Casting for English-language premiere of Rebecca musical confirmed

Exclusive: Casting has been announced for the long-awaited UK premiere of Rebecca.

Michael Kunze and Sylvester Levay’s musical version of the famous novel will receive its English-language premiere at London’s Charing Cross Theatre this September.

The show, based on Daphne du Maurier’s seminal 1938 text, was first seen in Vienna in 2006 in German, going on to play three sold-out seasons at the Raimund Theater, with a variety of foreign-language productions following over the intervening 16 years.

Christopher Hampton’s English-language version of the show has been workshopped a number of times over the last 11 years, with both UK and Broadway productions previously conceived. Famously, the show had even gone on sale for its Broadway run in 2013, before plans were scrapped.

Du Maurier’s Rebecca tells the tale of a young woman who marries a wealthy widower, only for the new husband’s past to come to haunt the couple. It was adapted into a film by Alfred Hitchcock in 1940, and again by Ben Wheatley in 2020.

The London cast will be led by Richard Carson (Les Misérables) as Maxim de Winter, Lauren Jones (Bonnie and Clyde) as Second Mrs de Winter / ‘I’, and Kara Lane (The Addams Family) as Mrs Danvers.

Completing the company are Alex James-Ward, Piers Bate, Sarah Harlington, David Breeds, Amanda Minihan, Neil Moors, Nicholas Lumley, Nigel-Joseph Francis, Elliot Swann, Scott McClure, Emily Apps, Melanie Bright, Gail MacKinnon, Tarisha Rommick, James Mateo-Salt, and Rosie Glossop.

Featuring a large orchestra of 18, the London production of the musical is to be directed by Alejandro Bonatto (The Human Voice at the Charing Cross Theatre). Other creative team members include choreographer Ron Howell, musical supervisor/conductor Robert Scott, production designer Nicky Shaw, lighting designer David Seldes, sound designer Andrew Johnson, projection designer Matt Powell, and costume supervisor Jess Richardson-Smith. Casting is by Stephen Crockett/Grindrod Burton Casting.

Rebecca runs at the Charing Cross Theatre from 4 September to 18 November 2023, with a press night set for 18 September. Tickets are on sale below.