Rebecca Producers Have Lost Right to Broadway Production

[Willie4316]

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/REBECCA-Producers-Have-Officially-Lost-Rights-to-Bring-the-Ill-Fated-Musical-to-Broadway-20170424

Not quite what I was expecting. The show itself I think would do extremely well if it ever makes its way here

[Call_me_jorge]

This is good though, right? Now another producing team could bring it in.

[newintown]

Janet Rosen may be looking for a new product.

 

(I hope that doesn't make Chesney Snow upset...)

[Willie4316]

Call_me_jorge said: "This is good though, right? Now another producing team could bring it in."

It's good in the sense that another team can bring it in, the question is who and how long? 

[Lot666]

This is very sad for Mr. Sprecher, who has been working away at this for a very long time. I do, however, hope that someone finally gets the show on stage.

[sparepart973]

I honestly think the US isn't the right place for it. The press will slaughter it. 

Then again..Les Miz, Cats and now Miss Saigon have made a come back and are/were all doing rather great to okay at the box office, and this show is of the same ilk. 

It IS beautifully staged-- I saw it in Stuttgart a few times and it's gorgeous to look at and if you're into a big Eurotrash pop melodrama score, this is a go to show. But some of the book scenes are absolutely exhausting to sit through. I'm surprised it didn't find its way back to Vienna where it all started. 

[philly03]

I feel bad for Sprecher too. I wonder if he can sell the set parts that are already built?

 

I was very excited for this - but I too think the press will slaughter it. They need some changes (especially the orchestration!) but for the most part was on the right track. 

[Lot666]

philly03 said: "I feel bad for Sprecher too. I wonder if he can sell the set parts that are already built?"

Yeah, there is reportedly a warehouse somewhere filled with the set pieces.

[Robbie2]

If this ever happens on Broadway...Pia Douwes must star as Mrs. Danvers!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hG9_bPitrqY

 

[Robbie2]

Lot666 said: "philly03 said: "I feel bad for Sprecher too. I wonder if he can sell the set parts that are already built?"

Yeah, there is reportedly a warehouse somewhere filled with the set pieces.

 

"The Broadhurst should be available by next spring as it was built to fit there!

 

[Kad]

This is now a toxic property. No one will want to touch it- and frankly, all the talk of the producers thinking how sure of hit this was gonna be was delusional.

This was ready-made to flop on a contemporary Broadway stage. The behind-the-scenes imbroglio will end up being the most interesting thing about it.

[Call_me_jorge]

Robbie2 said: "Lot666 said: "philly03 said: "I feel bad for Sprecher too. I wonder if he can sell the set parts that are already built?"

Yeah, there is reportedly a warehouse somewhere filled with the set pieces.

 

"The Broadhurst should be available by next spring as it was built to fit there!

 

 

"

Do you really think Anastasia will only last a year?

[philly03]

The behind the scenes is so interesting - really hope someone writes a book about it. Remember when it was going to play the Shaftesbury in London and they went to dig under the stage the space filled up with water? One of the English lyrics in "She's Invincible" is "she's unsinkable".... 

Not to mention all the people cast over the years: Pia Douwes, Julian Ovenden, Carolee Carmello, Lisa O'Hare, Jill Paice, etc... of course Sierra Boggess who the producers really wanted and even allowed her then-fiance Tam Matu to star alongside her if she did.

 

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

NOT SINCE REBECCA...a portrait of the Broadway could-have-beens...

[Alexander Lamar]

I wouldn't mind seeing a show about the drama behind this. 

[Lot666]

Robbie2 said: "If this ever happens on Broadway...Pia Douwes must star as Mrs. Danvers!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hG9_bPitrqY"

Ms. Douwes is mad and fabulous.

[Lot666]

Robbie2 said: "Lot666 said: "philly03 said: "I feel bad for Sprecher too. I wonder if he can sell the set parts that are already built?"

Yeah, there is reportedly a warehouse somewhere filled with the set pieces.

"The Broadhurst should be available by next spring as it was built to fit there!"

Don't remind me - I still have my pair of tickets for what was supposed to be opening night. I can't bring myself to trash them.

[Lot666]

Kad said: "This is now a toxic property. No one will want to touch it- and frankly, all the talk of the producers thinking how sure of hit this was gonna be was delusional.

This was ready-made to flop on a contemporary Broadway stage. The behind-the-scenes imbroglio will end up being the most interesting thing about it."

I respectfully disagree. There's a difference between toxic and scandalous, and I believe the intrigue that has surrounded the show for several years now - "It's cursed!" - would only serve to heighten interest. The music that I've heard from the European productions is dark, grand, and dramatic, which suits the plot well, and if the lyrics are translated properly, it could be fabulous. I know a lot of people on this board enjoy trashing shows in the Phantom genre, but there is clearly an audience that enjoys this style (myself among them) and who would love to see it.

[Kad]

The audience that enjoys seeing shows in this style is largely not in America.

And "intrigue" is not something a production can hang its hat on.

[10086sunset]

Share the same feelings as Kad about the property being toxic. 

This show will not be able to overcome the long and drawn out history. Every review, article, piece of publicity would mention the history of the production.

[Sauja]

sparepart973 said: "I honestly think the US isn't the right place for it. The press will slaughter it. 

Then again..Les Miz, Cats and now Miss Saigon have made a come back and are/were all doing rather great to okay at the box office, and this show is of the same ilk."

I wonder if the key word here is "back." Are American audiences more open to this kind of theater when it has a built in nostalgia factor? I think about something like A Tale of Two Cities. Not a good musical, but if it had opened in the early 90s, could it have had some legs? It felt more of that time. Rebecca does too. And I just wonder if, minus the expectations of seeing something that we know is a revival, this style just can't be sustained right now. So...I think I'm agreeing with you. 100% on the first part in spite of the second part if that makes sense!

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Lot666 said: "I respectfully disagree. There's a difference between toxic and scandalous, and I believe the intrigue that has surrounded the show for several years now ( "It's cursed!"  would only serve to heighten interest."

In the behind-the-scenes story, maybe.

"The music that I've heard from the European productions is dark, grand, and dramatic, which suits the plot well, and if the lyrics are translated properly, it could be fabulous. I know a lot of people on this board enjoy trashing shows in the Phantom genre, but there is clearly an audience that enjoys this style (myself among them) and who would love to see it."

Yes, but that audience is not nearly big enough to keep it running. Commercially, this show would be D.O.A.

[broadwayboy223]

So if it's never ever going to happen why do they keep posting on the Rebecca page? I would really like to see this come to Broadway. It's probably not going to happen I guess :/ 

[Willie4316]

broadwayboy223 said: "So if it's never ever going to happen why do they keep posting on the Rebecca page? I would really like to see this come to Broadway. It's probably not going to happen I guess :/ "

Not necessarily. It's not that its never coming, more of a change in management which could be for better or for worse. 

[JustAnotherNewYorker]

Alexander Lamar said: "I wouldn't mind seeing a show about the drama behind this. "

This sounds exactly like the kind of program that 54 Below should run...