Theatre Trip: Rebecca

Rebecca

Charing Cross Theatre

Date: 24 September 2023 (Sunday), 3:00pm

Seats: Stalls M 2

(Seen solo!)

Notes: This show was a whole experience, one that I really enjoyed! I had heard about this show originally from one of the YouTube channels I watch, Wait In The Wings. Brendan does all sorts of short documentaries about the history of different shows, and one of his famous and radical was about the musical Rebecca. 

Written in German by Michael Kunzer, and premiering in 2006 in Vienna, it has been extremely popular and running the Europe for 17 years. And yet it has never been staged in English. It was due to have a West End premiere, and then when they were excavating under the theatre they were going to use to put in a big set piece, they found an underground stream! So they had to cancel it on the West End. That was supposed to be the test for Broadway, but they decided that instead of doing a different tryout somewhere else, they would go straight to Broadway. Then it turned out that it all fell apart just after rehearsals started when it came out that one of the investors, a mystery man, didn't actually exist?! If you're interested in more definitely watch the Wait in the Wings documentary.

This production is in a very different staging to the original. It has been greatly scaled down in terms of set pieces and staging. The theatre it is in is also new to me - the Charing Cross theatre is in... Charing Cross. It's actually underneath one of the railway arches, so it's tiny! It must have been about 20 seats across in each row, and my seat in row M was behind the centre cross-aisle, so it must only have had a total capacity of a couple of hundred.

The show itself is the same as previously - no changes were made that I understand to the plot or music. The plot is based on the Daphne du Maurier book by the same name, in which the main character (only referred to as 'I' in the book, and not really referred to in the show) meets and marries a millionaire, Maxim de Winter. He brings her back to his house (mansion), only to meet the housekeeper Mrs Danvers, who is extremely loyal to Maxim's first wife Rebecca. Rebecca disappeared in mysterious circumstances and nobody knows what happened. It all unfolds from there and it is very interesting. Eventually our main character realises that she needs to become more confident as secrets about Maxim and Rebecca are revealed, and she becomes exactly who Maxim needs in his life; however, Mrs Danvers is not to be trusted, particularly as Rebecca's influence wanes. And of course, a dramatic ending!

I actually really enjoyed the music in this show. It had vibes of early Andrew Lloyd Webber with a big and slightly electronic sound. I found myself waking up the next morning with a song from the show in my head, which is always an excellent sign. I found out afterwards that actually, and despite the small theatre, it has the second biggest orchestra on the West End! Bigger than Phantom and second only to Wicked. Which even though they can't be seen, really makes a huge difference.

The cast of this show had nobody I had heard of before but there were some really amazing people! Lauren Jones played 'I' - she has had some understudy roles but nothing major. She was very sweet and she really developed over the course of the show as her character grew within herself. Richard Carson played Maxim de Winter - his main role that he has played was Sky in Mamma Mia. He was pretty good, but the definite standout was Mrs Danvers. She did have the best song in the whole show (and it's reprise), and balanced really well creepy and effective. Kara Lane played this role and she was AMAZING!

I'm so glad that I went to see this show. It was a really interesting show and knowing the story behind it made it so much better. Plus, the theatre was excellent! Totally worth it once but I don't think I need to go again.