Rebecca on Broadway- Page 2

[DickonDefysGravity]

Posted: 12/20/07 at 6:46pm

but will it star the fabulous Rebecca Luker? :P

[uncageg]

Posted: 12/20/07 at 6:47pm

I think they are getting Rebecca DeMornay!

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

[Phantom05]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 12:37am

Okay, so let me say this...The cast recording is, in my opinion, pretty good but does not nearly display the musical range of the show. However, after purchasing the complete live recording of the production on I-Tunes, it is absolutely one of the most exciting things I have heard in a long time. Those that have been lucky enough to see it in Vienna already know that is is visually stunning and so well directed, but with this recording you can truly get an idea of just how exciting the show really is; it's hard to stop listening!

If Rebecca does end up tranferring over, I'm sure Michael Kunze will work with someone lyrically as well as with the dialogue to have it performance ready. Sylvester Levay has been reworking music, rescoring orchestrations, etc., which I think is fantastic! Lets put it this way, the production in Vienna was a world premier for this show so they were probably prepared for tweaking. If Vereinigte Bühnen Wien is planning on transferring the piece, or at least has a hand in it, I don't think anyone will be worrying about production values, as they were incredible in the premier!

ANYHOO, I couldn't be more excited! I think the show stands on its own, not running alongside others like Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, etc., it just isn't the same style in my opinion; much more of a book musical compared to the creator's other shows, and extremely plot driven! It could definitely be hit or miss, but would provide some incredible roles for those that win them and a welcome break from the type of shows that have been opening recently.

Phantom05

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 12/30/07 at 10:43am

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.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 2/16/08 at 8:54am

I've been listening to samples on iTunes. My God, what a score. I would so love to see an English translation of this. Mrs. Danvers is a role that could easily win a woman a Tony. At the same time, I DO think that it would lose something in the English translation. As long as they don't screw it up like Dance of the Vampires. Never saw it but I've heard the stories.

[DeNada]

Posted: 2/16/08 at 10:50am

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...

[Sykes24]

Posted: 2/16/08 at 12:26pm

i think it sounds really cool. i'd see it!

[kooky]

Posted: 2/16/08 at 4:56pm

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

[rabymon10]

Posted: 2/16/08 at 5:53pm

Here's my thoughts concerning a transfer - not meant to be definitive or anything, I wrote it all out in paragraphs before but lost the page, so the list thing kind of made it quicker and easier for me a second time 'round.

1. Keep Zambello. The imagery she was able to create on stage, and the dramatic tension she was able to bring out of each scene... it's rare these days, and she knew what she was doing this time. Everyone has their sour note sometime or another, 'Mermaid' just might have been hers.

2. I agree about cutting a couple of 'Rebecca' reprises, but perhaps it would be better to keep the Act 1 finale version intact, as it brings the show back full circle and is the PERFECT set up to Act 2. People will be talking fo hours for hours about that 'thrilling and chilling' finish to the first act.

3. As much as I love 'Wir sind britich', it's got to go for a Broadway transfer. I can tell the critics would just love to savage into the show for quirky little numbers like that, more so because it would be said to have an 'identity crisis'. I like the kitsch - it's what brought me to the production, but it's just not going to work outside of Europe, and perhaps Japan.

4. Orchestrations... this is where I'm most torn - and it's mostly concerning the Prologue too. So many synthesizers... not good; but they give a very haunting feeling that suits the situation perfectly - though I can't see them going down well with audiences. I would be most welcoming of fuller orchestrations for numbers like 'Sie ergibt sich nicht'; numbers like that have the potential to sound magnificent.

From what I've seen so far of the Japanese production, I wouldn't be surprised if a large portion of the show is a replica of the Vienna production; the costumes are for the most part already a copy...

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 2/16/08 at 8:45pm

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.

[DeNada]

Posted: 2/17/08 at 6:03am

kooky, I've never seen the show. I do have the complete live recording, though, which contains all the dialogue (my German isn't great but it's more than passable!), and I've seen enough of Uwe Kroger's acting before and in video footage from Rebecca to judge it pretty well...

I do LIKE the Act 1 Finale (not so much the first "Rebecca", like so many foreign musicals the lyrics make me laugh when translated into English!) but I just worry about over-exposure to the song. It's Lloyd Webber syndrome - they KNOW that it's a fantastic song, but it's just in the show too much!

The difficulty with the first "Rebecca" is that it needs to avoid repeating the content of "She's Unstoppable" and "She Was Used To Being Loved" just before the song starts. Obviously I'm no lyricist/book writer, but I agree that if the song were more personal to Mrs D it would work better. The difficulty is keeping up the illusion of whether or not she really is evil after "She Was Used..." - the audience knows she's up to something with Favell at this point (although it doesn't help that Carsten Lepper is a merciless ham and plays every line with moustache-twirling relish) and it may be hard to play the scene following without the association.

If that makes any sense.

I don't have any complaints about Zambello's direction - I can't, after all, I've not seen the show beyond B-roll footage. My worry is that given the critical drumming she's just had for Little Mermaid investors may baulk a little at ponying up cash for a show without the same Disney pedigree if she's attached to it. I've heard wildly polarising views on her operas and her recent staging of West Side Story, so I'm not quite sure what to think, really!

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 2/17/08 at 9:33am

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.

[louisamayfoster]

Posted: 2/18/08 at 1:34pm

Chapter 1 of "Rebecca" is one of my all time favorite book openings.

If it wouldn't be too much of a spoiler could someone please report how the play opens?
Updated On: 2/18/08 at 01:34 PM

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 2/19/08 at 11:41am

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.

[louisamayfoster]

Posted: 2/19/08 at 12:04pm

Oh thank you Mattbrain! I would LOVE to see this! The pictures above gave me a start when I first scrolled onto them because they are exactly the type of visions I would love to see for Rebecca on stage.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 9:59pm

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.

[BkCollector]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 11:08pm

I haven't been able to get into Rebecca the same way that I have with Elisabeth.
Elisabeth grabbed me right away, and I'm still collecting recordings of it, I have about 12 so far, including a number of Japanese recordings by the all-female Takarazuka revue, which are simply fascinating.

The story of Rebecca has always been fascinating to me, and while the movie waters it down a bit (I don't want to give away any spoilers, but the original book storyline was a bit more intriguing), but I always seem to remember the Carol Burnett sketch where she keeps screaming "Rebecca!" Does anyone else remember that?

[rabymon10]

Posted: 3/7/08 at 3:14am

^^ 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.