REBECCA
a musical thriller in a class of its own
REBECCA is another magnificent masterpiece by Michael Kunze & Sylvester Levay. The idea for the spectacular musical adaptation, based on the world-famous novel by Daphne du Maurier, was born during a visit by Kunze to Levay in Los Angeles when they watched Alfred Hitchcock's film together. Despite initial scepticism about the suitability of the crime story for a musical, the two artists were convinced by the dramaturgy and the emotional facets of the story, whose combination of exciting plot and profound emotions makes the plot a unique experience. For the world premiere, the VBW were able to win over the multi-award-winning director Francesca Zambello, whose production brought out the complexity of the characters, in particular the dynamic relationship between the two strong female figures at the centre of the action. REBECCA celebrated its world premiere at the Raimund Theatre on 28 November 2006 and has been delighting audiences in many countries around the world ever since.
Synopsis
The story begins in 1926 in a hotel in Monte Carlo, where ‘I’ meets Maxim de Winter, a wealthy American woman named Mrs Van Hopper, who has recently lost his wife. A love affair quickly develops between ‘I’ and Maxim, which soon leads to their wedding. After their romantic honeymoon in Venice, the two return to Maxim's Manderley estate in Cornwall, where ‘I’ is confronted with the constant presence of Maxim's deceased first wife, Rebecca, and the manipulative housekeeper Mrs Danvers. The love story at Manderley gradually develops into a gripping thriller with plenty of intrigue and dark surprises.
Manderley goes global
REBECCA has attracted more than 2.7 million visitors in 14 countries and 11 languages. Since its world premiere in 2006, the dark VBW musical thriller has already been seen in Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Japan, China, Romania, Russia, Serbia, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland and the Czech Republic and will return to the Raimund Theatre in Vienna for one season in 2022 in a new production - also by Francesca Zambello.
