One of Ton Scherpenzeel's "most rewarding" (in various senses) jobs is his work as a composer for theatre companies and comedians. It started on a small scale, with the musical 'Playmate' (1982/83) for the Belgian theatre company Arena. But this side of his career got an enormous boost when he was approached by Dutch comedian Youp van 't Hek. In 1983, Ton worked with the still unknown Youp on an album. And in 1984 they had their first collaboration for Youp's live show. From that year on, Ton became Youp's main composer (and Youp became Holland's most famous comedian). Their collaboration is still intact, after more than 15 shows.
Another famous Dutch comedian (and writer of some extremely funny books) is Harrie Jekkers. With Harrie, Ton worked on some studio albums, the accompanying theatre shows, and two albums of childrens songs.
Ton also worked for two Dutch theatre companies: Opus One (since 1994) and Jeugdtheater Hofplein (more than 50 productions since 1990!). Some Hofplein-productions were written by Harrie Jekkers, and arranged by Ton. The songs of some Opus One and Hofplein-productions were available on CD, though only at the venues where they were performed. Nowadays, they are quite hard to find!
In october 1977, Mathilde Willink died. She was a flamboyant Dutch society figure, and 'living art object'. In 1978, singer Marjol Flore released the single 'Mathilde', as a tribute to Willink. The song (the single has a Dutch and a German version) was composed, arranged and produced by Ton.
On Ton's website, you can find a complete list of his theatre productions.
