The "Rebecca" Saga Continues — Page 2

One glaring problem is that almost all the sets/costumes are finished, so assuming the producers can get the money, its coming. If I'm not mistaken, if the show doesn't happen, they will have to pay out the cast (again - those who keep extending), designers, VWB, etc. Its costly for it not to open.

I wonder if Jill Paice (who I think is the absolute perfect actress for the role) will continue with it, given that American in Paris has success. Karen Mason, James Barbour certainly will; I question if Ryan Silverman will. Lisa O'Hare is available now also (the producers liked her in London as an alternate to Sierra Boggess).

"@g.d.e.l.g.i.-your excusing of what is alleged to have happened on the ground that everyone does it is really icky."

Really icky, and also really true. Again, I am not justifying the use of fraud to report fraud, but I am not shocked that Thibodeau chose the method he chose if he wanted to continue to work.

Updated On: 5/13/15 at 01:52 PM

^ Most shows with this baggage, yes. This show has contracts, sets, rights, has had the same theatre reserved twice with a marquee up that will be open in the fall. Its clinching on for dear life, but not completely dead yet.

g.d.e.l.g.i., what was icky to me was not the underlying saga but your statement that "if there was a whistle-blower like Thibodeau on every show about every incident that might be considered criminal activity, we would have no industry." I find that not only false but offensive. broadway theatre is not rife with criminality.

philly, I know you want to believe there is some force pushing the show forward based on having had it together already but the truth is that those items are either neutral or additional expenses that have to be added to the budget (and probably the capitalization as well). Several years of storage for sets and costumes probably has run up a bill almost as big as starting from scratch, plus there is major additional teamster expenses involved. And nothing that sits for that long doesn't deteriorate, and that means extra load in time and headaches. And remember the rights are still in place because additional money changed hands. The truth is, the budget for this show is probably +25% where it was before. And the show is not coming in for Fall but (allegedly) Spring. No one can say what theatre will be available then, and I seriously doubt any landlord is jumping for joy for this show in any event.

I think, if "Rebecca" ever opens on Broadway, it will have a decent shot. The novel has become a true English language classic. If the musical manages to reproduce the mood of the book (its brooding sense of doom), that would be quite an achievement -- one that should guarantee a hit.

Also, the fangirls and overgrown fangirls (like me) haven't had a new musical in which to squee at a male lead in some time -- POTO is a fave, but let's face it, most of us have seen it over and over. Dr. Zhivago was the most promising romantic musical in some time, but it apparently decided to make war and not love.

"Rebecca," however, is the stage equivalent of a "chick flick." Whoever is cast as Maxim de Winter will undoubtedly be a heartthrob, no less than Tam Mutu or James Barbour, both of whom were slated to play the role. With a sympathetic "I" and a properly malevolent and charismatic Mrs. Danvers, the dramatic potential is enormous.

I think the producers realized that they were seeking audiences who have spent a lot of time at the Majestic -- they cast a bunch of Phantom expats, in both the first and second casts. If James Barbour goes from mask to Maxim, he will be yet another Phantom alum. If the show can capture the women who can't get enough of POTO, it should do fine. It may not run for 27 years, but 5 would be a possibility.

Just my two cents ... or my wishful thinking.

g.d.e.l.g.i., we are not talking about interpersonal relations; we are talking about fraud. But it seems like you are, for whatever reason(s), oblivious, and are just not gonna get it. Such is life.

Well, to me, the expression "a whistle-blower like Thibodeau" does not contemplate someone poking around dark backstage areas calling out the inappropriate sexual advances. But if that's where you mind went during a discussion of fraud, that's fine. Not what I was talking about, but yes, that happens.

sure, but we are just talking past each other at this point.

A blast from the past

Adele Holzer

London presents its own challenges for making a show a financial success. Just because he raised the amount he did, there's so guarantee that those investors would have agreed to invest if the show had been in London. Broadway is really the most lucrative theatrical market in the world by a wide margin; thus Broadway can still attract otherwise competent investors to take a leap they might not typically consider, even though the odds are long.

Found this message board interesting and didn't realize, or am I misunderstanding that there had been a production of Rebecca in Australia? If that is the case was there an English cast recording made of this dibocal???

before anyone asks, a dibocal is a contrabassoon with two mouthpieces.

I haven't heard much of the music from the show, so I don't know the type of voice would work best for Mrs. Danvers. However, if it's not strictly operatic, I think that Patty Lupone or Idina Menzel would be great -- they both have the kind of stage presence and personality to play a charismatic villain. Another possibility would be Audra McDonald, but I'm not sure she's old enough. Then again, she apparently blew people away as the Mother Superior in the televised Sound of Music, and she was DEFINITELY too young for that role.