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Post by Fantasma da Opera on Jan 1, 2008 10:44:44 GMT -5
Although I disagree on most of the things you said, some are of course, true. Beatrice isn't much of a character, but then again, it would be very hard to give more depth to the character without extending the musical (And he already has around 2 and a half hours.) Beatrice has to be striped of depth because, and this is the way I view it, because most of the scenes that give her depth in the book are cuted. The lunch with the Lacy's is gone (they used some of the lines when Beatrice and Gilles arrive in Manderley, but its not quite the same), the visit of Ich and Beatrice to Maxim's grandmother is gone... Rebecca has of course some flaws easly corrected. "I'm an American Woman" is one of them. The song never made any sence in the show to me, but while it was played by Carin it was, at least a funny moment. Now with Marika, wich is a more age-wise woman to play the role (after all, Mrs. Van Hopper is suposed to be an old-bat) the song looks silly. Its a woman with her 50's/60's flirting with a man of around the same age, but she is totally gone in the second act. Another flaw, to me, is the choreography to "Wir sind British". The song is great, the choreography is just...silly. So yes I agree that some of the blame goes to Francesca Zambello, but then again, Rebecca is a very different show from the other Kunze's shows. Its not like Elisabeth nor Mozart!. The range of Rebecca allows the show to go to Broadway, something that just very hardly will ever happen to Elisabeth and even less with Mozart!, and I think thats one of the reasons people normaly tend to consider Rebecca as more plain show with not much depth. I don't agree with the dialogs beeing all turned into music. Maybe a reprise of "Sie war gewohnt geliebt zu werden" in the second act between Favell, Danvers and Maxim, during the discussion about the Kalender (sorry I don't recall the english word) but thats it. Oh, and about Susan, I also totally disagree, but then again its a matter of taste. I didn't liked her as Sophie in Elisabeth and many people did.
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Post by demica on Jan 1, 2008 12:37:58 GMT -5
Demica: You saw the matinee and didn't offer to say hi? I am thoroughly insulted. =P FWIW, I was in the 2. Rang, right, a couple rows down and in front of the child who kept blowing her nose the whole time. i was in the 2. rang too. @fantasma: i think you're right, it's difficult to give so many characters depth in a play which takes 2 1/2 hours.
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Post by Katharina on Jan 8, 2008 14:16:25 GMT -5
I'm excited to hear they're planning to take the show to Oslo! I might be get the chance to see it then. I just hope they'll do a good job translating it... Then again, as I've only heard some of the songs and isn't too familiar with the story I probably wouldn't be too annoyed if was badly done (unless it's something that is really obvious, like parts of Romeo & Juliette...)
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Post by exedore on Jan 10, 2008 9:54:28 GMT -5
Alright, the review is up: roguezentradi.blogspot.com/2008/01/review-rebecca.htmlHighlights: "How does one describe the works of Michael Kunze and Sylvester Levay so that non-German speaking theatre fans can instantly understand why this duo have the appeal and career longevity that they do? Is it Kunze's poetic German, Levay's sweeping tunes, and the combination that exhibits the best of the genre's 80's grandiose?" "A good director would be able to cover up the flaws, but instead the VBW decided to hire renowned opera director Francesca Zambello." "In the end, Rebecca is a good, but not great musical which brilliantly encapsulates the moodiness of the original novel but fails to cross the border into true genius. Fortunately, nothing about the show as it stands is beyond repair, and with its creators infamous for tinkering and revising their work, may well fulfill its potential for greatness."
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Post by Fantasma da Opera on Jan 10, 2008 10:54:36 GMT -5
Thanks for the review! I do agree that the video sequences need improvement, specially "Manderley". And I do agree when you say During the scene where she(Mrs.Danvers) manipulates I into choosing her dress for the costume party, there should be a hint of false kindness, something which breaks I's defenses, but the line is read with the same imposing distance as everything else. . On the other hand I don't agree that Susan is wasted on the role, its the best role I've seen her play so far. (mind her Madame Giry was very secondary and her Sophie...well lets say I prefer Else Ludwig a hundred times). If new lyrics will be added to the show I don't know, specially because they've released already the DoubleCD...but then again it would be great to have a reprise of "Sie war gewohnt geliebt zu werden" in 2nd Act between Favell, Maxim and Danvers (during the discussion of "Rebecca loved me" "He has always hated me" etc) Lets see what will they do now, don't forget that the Japanese version opens in April and its propable that the new songs, if they're gonna be writen, will be part of the Japanese production and CD.
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Post by exedore on Jan 10, 2008 11:22:05 GMT -5
I don't agree that Susan is wasted on the role, its the best role I've seen her play so far. Don't get me wrong - I think Susan is perfectly cast. I love her voice and presence, but the director screwed the pooch on how she should play the part. From what I've heard, the understudy played it completely different (not too surprised - swings aren't usually as clamped down as they are here). As far as changes, I did read the book between when I saw the show and wrote the review. I'd kill the whole scene with The Beloved Relations and reframe it as the lunch (which worked beautifully) and double cast Mrs. van Hopper as Maxim's grandmother. That fixes Bee. Maxim, when he reveals everything, should include the fact that Rebecca attempted to seduce Frank, and more of that nervousness when mentioning her needs to come through in the character. These are little things that will make a big difference if done right, and I have faith in K&L that they'll make it all work.
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Post by Fantasma da Opera on Jan 10, 2008 11:45:51 GMT -5
I think that "The Dear Relatives" its a smooth song to give "Ich" the feeling that she's not ALL alone and also gives a comic relief to the show. Of course I would prefer the lunch scene since you could get the consternation of Maxim when Giles mentiones the "sailing". As for Maxim's Grandmother, well its just another character telling "Ich" that Rebecca was amazing etc etc etc. It was cuted in the show just like it was cuted in the film and Beatrice didn't lost any deepness in the movie. As for Mrs. Van Hopper, I would cut "American Woman". The song is totaly out of context, and when sung by a more age-wise women like Marika its just "stupid". Sung by Carin it was fun, not because of the song or the context but because of the actress playing it. Its a very good song, but in the wrong musical. The problem with Beatrice charater to me is the way Kerstin Ibald plays it. She does an AMAZING job as understudy to Mrs. Danvers, but as Beatrice she is just way to kind like you said. She should have more strenght. And believe it or not, just 2 lines added before The Dear Relatives would do the trick. It was just adding the dialog were Beatrice asks Ich about her relation with Mrs. Danvers and how is she feeling instead of entering the scene just to sing the song (wich is, pretty much what she does)
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Post by Fantasma da Opera on Jan 12, 2008 9:18:50 GMT -5
i have rumours about the next season of rebecca in autumn 2008. it is said that wietske and uwe will come back for autumn, but susan will leave the show. maybe kerstin ibald, who played "beatrice", will be first cast for "mrs.danvers". carin will play "mrs. van hopper" again and carsten will leave the show. maybe kai peterson will be the new "jack favell". i think he's awesome, i saw him yesterday. well, these are just rumours, but i'm very excited about them. i hope that susan will not leave the show. there had been a note, that she will stay, but you know it's musical business, everything changes. I'm glad to announce that the rumors were just that. Rumors! Sylvester Levay in an enterview to kultur-channel announced that all the main cast will remain in their roles, meaning Uwe, Wietske AND Susan will come back! For mor details : www.kultur-channel.at/
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Post by Fantasma da Opera on Mar 7, 2008 16:52:41 GMT -5
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Post by Cia on Jun 6, 2008 8:02:55 GMT -5
New cast members for autumn: Jack Favell: Ramin DustdarOberst Julyan: Dennis Kozeluh Carin Filipcic will return to the role of Mrs van Hopper, but apart from those and some ensemble members the cast stays the same as before. (Source: VBW's MusicalClub)
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Post by Fantasma da Opera on Jun 6, 2008 12:07:51 GMT -5
New cast members for autumn: Jack Favell: Ramin DustdarOberst Julyan: Dennis Kozeluh Carin Filipcic will return to the role of Mrs van Hopper, but apart from those and some ensemble members the cast stays the same as before. (Source: VBW's MusicalClub) YEY ;D No Carsten! ;D On the other hand...I never heard of Ramin before... And thank God they got ridd of Marika this is so going to worth my money
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Post by Valancy on Jun 6, 2008 14:18:37 GMT -5
Yay for a new Favell! And Carin's return! I haven't heard of Ramin either, but he seems to have done lots of musicals, just mostly not well-known productions. Hey, less known actors also have to start somewhere to become better known... Heck, I hadn't heard of Susan before Rebecca. (I know she played Sophie in Stuttgart before that, but then I didn't really know the names of every person who had been in the Stuttgart Elisabeth.)
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Post by Fantasma da Opera on Jun 6, 2008 15:01:42 GMT -5
Hey, less known actors also have to start somewhere to become better known... Heck, I hadn't heard of Susan before Rebecca. (I know she played Sophie in Stuttgart before that, but then I didn't really know the names of every person who had been in the Stuttgart Elisabeth.) Yeah, thats true. And the Stuttgart Cast changed so many times, It was hard to keep up with the updates ;D I knew Susan for her Sophie (and I wasn't that fond of her as Sophie) and her Giry, but apart from that...yeah unknowned. Worse with Wietske...I knew she was understudy as Elisabeth but nothing else.
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Post by Valancy on Jun 7, 2008 3:52:21 GMT -5
I still keep discovering new people who were in Stuttgart Elisabeth at some point. Yeah, I didn't know much of Wietske either before she became Ich. And Favell is really a very good role for a relative newcomer to start in, since it's a fairly small part but still something where you can make an impression if you are good at what you do. Carsten didn't make an impression on me, but I assume somebody else could do that.
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Post by duketgg on Jun 7, 2008 7:49:53 GMT -5
REBECCA - from September the 6th, 2008
Maxim de Winter - Uwe Kröger Ich - Wietske van Tongeren Mrs. Danvers - Susan Rigvava-Dumas Mrs. Van Hopper - Carin Filipcic Beatrice - Kerstin Ibald Frank Crawley - André Bauer Ben - Norberto Bertassi Jack Favell - Ramin Dustar Julyan - Dennis Kozeluh
Ensemble Oliver Wejwar Andreas Kammerzelt Fernand Delosch Kai Peterson Kathleen Bauer Tina Schöltzke Cornelia Braun Anna Veit Michaela Christl Robert D. Marx Leigh Martha Klinger Max Niemeyer Ruth Kraus Tim Reichwein Martina Dorothea Rumpf Christoph Sommersguter Barbara Obermeier Lucius Wolter Silke Braas Raphael Dörr Matilda Hansson Noud Hell Katrin Mersch Fritz Schmid Markus Simader
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