Rebecca: B'way prmiere of musical cancelled

The Broadway premiere of the new musical Rebecca, based on the classic novel by Daphne du Maurier, which was to open at the Broadhurst theatre on 22 Apr 2012, has been cancelled due to difficulties raising capitalization. The producers hope to bring the show to the Great White Way nxt season

Lead producer Ben Sprecher said in a statement, "It is with great disappointment that we have made the decision to postpone the Broadway debut of this phenomenal musical until next season. Rebecca is a grand and spectacular musical requiring substantial capitalization, and it's no secret that in this very negative economic climate, raising money for Broadway has become even more difficult and laborious than it has historically always been. We are very close to meeting our financial goal, but we just ran short of time to complete capitalization with rehearsals slated to begin in two weeks. We feel that Rebecca is too special of a musical to short change in any way. It is our responsibility to the creators of this show, to our cast, our partners, our investors and our vendors that the complete financing is in place before rehearsals begin. Rebecca on Broadway must have the proper chance to continue the successful track record it currently enjoys worldwide. My co-producers and I remain very committed to bringing this wonderful show to New York next season."

The musical was to star Sierra Boggess as 'I,' along with Tam Matu (Maxim de Winter), Karen Mason (Mrs. Danvers), James Barbour (Jack Favell), Howard McGillin (Frank Crawley), Donna English (Beatrice de Winter) and Nick Wyman (Giles).

Based on the classic Daphne du Maurier novel (and later turned into an Oscar-winning film by Alfred Hitchcock), Rebecca is the story of Maxim de Winter, his new wife ("I") and Mrs. Danvers, the controlling and manipulative housekeeper of Maxim's West Country estate of Manderley - where the memory of his first wife, the glamorous and mysterious Rebecca, still casts a shadow.

Rebecca features original book and lyrics by Michael Kunze, music by Sylvester Levay, English book adaptation by two-time Tony Award winner Christopher Hampton (Sunset Boulevard), English lyrics by Hampton and Kunze, and direction by Tony Award-winner Michael Blakemore (Kiss Me, Kate; City of Angeles; Noises Off) and Francesca Zambello (Little Mermaid).

Rebecca had its world premiere in 2006 at Vereinigte Buhnen Wien in Vienna, where it played for more than three years. Productions of Rebecca have also played Budapest, Hungary; Helsinki, Finland; Stuttgart, Germany; St. Gallen, Switzerland and at the Imperial Theatre in Tokyo.

The Broadway production team includes Ben Sprecher, Louise Forlenza, The Shubert Organization, Peter Bezemes, Tony Fusco, Larry Feinman, Nanda Anand and Peter Bogyo by special arrangement with/and based on the Vereinigte Buhnen Wien GmbH production.