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Source:
Theatrepeople.com.au
Reference:
Rebecca -
The Musical ‘Rebecca’, written by Daphne Du Maurier and first
published in 1938 is known to millions around the world for its timeless
romanticism and haunting premise. The story was first dramatised for the
radio by Orson Welles in 1938 and for the stage by Du Maurier herself in
1939. Alfred Hitchcock directed the movie version starring Laurence
Olivier in 1940 and in the late 90’s a telemovie adaptation starring
Charles Dance and Diana Rigg was filmed. All this proves what a
wonderful source from which to develop a musical ‘Rebecca’ is and it’s
somewhat surprising it’s taken until now for a musical adaptation to
occur.
Composer Kevin Purcell and author/lyricist Victor Kazan have finally
taken up the challenge to ‘musicalise’ the story and presented the show
in a one-off concert/reading recently, as a fundraiser for the Asthma
Foundation of Victoria.
‘Rebecca - The Musical’ tells the story of aristocratic widower Maxim De
Winter who has lost his charming wife to an untimely boating accident.
Maxim escapes their beloved Cornwall estate of Manderley to recover from
his loss in Monaco where by chance he meets the travelling companion of
an American socialite, falling (as so often happens in such tales)
quickly in love with the young woman.
They marry and return to England with every intention of escaping the
tragedy of the past, however Manderley’s embittered housekeeper Mrs.
Danvers, still grieving the loss of Rebecca, reacts with antagonism
towards the inexperienced ‘new’ Mrs. De Winter. Furthermore, the ghost
of Rebecca has ominously manifested itself to make sure Maxim realises
that while she understands his need to take a new wife, she will not
accept anyone else taking over the reigns as the mistress of Manderley.
Nevertheless, Maxim attempts to carry on and agrees to host the annual
Manderley Masquerade Ball as usual. Deceived by Mrs. Danvers, Maxim’s
young wife dresses in the same costume worn by Rebecca the year before,
resulting in an embarrassed and angry reaction which is cut short only
by the announcement that a shipping accident has occurred in the nearby
harbour. During rescue operations Rebecca’s skiff is unexpectedly
recovered, and in it, her body.
An inquest follows, during which various startling revelations unfold
leaving the De Winter’s marriage on doubtful terms, while the malevolent
presence of Rebecca’s ghost is ubiquitous. However, through their love
for one another the De Winters manage to survive the ordeal, but at an
extremely high cost.
The score captures all the elements of romance, suspense and mystery
evoked by the story, in an appropriately rich and swirling melody that
pervades throughout the piece. The music has an incredibly filmic
quality to it, reminiscent of the scores of those blockbuster melodramas
of the 30s and 40s, giving the piece a befittingly ‘classic’ feel.
Scott McIntyre provided skilful orchestrations for the 23-piece
orchestra (including 11 strings), helping to provide the sweeping full
sound that the score deserves. The orchestra and their conductor (the
composer, Kevin Purcell) were magnificent - a real joy to listen to – in
fact their skill and the quality of the score stood so well on their own
merits, an evening of simply this alone would have been equally as
entertaining as it was with book and lyrics to embellish upon it.
The book has been highly underscored and in parts is almost operetta in
style (especially in the first act) with much of the exposition being
provided in a ‘sung-through’ form. Unfortunately at times this made it
difficult to follow the story and lyrics, largely because acoustic
balance was in favour of the orchestra. The ‘sung-through’ style put a
lot of pressure on the lyrics of particular numbers to carry the plot,
which at times made the libretto seem clunky and sat uncomfortably
amongst the score.
Despite that, numbers such as Manderley, Pandora’s Box, Sleep Well My
Princess, Hear Me God and the title track Rebecca are wonderful pieces
that have the stamp of the show upon them lyrically yet have the
integrity to easily stand alone. Unfortunately, too many of the songs
spend too much time rehashing old lyrical themes that cause them to feel
generic or formulaic. Other songs developed characters that went on to
play no more of a part in the story. Ben’s World, sung with great
dexterity by Robert Harsley was a prime example of this.
The cast for this concert, or reading, appeared on stage in appropriate
costuming, which along with scenic art (provided by Gwendoline Krumins)
projected above the stage and a small number of props added the
necessary elements to help the audience to comprehend the plot lines
without fully staging the show.
Richard Thomas portrayed Maxim De Winter with a debonair countenance
appropriate to the role, keeping his all too British stiff upper lip
throughout the revelations of Act Two. Richard nailed the Act One finale
Hear Me God leaving the audience excited to hear what was to come after
interval.
Monique Pitsikas’ had the difficult task of finding a backbone for the
‘new’ Mrs. De Winter. This character is the narrator and main character
of the original book, but has fallen to a smaller, more traditional
romantic lead-type role in this adaptation. Hence this is the kind of
character that can so often come across as sappy, but Monique skillfully
graduated the novice to a believably supportive wife who stands by her
husband against all odds. This change was well displayed in her second
act duet with Richard, I Need to Know.
The title role of Rebecca, in contrast, merely a remembered character in
the book and movie has become an embodied ghost in this adaptation. This
reinvention has provided a wonderfully feisty and steadfast character
that Lauren Elise brought to life with brilliant verve. Her performance
of Pandora’s Box was truly magnificent, and her finale reprise of
Manderley provided a heightened sense to the dramatic ending.
Maureen Andrew as Mrs. Danvers gave a standout performance as the
housekeeper who does not approve of the ‘new’ Mrs. De Winter. Her
expertise was evident when she sang Sleep Well, My Princess and the
reprise of the title track. Likewise Jane Badler added the appropriate
eccentricity to her character of Mrs. Van Hopper.
Will Conyers received appreciative whoops of laughter for his portrayal
of the comic side of Jack Favell, overcoming the, at times, awkward
lyrics given him.
Sean Gunn showed marvelous enthusiasm and flair, bringing distinction
to many of the numerous smaller roles he played, especially the French
waiter and Tabb the boat builder.
New musicals are tricky things. Whether wholly original pieces or based
upon other works that have come before one can never really know if the
show will work until put in front of an audience.
I understand that Kevin Purcell created ‘Rebecca the musical’ as a
thesis for his music doctorate at Melbourne University’s School of Music
and as such the purpose of this event, aside from the commendable act of
raising funds for an excellent cause, wouldn’t necessarily have been to
develop the show with an eye to getting a fully staged professional
production produced in the future.
However, I’m also aware that a DVD recording was made of the event in an
attempt to market the show overseas and contribute to a possible “the
making of an Australian musical” documentary.
Combine this with the fact that producers Magnormos market themselves
as “giving a voice to as yet unsung musical theatre material by
providing a variety of platforms for its further evolution” and it
appears to me that an opportunity to capture the responses of a large
audience in order to help evolve this work was missed. Although this may
not have been a fully stage performance at the very least, feedback on
score, book and lyrics was available.
An approach like Playbox Theatre’s 'Raw' play reading program, where
feedback discussion with the audience is held after the reading, would
be a method worth considering for this company in the future.
I have faith that the creators of ‘Rebecca the musical’ are very aware
of the need to continually develop the piece and I’m confident more
changes will be made before it finds its way into a fully staged
production, which I sincerely hope it does.
One does worry though that in a climate where radical productions like
Tony Winner ‘Avenue Q’, Olivier Award Winner ‘Jerry Springer the Opera’
and countless “jukebox” musicals are the type of shows that are winning
big audiences, an old-fashioned musical like this may be fighting an
up-hill battle to be successful in today’s musical marketplace.
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