Rebecca (musical)
Encyclopedia
Rebecca is a German-language musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...

 based on the novel of the same name
Rebecca (novel)
Rebecca is a novel by Daphne du Maurier. When Rebecca was published in 1938, du Maurier became – to her great surprise – one of the most popular authors of the day. Rebecca is considered to be one of her best works...

 by Daphne du Maurier
Daphne du Maurier
Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning DBE was a British author and playwright.Many of her works have been adapted into films, including the novels Rebecca and Jamaica Inn and the short stories "The Birds" and "Don't Look Now". The first three were directed by Alfred Hitchcock.Her elder sister was...

. It was written by Michael Kunze
Michael Kunze (writer)
Michael Kunze is a German musical theater lyricist and librettist.He is best known for the hit musicals Elisabeth , Dance of the Vampires , Mozart! , and Rebecca ....

 (book and lyrics) and Sylvester Levay
Sylvester Levay
Sylvester Levay is a Hungarian composer. He was born 16 May 1945 in Subotica , in the North Bačka District of Vojvodina, Yugoslavia ; his name is pronounced in English similarly to "lave-ah-ee."...

 (music), the authors of the musicals Elisabeth
Elisabeth (musical)
Elisabeth is a Viennese, German-language musical commissioned by the Vereinigte Bühnen Wien , with book/lyrics by Michael Kunze and music by Sylvester Levay. It portrays the life and death of the Empress consort of Austria, Elisabeth of Bavaria, wife of Emperor Franz Joseph I...

, Mozart!
Mozart!
Mozart! is an Austrian musical, originally written in German. The original book and lyrics were written by Michael Kunze and the music and arrangements were composed by Sylvester Levay. The show is a new imagining of the struggles of the famous composer....

and Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette (musical)
Marie Antoinette is a stage musical with music by Sylvester Levay and lyrics by Michael Kunze, the authors of Elisabeth, Mozart! and Rebecca. The Libretto was written in English and then translated into Japanese. The premiere took place on November 1, 2006 in Tokyo, Japan at the Imperial Garden...

. The plot, which adheres closely to the original novel, revolves around Maxim DeWinter, his new wife, and Mrs. Danvers, the housekeeper of DeWinter's Cornish
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

 estate Manderley, who resents the young woman's intrusion into the world she shared with the first Mrs. DeWinter, the glamorous and mysterious Rebecca, who perished in a drowning accident.

It premiered on September 28, 2006 at the Raimund Theater
Raimund Theater
The Raimund Theater is a theatre in the Mariahilf district of Vienna, Austria.Named after the Austrian dramatist Ferdinand Raimund, the theatre was built by an association of Viennese citizens and opened on 28 November 1893 with Raimund's play Die gefesselte Phantasie...

 in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

, Austria, running for three years. Subsequent productions have been mounted in Finland, Japan and elsewhere.

Productions

Rebecca was written in English. Early workshops and presentations to producers from London were not successful, but a recording in English exists with Pia Douwes
Pia Douwes
Pia Douwes is a Dutch musical theatre actress who is extremly successful in Europe.- Biography :Douwes was born in Amsterdam, North Holland as Petronella Irene Allegonda Douwes, to an arts dealer and a social worker and the grandniece of Doris Day...

 as Mrs. Danvers, Maike Boerdam as "I" and Uwe Kröger
Uwe Kröger
Uwe Kröger is a famous musical star in the German-speaking countries of the world. Besides starring on stage, Kröger has taken part in numerous galas and concerts, as well as making a few television and film appearances...

 as Maxim de Winter.

Vienna
The musical opened in September 2006 at the Vereinigte Bühnen Wien
Vereinigte Bühnen Wien
Vereinigte Bühnen Wien , or United Stages Vienna, is a musical production company based in Vienna, Austria which produced several own musicals that were very successful.- Original musical productions :...

, Vienna, "where it played to sold-out houses totaling more than three years". It was directed by Francesca Zambello
Francesca Zambello
Francesca Zambello is a leading American opera and theatre director. Zambello lived in Europe when she was a child, learning to speak French, Italian, German and Russian. Zambello is of Italian descent, the daughter of Jean , an actress and Charles C. Zambello, a former actor who became head of...

 and choreographed by Denni L. Sayers, with production design by Peter J. Davison, costumes by Birgit Hutter, and lighting by Andrew Voller. According to the theatre's website, "Although the stories behind Elizabeth, Mozart!, Tanz Der Vampire, Rebecca, and Rudolf-Affaire Mayerling are completely different – they have one thing in common: they are in-house productions by the Vereinigte Bühnen Wien." Reviewing the Vienna production, the critic of The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

, Benedict Nightingale
Benedict Nightingale
Benedict Nightingale is a British journalist and a regular theatre critic for The Times newspaper. He was born in 1939 and educated at Charterhouse and Magdalene College, Cambridge...

, praised the fidelity of the plot to du Maurier's original and rated the staging "up to the most lavish West End visual standards. ... Only the shipwreck that leads to the discovery of Rebecca's body disappoints – and only a gallumphingly Wodehousean golfing number (Wir Sind Britisch) needs excising." Nightingale judged the ending of the musical "forgivably ... a bit more upbeat than the novel's." He found the dancing dull and the music "seldom harsh or imaginative enough" despite "a terrific central song, a soaring, grieving tribute" to Rebecca by "Susan Rigvava Dumas's mesmeric Danvers." He said of Kröger's Max, "though white-hot at moments of crisis, [it] hasn't quite the mix of brooding inwardness and outer sang froid the character needs."

Japan and Europe
Rebecca was then produced at the Imperial Theatre in Tokyo, opening on April 6, 2008. Rebecca returned to Japan in 2010 and a new song was written for this revival.

The musical was performed in Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

, Finland, at the Helsingin kaupunginteatteri from August 28, 2008 to May 9, 2009. A workshop production
Workshop production
Workshop production is a term used to describe the first performance of a theatre production, similar to the term premiere, the difference being that a workshop production often pays less for the rights to perform the play, in exchange for losing the right to call its performance a premiere...

 ran in Moscow from March 29 through December 20, 2009. Rebecca played in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...

, Hungary on 18 and 19 March 2010. The second Finnish production premiered in Kouvola
Kouvola
Kouvola is a town and municipality in southeastern Finland. It is located northeast of the capital, Helsinki.The city has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is ....

 on 11 September 2010. Productions have also played in Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....

, Germany and St. Gallen
St. Gallen
St. Gallen is the capital of the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. It evolved from the hermitage of Saint Gall, founded in the 7th century. Today, it is a large urban agglomeration and represents the center of eastern Switzerland. The town mainly relies on the service sector for its economic...

, Switzerland.

West End readings
Ben Sprecher
Ben Sprecher
Ben Sprecher is a Broadway producer and theater owner.Sprecher's credits include, as producer, John Leguizamo and Cedric the Entertainer in American Buffalo, Kevin Spacey and Eve Best in A Moon for the Misbegotten, Legends starring Joan Collins and Linda Evans, the 2005 revival of The Odd Couple,...

 co-produced English-language readings of Rebecca, hoping to mount a London West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...

 production. The first London workshop in May 2009 featured Lisa O'Hare
Lisa O'Hare
Lisa O'Hare began her career as an English stage actress who has played Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady and the title character of Mary Poppins on the West End and UK stage...

 as "I", Julian Ovenden
Julian Ovenden
Julian Ovenden is an English stage, television and film actor and singer. He is one of three children of Canon John Ovenden, chaplain to Queen Elizabeth II....

 as Maxim and Anna Francolini
Anna Francolini
Anna Francolini is an English actress of the stage and screen. She was born in Chertsey, Surrey and studied theatre at the University of Warwick...

. In October 2009, a second reading featured Sierra Boggess
Sierra Boggess
Sierra Boggess is an American theater actress and soprano singer. She was born and raised in Denver, Colorado, with her two sisters, Summer and Allegra. The three of them were members of the Colorado Children's Chorale. Her parents are Kellun Turner and Michael Boggess...

 as "I", Brent Barrett
Brent Barrett
Brent Barrett is an American actor and tenor who is mostly known for his work within American theatre. Barrett has performed in musicals and in concerts with theatres, symphony orchestras, opera houses, and concert halls internationally...

 as Maxim and Susan Rigvava Dumas as Mrs. Danvers. The translation was done by Christopher Hampton
Christopher Hampton
Christopher James Hampton CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, screen writer and film director. He is best known for his play based on the novel Les Liaisons dangereuses and the film version Dangerous Liaisons and also more recently for writing the nominated screenplay for the film adaptation of...

 in collaboration with Michael Kunze and Francesca Zambello
Francesca Zambello
Francesca Zambello is a leading American opera and theatre director. Zambello lived in Europe when she was a child, learning to speak French, Italian, German and Russian. Zambello is of Italian descent, the daughter of Jean , an actress and Charles C. Zambello, a former actor who became head of...

. The English-language West End premiere was planned for Spring 2011, but the theatre became unavailable.

U.S. reading and planned Broadway premiere
A reading took place on March 18, 2011 in New York, directed by Michael Blakemore
Michael Blakemore
Michael Howell Blakemore OBE is an Australian actor, writer and theatre director. In 2000 he became the only individual to win Tony Awards for best Director of a Play and Musical in the same year for Copenhagen and Kiss Me, Kate....

 and Francesca Zambello. The cast featured Boggess as "I", Hugh Panaro
Hugh Panaro
-Life and career:Panaro was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and resided in the East Oak Lane section of the city with his family. As a schoolchild, he attended St. Helena’s parochial school in the adjoining Philadelphia neighborhood of Olney. He played organ for the parish church from age twelve...

 as Maxim and Carolee Carmello
Carolee Carmello
Carolee Carmello is an American actress best known for her performances in Broadway musicals.She made her Broadway debut in a small role in City of Angels...

 as Mrs. Danvers. Blakemore and Zambello are scheduled to co-direct a Broadway production at the Broadhurst Theatre
Broadhurst Theatre
The Broadhurst Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 235 West 44th Street in midtown Manhattan.It was designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp, a well-known theatre designer who had been working directly with the Shubert brothers; the Broadhurst opened 27 September 1917...

, based on the original Vienna staging, with choreography by Graciela Daniele
Graciela Daniele
Graciela Daniele is an Argentine-American dancer, choreographer, and theatre director.-Biography:Born at Buenos Aires, Daniele began her dance training at the age of seven at Teatro Colón, Argentina's equivalent of Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre...

. Previews begin on March 27, 2012 and an official opening on April 22, 2012. Boggess is set to play "I", and James Barbour
James Stacy Barbour
James Stacy Barbour , a.k.a. James Barbour, is a singer and Broadway actor. He graduated from Hofstra University with a degree in Acting and a minor in Philosophy.- Theatre credits :...

 is cast to play Jack.

Roles and original cast

The following is the original Vienna principal cast:
  • "Ich" (I): Wietske van Tongeren
  • Maxim de Winter: Uwe Kröger
    Uwe Kröger
    Uwe Kröger is a famous musical star in the German-speaking countries of the world. Besides starring on stage, Kröger has taken part in numerous galas and concerts, as well as making a few television and film appearances...

  • Mrs. Danvers: Susan Rigvava-Dumas
  • Mrs. Van Hopper: Carin Filipcic
  • Beatrice: Kerstin Ibald
  • Jack Favell: Carsten Lepper
  • Frank Crawley: André Bauer
  • Ben: Norberto Bertassi
  • Oberst Julian: Thomas Bayer

Songs

Note: This list includes a literal translation into English
Act I
  • Ich hab geträumt von Manderley ("Ich", Schatten) – I dreamt of Manderley ("I", Shadows)
  • Du wirst niemals eine Lady (Mrs. van Hopper, "Ich") – You will never be a lady! (Mrs. van Hopper, "I")
  • Er verlor unerwartet seine Frau Rebecca (Ensemble) – He lost his wife Rebecca unexpectedly (Ensemble)
  • Am Abgrund ("Ich", Maxim) – At the abyss ("I", Maxim)
  • Zeit in einer Flasche ("Ich") – Time in a bottle ("I")
  • Hochzeit (Instrumental) – Wedding (Instrumental)
  • Die neue Mrs. de Winter (Ensemble, Mrs. Danvers, Crawley) – The new Mrs. de Winter (Ensemble, Mrs. Danvers, Crawley)
  • Sie ergibt sich nicht (Mrs. Danvers) – She won't surrender (Mrs. Danvers)
  • Die lieben Verwandten (Beatrice, "Ich", Giles) – The dear relatives (Beatrice, "I", Giles)
  • Bist Du glücklich? ("Ich", Maxim) – Are you happy? ("I", Maxim)
  • Bist Du böse? ("Ich", Maxim) – Are you angry? ("I", Maxim)
  • Hilf mir durch die Nacht ("Ich", Maxim) – Help me through the night ("I", Maxim)
  • Was ist nur los mit ihm? (Beatrice) – What's wrong with him? (Beatrice)
  • Sie war gewohnt, geliebt zu werden (Mrs. Danvers, Favell) – She was used to being loved (Mrs. Danvers, Favell)
  • Rebecca - Version 1 (Mrs. Danvers, Ensemble) – Rebecca - Version 1 (Mrs. Danvers, Ensemble)
  • Wir sind britisch (Ensemble) – We are British (Ensemble)
  • Sie's fort (Ben) – She's gone (Ben)
  • Gott, warum? (Maxim) – God, why? (Maxim)
  • Ehrlichkeit und Vertrauen (Crawley) – Honesty and trust (Crawley)
  • Ball von Manderley (Ensemble) – The Ball at Manderley (Ensemble)
  • I'm an American Woman (Mrs. van Hopper) – I'm an American Woman (Mrs. van Hopper)
  • Heut Nacht verzaubere ich die Welt ("Ich") – Tonight I'm going to enchant the world ("I")
  • Finale Erster Akt (Mrs. Danvers & Ensemble) – Finale of act one (Mrs. Danvers & Ensemble)


Act II
  • Entr'acte (Instrumental)
  • Und Das und Das und Das ("Ich") – And this and this and this ("I")
  • Rebecca - Version 2 (Mrs. Danvers, "Ich", Schatten) – Rebecca - Version 2 (Mrs. Danvers, "I", Shadows)
  • Nur ein Schritt (Mrs. Danvers) – Just one step (Mrs. Danvers)
  • Strandgut (Ensemble, "Ich", Crawley, Favell) – Flotsam and jetsam (Ensemble, "I", Crawley, Favell)
  • Sie's fort - Reprise (Ben) – She's gone - Reprise (Ben)
  • Du liebst sie zu sehr ("Ich") – You love her too much ("I")
  • Kein Lächeln war je so kalt (Maxim) – Never was a smile that cold (Maxim)
  • Die Stärke einer Frau (Beatrice, "Ich") – The power of a woman (Beatrice, "I")
  • Die Neue Mrs. de Winter-Reprise (Ensemble) – The new Mrs. de Winter - Reprise (Ensemble)
  • Mrs. de Winter bin Ich! ("Ich", Mrs. Danvers) – I am Mrs. de Winter! ("I", Mrs. Danvers)
  • Die Voruntersuchung (Ensemble) – The Enquiry (Ensemble)
  • Eine Hand wäscht die andre Hand (Favell) – One Hand washes the other (Favell)
  • Sie's fort - Reprise (Ben) – She's gone - Reprise (Ben)
  • Sie fuhr'n um Acht (Ensemble) – They drove at eight o'clock (Ensemble)
  • Keiner hat Sie durchschaut (Maxim) – No one saw through her (Maxim)
  • Rebecca - Reprise (Mrs. Danvers, Schatten) – Rebecca Reprise (Mrs. Danvers, Shadows)
  • Jenseits der Nacht ("Ich", Maxim) – Beyond the night ("I", Maxim)
  • Manderley in Flammen (Ensemble, Crawley) – Manderley in Flames (Ensemble, Crawley)
  • Ich hab geträumt von Manderley ("Ich", Schatten) – I dreamt of Manderley ("I", Shadows)


Recordings

English demo recording
  1. Last Night I Dreamt Of Manderley (Ich hab geträumt von Manderley)
  2. A Bottle Full Of Memories (Zeit in einer Flasche)
  3. She's Invicible (Sie ergibt sich nicht)
  4. Some Are In And Some Are Out (Wir sind britisch)
  5. She's gone (Sie's fort)
  6. Oh My God I'm Such a Fool (Gott warum?)
  7. You Are Kind (Ehrlichkeit und Vertrauen)
  8. And This, And This, And This (Und das und das und das)
  9. Rebecca (Rebecca)
  10. I'm Mrs. De Winter (Mrs. de Winter bin ich)
  11. I'll Never Forget Her Smile (Kein Lächeln war je so kalt)
  12. Manderley's On Fire (Manderley in Flammen)


Sung by: Maike Boerdam-Strobel (Ich), Pia Douwes
Pia Douwes
Pia Douwes is a Dutch musical theatre actress who is extremly successful in Europe.- Biography :Douwes was born in Amsterdam, North Holland as Petronella Irene Allegonda Douwes, to an arts dealer and a social worker and the grandniece of Doris Day...

 (Mrs. Danvers), Uwe Kröger
Uwe Kröger
Uwe Kröger is a famous musical star in the German-speaking countries of the world. Besides starring on stage, Kröger has taken part in numerous galas and concerts, as well as making a few television and film appearances...

 (Maxim de Winter), André Bauer (stage actor) (Frank Crawley). Unpublished demo version (pre-production).

The Power of a woman in love
  • Single sung by Gloria Gaynor
    Gloria Gaynor
    Gloria Gaynor is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits; "I Will Survive" , "Never Can Say Goodbye" , "Let Me Know " and "I Am What I Am" .-Early career:Gaynor was a singer with the Soul...

    . Released prior to the Premiere.


Rebecca - Das Cast Album
The Original Vienna Cast Recording, a studio recording, was released on 24 November 2006.
  1. ICH HAB GETRÄUMT VON MANDERLEY "Ich", Schatten
  2. ZEIT IN EINER FLASCHE "Ich"
  3. DIE NEUE MRS. DE WINTER Ensemble, Mrs. Danvers, Frank
  4. SIE ERGIBT SICH NICHT Mrs. Danvers
  5. DIE LIEBEN VERWANDTEN SIND IMMER DABEI Beatrice, "Ich", Giles
  6. WAS IST NUR LOS MIT IHM? Beatrice
  7. WIR SIND BRITISCH Ensemble
  8. SIE´S FORT Ben
  9. GOTT, WARUM? Maxim
  10. EHRLICHKEIT UND VERTRAUEN Frank Crawley
  11. DER BALL VON MANDERLEY Ensemble
  12. I´M AN AMERICAN WOMAN Mrs. Van Hopper
  13. WAS ICH AUCH TU, IST FALSCH* "Ich"
  14. REBECCA** Mrs. Danvers, "Ich", Schatten
  15. STRANDGUT Ensemble, "Ich", Crawley, Favell
  16. KEIN LÄCHELN WAR JE SO KALT Maxim
  17. DIE STÄRKE EINER LIEBENDEN FRAU Beatrice, "Ich"
  18. MRS. DE WINTER BIN ICH "Ich", Mrs. Danvers
  19. EINE HAND WÄSCHT DIE ANDRE HAND Favell
  20. JENSEITS DER NACHT "Ich", Maxim
  21. MANDERLEY IN FLAMMEN Ensemble, Frank Crawley
  22. ICH HAB GETRÄUMT VON MANDERLEY "Ich", Schatten, Ensemble

(REPRISE & FINALE II)

* called "Und das und das und das" in the stage version

** version of Act II

Other recordings
Rebecca - Gesamtaufnahme Live was recorded on 6 and 7 June 2007. The CD was released on 19 October 2007. It includes the whole show (Songlist seen above) and a Bonustrack: Marika Lichter, the new Mrs. Van Hopper (Summer 2007-End of 2007), singing "I'm an American Woman".

Rebecca - Original Japanese Cast Recording was released on March 5 of 2010. The CD has 10 tracks, including "Zauberhaft natürlich" which was written for this production.

Rebecca - Original Hungarian Cast Recording was released on May 22, 2010. It includes 16 Tracks.

External links

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