Exclusive: ”Rebecca” musical to have English language premiere in London

Michael Kunze and Sylvester Levay musical version of the famous novel Rebecca is finally set to be performed in front of UK audiences.

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

However, with new producers and renewed vigour, the musical is finally getting the English-language run it deserves. The piece will play at the Charing Cross Theatre in London, with performances beginning on 4 September 2023.

De 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.

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). Casting and further creative team members for the production are to be announced.

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