Rebecca on Broadway — Page 2

I think they are getting Rebecca DeMornay!

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Updated On: 12/20/07 at 06:47 PM

Tonight is the closing performance of Rebecca at the Raimund Theatre in Vienna. It will reopen September 2008 at the same theatre until (likely) December, as another musical is slated to open at the Raimund in February 2009.

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I do want to see Rebecca in English, and if it goes to Broadway that'd be great. However, it's a show that, as it stands, won't work in English at all, will be savaged by the critics.

Kunze and Levay have a history of tinkering with their scores, but they need to do some pretty heavy work to get it into shape for an English-speaking audience and critics like Brantley et al. The main things I think need doing are:

i) Cut "We're British" and heavily rewrite "I'm an American Woman" at any rate. They're stereotypical and nonsensical to an English audience (admittedly "We're British" is different in the English demo, but then no-one wanted to produce that...)

ii) Think of a way to avoid reprising "Rebecca" so many times. If there was any way to cut the first act usage (the first "Rebecca" and the Act 1 finale) they should use it; give Mrs Danvers a new song for when they first go into Rebecca's bedroom, because the two second act versions (the Rebecca reprise and "I Hear You Singing") are vastly superior lyrically and dramatically.

iii) Beef up Maxim's role somehow. It's probably a consequence of Uwe Kroger's acting, but the character is supposed to be aloof, mysterious and brooding, not a shouty whiner. "No Smile Was Ever So Cold" is a brilliant piece of exposition, but "God, Why?" is musically strange and mostly an excuse for belting.

I think they'll be lucky to find investors given that Francesca Zambello is hardly flavour of the month when it comes to Broadway musicals and Tanz der Vampire was such a flop (Kunze and Levay together have no pedigree in the English language, although Kunze is very highly regarded as a translator).

Does anyone know if there are any changes planned to the score etc. for the very shortly forthcoming Japanese premiere? Toho have done their own stagings of Elisabeth and Mozart so I'd presume it won't be a reproduction of the VBW show in staging, but I'd be interested to know if there are any major changes planned. I'd love to see Sylvia Grav play Mrs Danvers...

Very interesting DeNada, how many times did you see the show?

The current Act I finale is bone-chilling. The stair case turning to the side, Mrs. Danvers belting Rebecca's name, emerging from the shadows, and the vocals of the ensemble in the background...it's fabulous!

I do however, think that the very first "Rebecca" in the bedroom should be replaced with a more subtle song, it would make the explosion of Act I's finale so much more effective. Danver's should sing a subdued, chilling song about the room and its former inhabitor...she'd seem more mournful than villainous.

In the novel, the reader questions Danver's motives at first. Through "I"'s narration, you question whether she is evil or just melancholy, seeing a different Mrs. DeWinter. Because we can't have the heroine narrate the whole thing to death, I believe that changing the bedroom song would help keep that questioning in tact.

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Ok, DeNada, Dance of the Vampire's failure on Broadway was not the fault of the material. From what I've heard, it would've been a much better show had they not screwed with the material and made it a complete comedy and, frankly, had they not cast Michael "Huge Ego" Crawford.

I just bought the complete live recording on iTunes. The score is amazing. I'm listening to Eine Hand wäscht die andre Hand. The score alone is superior to the French pop spectacles. Thank God I saw the movie before I even knew this show existed.

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I didn't actually see the show but the opening number is called, in English, I Dreamed of Manderley. So it's basically the opening of the novel as a song. Hope that helps.

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Yeah, I definitely think that it's the opening of the novel/movie set to music because I am 99% sure that one lyric translates into "And Rebecca's ghost...". God bless cognates.

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^^ This seems to be the general consensus with a large portion of people who have been exposed to the likes of 'Elisabeth' first. I've got to say though, it does *seem* almost as if quite a few of the songs in 'Elisabeth' were written to be hits; I mean, just look at how big, dramatic, and climatic each moment of the show is, enhanced so forth much more by the songs, as opposed to a lot of subtler songs sprinkled along the way in 'Rebecca'.

Either way, I love them both the same - maybe a little more obsessive over 'Elisabeth', but that could be because it's open a bit more to interpretation due to book and lyrical elements, countless different produtions, and a lot of recordings too; so there's a lot from the show to keep you busy in it.