American-Based Thinkwell Produces Japan's Dutch-Themed Park

In Nagasaki, Japan, California-based Thinkwell Design and Production recently completed production on more than 13 hours of park-wide entertainment for the 2004 season of Japan’s Huis Ten Bosch, a Dutch-themed entertainment park and resort. Tokyo-based Future Planet, Huis Ten Bosch’s entertainment company and operators, approached Thinkwell to conceive, write, and co-produce new shows, street entertainment, and an original musical with a full cast of performers for the 300-acre theme park.

Thinkwell provided the design, casting, operations plans, and production supervision for the project. "We created a very efficient and economical solution for Future Planet and Huis Ten Bosch," says Joe Zenas, Thinkwell partner and producer of the project. "By [using] us for the entire package we were able to provide them with significant cost savings."

"The daytime show starts as a festival in the authentic streets of Holland," says Craig Hanna, executive creative director at Thinkwell. "It later becomes a procession through the park, leading to a celebration in Town Square that transforms into an audience participation show. The [evening] production is an original musical with a cast of over twenty performers set on a real seaside dock." For the story of a young man searching for his true love, Thinkwell added to the original music with a black light sequence, and a gold and silver fireworks finale.


The original musical, designed by Thinkwell, plays each night at Huis Ten Bosch

Thinkwell partner Francois Bergeron believes the reason for Thinkwell’s success for the project is their experience with large international projects. "Based on our entertainment experience, our creative team, production capabilities and our expertise in Japan, Future Planet came to us to design and partner in the development of the park-wide entertainment," he says. "Our track record of successfully creating and producing international entertainment, mindful of cultural expectations was a key component of this partnership."

For more information on Thinkwell visit their website at: www.thinkwelldesign.com .