Jenny Arean is a Dutch singer, actress and comedian. She is known for her contralto

Contralto

Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above...

 voice.

Life and career

Arean was born in Lisse and raised in Amsterdam. Her father was a waiter and her mother was the singer Conny Renoir. Her mother's mother was also a singer, Henny Verra.

When Arean was 14 years old she saw a performance by the Dutch comedian Wim Sonneveld

Wim Sonneveld

Willem 'Wim' Sonneveld was a Dutch cabaret artist and singer. Together with Toon Hermans and Wim Kan, he is considered to be one of the 'Great Three' of Dutch cabaret. Sonneveld is generally viewed as a Dutch cultural icon for his work and legacy in theatre, musicals and music...

. At that moment she knew where she wanted to be: on stage. Her mother reckoned her too young for that and at the age of 15 Arean quit school and became a housekeeper. In 1960 she got employment at the ABC-cabaret, managed by Wim Kan and his wife Corry Vonk. Vonk suggested she change her name to Jenny Arean.

In the late 1960s Arean played in plays, musicals (En nu naar bed by Annie M.G. Schmidt) and television series.
From 1963 till 1973 she was married to the Dutch actor Huib Rooymans. They had one daughter, Myra, and divorced because Arean had an affair with her colleague Frans Halsema. In 1977 Arean and Halsema had a big hit with the song Vluchten kan niet meer.
In the early 1980s Arean had a relationship with the Dutch journalist and writer Ischa Meijer

Ischa Meijer

Israël Chaim Meijer was a Dutch Jewish journalist, author, actor and television presenter. He survived the Nazi concentration camp Bergen Belsen along with his parents.-Youth:...

. Together they played four productions all written by Meijer. He also stimulated her to play solo productions. In 1985 she played the first one in a long sequence: Gescheiden vrouw op oorlogspad. With that she won at once a few awards, among other things the Johan Kaart Prize and the Scheveningen Cabaret Prize.

Solo productions

• Gescheiden vrouw op oorlogspad (1985)
• Voort gaat ie weer (1986)
• Het Huishoudschoolsyndroom (1991)
• De dame zet zich schrap (1992)
• Alles heeft zijn prijs (1994)
• Voorwaarts en niet vergeten (2000)
• Jenny solo (2005)
• Jenny Arean in concert (2007)

Theatre/musical

• Hooikoorts (1965/1966) (by Noel Coward)
• En nu naar bed (1971)
• En God Zag Dat Het Goed Was (1983) (with Ischa Meijer)
• Neem je een apie voor me mee (1988) (with George Groot)
• Tip Top (1995/1996)
• Heerlijk duurt het langst (1998)
• Chicago (1999)
• Foxtrot (2001)
• Klarenbeek and Verbrugge (2002) (with Willeke Alberti)
• Telkens weer het dorp (2004)
• De Jantjes (2005)
• Het Verschil (2007)
• New Grounds (2009) (with Tango Dorado)
• Jenny Arean and Louis van Dijk (2009)

Television

• Het meisje met de blauwe hoed (1972/2004)
• 't Schaep met de 5 pooten (2006)
• 't Vrije Schaep (met de 5 pooten) (2009)
• 't Spaanse Schaep (2010)

External links

• http://www.jennyarean.ontheweb.nl