But my world was is pretty small. Hell, I didn’t know so many people knew about Týr, I thought I had discovered them back east, because nobody listened to metal back there (unless it had ‘core’ at the end), to say nothing about viking metal.

But I’m starting to ramble. Let’s see, when did I first become aware of the amazingness that is Willemijn Verkaik? That was in 2008-2009, when I was still recovering from seeing RENT and thought that idina menzel’s maureen had killed my faith in Wicked. Then I saw this video and fell instantly in love with Willemijn’s Elphaba and my life was changed forever.

No, I’m not talking about some superficial “feels” or “creys” or other, but something that had seriously changed how I lived my life for the past (at that time) eighteen years. When I was five, the only movies I had to watch, aside from religious ones, were Holocaust movies: you know, like The Diary of Anne Frank or The Hiding Place. Yeah, my parents let a five-year-old watch Holocaust films. Needless to say, I hated Germans. I saw them as the most evil people on Earth, who hated and killed people just for fun, because they weren’t blond-haired and blue-eyed like them. That was how I lived my life for the past several years. Then my dad started becoming a bastard and I had an even greater reason to hate blond-haired blue-eyed German people (my father was part-German), as he made my life hell. Then I went to middle and high school and two bullies (one of which actually tried to kill me) were blond-haired blue-eyed Aryan cunts. As if that weren’t enough, my love of viking metal was associated with Nazism and cunt grishnakh of burzum (am i the only one who pronounces it as Tolkien would? It is “boor-zoom”, not “ber-zum”). I had every reason on Earth to loathe German people and my life experiences served as justification.

Then I saw said video. Keep in mind that, at this time, I did NOT know that Willemijn Verkaik was Dutch. I thought she was German: she has a great command of whatever language she speaks (which makes me happy to see how she speaks English on Broadway). While the singing was good, there was one moment in the video that really resonated with me. It was when the Emerald Palace Guards barged into the attic and captured Glinda. In my mind, I made the connection to the Nazis. And then there’s Elphaba, defying gravity AND them. I was still in love with Elphaba’s character and saw her defiance as something I could admire, respect and love. She would not stand for this oppression, even if it cost her her life. It was then I realized that not all Germans were Nazis. Funny, my hatred for Germans began and ended with Dutch women. Now I’m making it up by getting back to the pure, noble and good aspects of my German heritage, all those great things which existed prior to the 1930s.

So yes, Willemijn Verkaik changed my life in a profound way. I cannot thank her enough for what she did for me. Yes, I was a fan of hers back in 2008, when pining for idina menzel was STILL at an all-time high (it’s still significant, especially on here, but not as much as it was back then), and got to watch Willemijn go from being one that only German people knew, to one that was loved on both sides of the Pond. Back in the day, I called myself a “Willemite”, and didn’t know that we had another name for ourselves. I don’t approve of the horns, though, because viking helmets never had horns, but the chainsaw and mishearing “drag your kids” is okay. But those are the silly aspects of the fandom, ones which I like just because it shows the creativity of those with more time on their hands. I am a fan of hers because she changed my life and she is an amazingly talented woman.

Long live Willemijn Verkaik! Good luck on the Great White Way!