Making its London Premiere at Charing Cross Theatre, 'Rebecca' begins with the melancholy song, 'Last Night I Dreamt Of Manderley'. It’s a soulful melody and this begins Act 1 with our narrator (the second Mrs de Winter) the shy and innocent “I”, played by the delightful Lauren Jones.
This new English adaptation of 'Rebecca' is based on the book of the same name by Daphne Du Maurier. The show starts in the South of France at the luxurious and high-class Monte Carlo where “I” is working as a lowly companion for the ostentatious Mrs Van Hopper. For those that know the book, it starts as a whirlwind love story where Maxim de Winter falls for the shy, innocent and demure young lady following the death of his first wife, Rebecca. The haunting chill of Rebecca is felt throughout this production and more so once the newly married couple return to Manderley, Maxim’s stately home in Cornwall.
As “I” realises that she has fallen passionately in love with Maxim and is about to leave Monte Carlo with Mrs Van Hopper she begins the musical number, 'You Can Count On Me', being forever the romantic it brought a tear to my eye. The show starts off with hope and love and the possibility of happiness which is clearly depicted in the musicality and lyrics. Maxim, played by Richard Carson, is everything you imagine him to be, tall, good looking, portraying a caring side all mixed up with a fine voice that anyone would be entranced by. You can see why this young girl is enraptured by him.
The newly married couple then return to Manderley, where the staff wait with anticipation of meeting the new Mrs de Winter, only to be surprised at the vulnerable young girl who arrives with Maxim. We feel Rebecca everywhere at Manderley. Rebecca is still adored by the indomitable Mrs Danvers, played by Kara Lane. The song, 'Rebecca' is like a love song to her former charge, and appears several times throughout the performance and chillingly more so each time. Kara Lane steals the show with her seething hatred of the new Mrs de Winter and her conniving schemes that drive a wedge between our newlyweds. There are some slight changes to the original book, but it all works well in this production based on Michael Kunze’s story. The atmospheric fog that rises brings the reality of living by the sea in Cornwall and also highlights the darkness of the story.
Surprisingly this new production was first devised for an Austrian audience and put on stage in Vienna. 'Rebecca', the musical by Michael Kunze (story and lyrics) and Sylvester Levay (music) was originally written and performed in German. With Austria being a landlocked country, it would have been a challenge to depict the wildness of the Cornish land and seas. But the projections were superb here in London, that I can only praise the effects, images and sounds. The musical has nevertheless been wonderfully adapted for English by Christopher Hampton with Michael Kunze. There were some concerns that the songs might not work so well in English, but by golly! It’s wonderful. I always judge a show on whether I would see it again, and this impressed me so much I messaged my friend who sings at the Royal Opera House during the interval and told her to buy tickets. The ensemble was fabulous and too many to name them all.
Charing Cross Theatre is a small theatre, just off London’s west end, but for this show it has somehow housed an eighteen-piece orchestra, which has in fact been downscaled from over thirty musicians since Vienna. The show has been a huge hit in Vienna and is seen as very much operatic. It’s on a small run here in London, but I hope it can make it onto other stages as it is an important piece of work. We’ve been waiting for it to be staged in London since 2012, when it was scuppered at the last minute due to the theatre being flooded.
It was a lovely surprise at the end for the cast to welcome Michale Kunze, Sylvester Levay and the conductor Robert Scott onto the stage for the final curtain. I hope they were as pleased with it as were the audience.
Reviewer - Penny Curran
on - 18.9.23
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