@@emhu2594 most reviews of musicals are pretty bad .. if I remember right one well known critic said of Les Miserables when it first opened that it was …Instantly Disposable trash !!! Critics didn’t like We will Rock You, either another one was Wicked and Starlight Express, which is making a comeback !!!
How does it feel knowing your documentaries are literally so successful that they're actively contributing to new productions / are acting as introductions for future stars!?
Given your long history with Rebecca, you *absolutely* need to do a video on Sleep No More, which also used Rebecca as inspiration but attempted to remove the more obvious source material because it was worried about Rebecca coming to Broadway and competing with it.
You mean the 2011 play by Punchdrunk? Yes it takes inspiration from noir films like Hitchcock's(to the point where the theatre space itself, the MicKitrick Hotel, takes it's name from the film Veritigo, while it's functional Manderley Bar takes from Rebecca), but that play is primarily based on Shakespeare's Macbeth, and also has some reference to the 1697 Paisley witch trials. Don't get me wrong, I would LOVE to see him cover that piece(and especially go over the other productions in the Mickitrick[especially Great Comet of 1812's creator Dave Malloy's Ghost Quartet]), but even for a six-degress of theatre themed pull, It wouldn't be accurate to say the piece itself borrowed from Rebecca specifically, I'd say(unless you mean the initial plans for Sleep No More were to initially adapt from Rebecca, and then they switched to adapting Macbeth instead).
I love that this video has managed to incorporate the "glass ass" somehow. Hopefully, this production of Rebecca will go over better than the previous attempt. Everyone involved seems to be quite passionate about it.
Having a smaller production is actually a good test of the longevity of the property. Stripped down to it's core, if the material is good enough, just think of how many productions can be done in smaller spaces like regional houses, High Schools, etc. Plus, with Broadway houses being so expensive, a small production is also helpful financially and gives it a chance to transfer at a lower cost. I hope they are wildly successful, as I would love to see this show finally brought to the US. Great doc!
You summed all this up perfectly. This run at Charing Cross is at its core a test run. It seems like none of the critics who reviewed the show took that into consideration and that made me sad. I’ve been rooting for this English translation for so long and to see it finally opened and running is no small feat. I definitely agree with Kara in praying they transfer to a bigger West End theatre because god knows this show deserves it. Does this mean the Rebecca Curse™ is broken? I like to think so ☺️
Videos like this just reinforce my thinking that I made a good choice in backing this channel on this year's Kickstarter. This is professional quality that I would expect on TV.
I worked as a stage manager in my local theatres for 30 years. There is something amazing about working in a black box theatre. It allows the actors to shine without all the glitz to distract the audience.
I saw Great Comet in a black box theater with no sets. It was just lights, costumes, music. The performers absolutely transformed the space. Stripping an opulent show down to its core components and putting all your money on Union performers is a baller move that can totally work. This sounds like a great approach for Rebecca ❤
The first 100 people to use code WAITINTHEWINGS at the link below will get 60% off of Incogni: incogni.com/waitinthewings Special thanks to the cast and crew of Rebecca for being so welcoming and willing to share all of this with us!
I believe the 18-piece arrangement for Rebecca was already made and used for other international venues(including the 2012 revival in Stuttgart, known for staring fan favorite Mrs. Danvers[as well as the original lead actor of Kunze and Levay's first major musical, Elisabeth] Pia Douwes, who is commonly shown in the clips of professional trailers for the Vienna run you keep using), and therefore wasn't just made for Charing Cross specifically. The arrangement I speak of goes like this: Strings: 6 3 Violins 1 Viola 1 Cello 1 Bass Woodwinds: 3 1 Piccolo/Alto-Flute/Transverse Flute/Recorder 1 Oboe/English Horn 1 Clarinet/Bass Clarinet/Baritone Saxophone Brass: 4 2 Horns 1 Trumpet 1 Trombone Keyboards: 3 1 Drums 1 Percussion Is this the same arrangement/musician count that was listed in your program for the preview performance at Charing Cross you saw? And, perchance, would you be willing to share the orchestral info(if that performance had 34 musicians in the orchestra) from your program for the Raimund Theater(pretty please!🙏😁, as I myself have grown obsessed with that information since first learning about the orchestral counts of shows like Sweeney Todd and the original 1999 Berlin stage adaptation of Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame[which Michael Kunze himself translated Stephen Schwartz lyrics for, and a production commonly referred to by it's fans by it's german title "Der Glöckner Von Notre Dame(or just "Der Glöckner")"] and so fourth)? Amazing(and dare I say, Historic!) video, regardless! :D
The previous _Rebecca_ video on this channel is PIVOTAL viewing to truly understand the sheer weight of this one. The prelude, though detailed, could not possibly convey how truly insane this one show's history is. I urge you; watch this video, go watch the other one, and then come back here. It'll be here when you get back ( hopefully ;] ).
I'm so happy you got to go over there not just to see the show but to interview the cast and crew!! It's so cool seeing the English Rebecca rise from the ashes. I wish it the best!
We saw Rebecca The Musical at the Charing Cross Theatre yesterday evening. The show was fantastic. Great performances from the cast and clever set. I would thoroughly recommend this production. I really hope it gets an extended run, and continues for a long time.
Wow. The new adaptation is the most faithful adaptation of Rebecca yet. It literally has to live the premise of the plot. Whatever happens it will be historic.
So glad you did this! I was so fascinated since your first Rebecca video! I'm wondering if you'll ever tackle Tanz Der Vampire/ Dance of the Vampires or Lestat....even a video about vampire musicals in general
Especially since the both have an American actor far more known for his German language content than American content, Drew Sarich(who played the main vampire Count Von Krolock in the mid 2010s in Berlin, took over for Armand and understudied as Lestat for Broadway, and is also widley regarded for playing Quasimodo in the original 1999 Berlin stage adaptation of Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame), and the latter ALSO happening to star "Hugh(I was The Phantom for 6 years) Panero" as Lestat principally and "Carolee(the best part of Bad Cinderella[and I also like to add, the original Lucille Frank of the original 1998 Broadway run of the recently revived Parade]) Carmelo" as Lestat's mother!
@@michaelwilliamybarra2409 this is a great addition! And we aren't even thinking about how there's yet another vampire musical in Dracula, both a serious version and a comedy. I appreciate you expanding on that and adding facts I didn't know
Really hoping the best for this show! Also hoping that Jim Steinman's Dance of the Vampires gets a similar treatment with a new English adaptation. Also also, speaking of Jim, I wonder if you're gonna do a video about the history of Bat Out of Hell: The Musical
In theatre school I did a directing class, I did the big end scene from Hedda Gabler and everyone thought it was a bad choice, including the teacher. It's well known, everyone had read it as part of the program in an intro class (I think it was script analysis), so everyone knew how it ended, but no, I didn't want to do something different. I did something similar to this production. I stripped everything back and bc it was staged differently than expected, because the set and costome was minimal to non-existent, it forced ppl to look at the actors, not be distracted by the beautiful set. I got actual gasps. I got an A. Still, so many yrs later (don't wanna say how many 😅) I felt so proud of that. I wanted them to feel what it felt like seeing it in the 19th century and I feel like I succeeded 😋
The crushing review in Variety made me sad! I am actually championing the show now, never saw it but had a softspot since Dutch Musical Queen Pia Douwes was so iconically in it in the past.
I'm so glad to see this being attempted again! And I think a small theatre is perfect for its rebirth - they're right that it builds audience connection. This is what it needs to grant it a solid following.
Myself, I've never seen Rebecca as a big Broadway spectacle story. You could tell it with just I, Maxim, Danny and Jack Favel. Everyone else is either disposable (you could start the story at Manderly, dumping Mrs. Van Hopper) or minor.
I saw this tonight and I think they did a great job with the space they have (some of the critics were unnecessarily harsh about the sets in my opinion) and the less grand staircase works for the most part but it was missed in the climax I feel.
I am SO excited to see this!!! In my opinion, this musical works wonderfully on smaller stages, with less grad sets really well. When I saw it live for the first time I went to a Czech production in Ostrava, which isn’t quite as small as this one, but still smaller than the Raidimund theatre. There is something really magical about being just a few meters from the actors!
Soo...... If I'm hearing this correctly, they're revamping the show top to bottom so it will fit inside a small theater in the hope that it will be a hit. Then when it's a hit, they'll un-revamp the show to move it to a larger theater and stage it as it was originally conceived? Do I have that right?
I have become obsessed with this musical. Since the Phantom of the Opera has left Broadway it needs a new, fresh, gothic musical like this to replace it.
I saw Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Aspects of Love in a theater that used to exist in the back of the Lyric Opera Building in Chicago. This was, I’m guessing 25-30 years on, a 250-500 seat theater. I thought the show worked there and could see how it failed as a megamusical, which is what people expected being the follow-up to Phantom of the Opera. But the story needed to be told small in a small space. I’m not familiar with Rebecca, but I suspect it’s a story that can work big or small, with the right direction and staging.
Ironically enough I'm from germany but will see rebecca for the first time in english in London and I am very excited for this cast. I really hope it succeeds!
I've just seen Rebecca in Vienna and it was.... Magnificent! I hope this show finally succeeds in English. Even though I new what comes at the end, seeing the staircase finale in person made me schiver, mainly because it came suddenly almost out of nowhere.
Thank you for posting this and keeping us updated on the saga of Rebecca let us know if it works out and hopefully makes it to the west end and Broadway 🎭
I have loved Rebecca so much so I hope that this is the one that sticks. I love having a smaller venue for this run. It will the drama more tangible and make it more palatable for audiences. Sometimes you have to scale back and go back to the bare bones over what makes a show great.
I'm working on it! It's a realllyyyy big story though. Just did interview 12 today and I still don't feel any closer to getting this thing written yet, still a lot to uncover.
Simple as to the failure it opened with Groban who is a babe magnet. Once he left they needed a second babe magnet like an Aaron Tveit. So instead they were woke and chose an unattractive black man. If they had a gorgeous black man like puffy they would have been a success. Instead they chose a White BWY legend and it became a whole racial hate deal. Stupid stupid stupid
Rebecca is one of my favorite books, and the 1940 movie is my favorite Hitchcock movie. And some of the more recent versions have been good. When the show was first announced I was thrilled. Hopefully this version is successful
One of these days I’d like to hear your take on Lionel Bart’s “Twang”, the failed Robin Hood musical in which its production also went from bad to worse to apocalyptically chaotic.
Thank you for this. I saw the show yesterday for my birthday, at the tale end of the run. The cast was wonderful, especially Lauren Jones as I and Kara Lane as Mrs Danvers. The acting between these two really was the linchpin of the show. When Mrs Danvers suggested a costume to I, there was an audible ripple through the audience of "No, don't trust her!" The music is beautiful and the space is utilised very well, especially the use of the auditorium, with the actors actually interacting with the audience at points and the smoke machine for the end of the act two. I think there have been some changes made since the preview - there appears to be a bannister to the staircase in your footage which has been removed, presumably due to it blocking the actors. While a lot of the dialogue and lyrics are taken verbatim from Du Maurier's text, I feel that it needs some adjustments when it comes to the song lyrics. I feels like a translation, with a lot of near rhymes that don't quite work. The lighting was also a bit off in places, leaving scenes in Rebecca's bedroom and Maxim's confession too dark to properly see the actor's faces, even in such a small space. Even though I knew going in that there wasn't going to be the spectacular set of the Vienna production, the show really deserves it and would be elevated by it. They do the best they can with what they have but it does feel a little am-dram. In one particular number you can tell from the context that I and Maxim are meant to be in separate rooms from each other, but they are staged with one actor behind the other in the same space so it fell flat. And the bit where Mrs Danvers, completely broken, climbs up the stairs... why wasn't she carrying a candle? That would have made the coming scene much more powerful. I hope this run at the Charing Cross Theatre has been successful enough to work as a stepping stone to a much larger production in the West End, with a set worthy of it and a larger cast. I would definitely buy tickets.
I saw Rebecca the musical at the Charing Cross about a week ago. I have to say that I wish I hadn’t seen your video about the other productions. I was severely disappointed by the set design and the pacing felt rushed. I think I had overly hyped myself going in expecting a spectacle. I didn’t realise that the theatre was so small until the day of the show. The set was also not what I expected out of a West end show. The best part of this show was really the cast.
Just came home from rehearsals of...Rebecca...we play this in Bucharest Romania. We did in in 2011...paused for 12 years and just relaunched it. Awesome show.
So I have wanted this to be adapted since I was a child. I'm at 40. I saw the Hitchcock and I knew it was a musical. When the chaos of the scam run hit I was devastated. I am a but concerned that the Mrs Danvers character in this adaptation has apparently just gone until my closet. I did not notice the ah... fashion evolution from someone who had only WWE shirts into a "Gothic Mommy". I wore a WWE shirt to my first show. I was 8. My aunt said to wear your nicest clothes. She knew that meant my least stained shirt because she knew we were poor so I got what was left. I do love wrestling however. I am so excited. I'm going to believe in this cast because if the original composer went "Let's make this work" then there's only good there Also how amazing for you to be so close to production you cannot review. That's beautiful. Rebecca is how I found your Channel. My annual Google for hope. I immediately devoured everything else you had made and subscribed. I have literally dropped things for your content. This feels like a sign for more reasons to be excited like when I was a child I wouldn't wear a tee shirt anywhere these days but I did find the "myth" hilarious. The show? Phantom
I really hope this works out this time!! I would love an English cast album I have the one with the one and only Pía Dowes big fan of her work since accidentally finding an eng sub version of her musical Elisabeth I love that one!
Another brilliant video thank you Brendon. I’ve been following the events surrounding Rebecca for years and longing to see the show in English for years. I bought tickets as soon as I heard about the Charing Cross production and I’m so looking forward to being a part of this story in a few weeks time. I realised that with the size of theatre it wasn’t going to have the spectacular staging of other productions. Thanks to you and to Mickey J my expectations have been managed and I’m ready now to sit back and enjoy the show on it’s own merit and am just grateful that it is here at all. Who knows what the future might hold……Also good to ‘meet’ some of the cast in advance of seeing them perform. Whatever the critics have said about the staging - the consensus definitely seems to be that the performances are excellent 👏👏
Dang it! It's already 4 am and this will be on at 5am and I really want to watch it as it premieres but I also desperately need to go to sleep 😅😭 The curse of being in Australia but most of the people you follow that live stream/do premieres are anywhere but Australia. Oh well. Can't wait to watch this when I wake up lol 😊
I saw this last night and my verdict was "I reallt liked that... but I have some notes" The production was definitly stripped down, but i saw titanic at charing cross and it was amazing. I thought it worked (though i would have liked a bit more finish on some of the paint work). My biggest problem was i felt there needed to be more of Mrs Danvers. Even if she doesnt say anything, but just a constant presecnce in the background pressing on I, just as rebecca's ghost is.
I was going to Watch Rebecca when I was in London last year. I was so so excited, but they had to cancel the show I was going to due to too many members of the cast getting sick. I was only in town for two nights, so I didn’t get the chance to rebook.
I swear I saw an ad for Rebecca at Incheon International Airport in Seoul yesterday. I was not close enough to the digital display to see the details but another clearly theatre type show was also advertised on it.
Yes! It’s a hugely popular musical by both the public and theatre-going crowd in korea. Frankly i’m astonished to come across this video after witnessing how popular it is
I loved this show. I only wish someone with a lot of money had put this on at a bigger venue with a bigger set and maybe a bigger orchestra although 18 at CX was quite amazing in itself. The score is absolutely gorgeous.
I saw the original production in Vienna and for the first and only time, I left at the interval of a production. They should have burnt the house down at the end of the first act and left it there.
First gotta disagree because Rebecca is literally about a woman who felt overshadowed by the previous wife only to find out her husband killed her. There wasn't anything about growing up. She only changed her tune after she found out and even then she kinda ignored the part about him being a murderer in favor of thinking wow he loves me more than her. I mean you can't have a more perfect real life version of this in the fact they are somewhat overshadowed by the previous version (wife). Much like the unamed protagonist on one hand people will expect you to fill the shoes but also like unnamed protagonist perhaps this will come out and be loved on it's own.
Damn, I deliberately didn't get tickets, because I saw the Austrian/German/Hungarian productions like 500 times. If I'd known about the theatre & staging, I would've been in London in a heartbeat. 😱
