Rebecca

At Brussels’ enchanting Château du Karreveld, Festival Bruxellons! delivers a climatic French-language premiere of Rebecca, a romantic thriller musical that easily surpasses the English-language London production with its breathtaking spectacle, including the audacious use of real fire on stage, absent at the Charring Cross Theatre (2023). Originating in Austria at Vienna’s Raimund Theater, where it captivated over 850,000 spectators from 2006-2008 and 2022-2024, this global phenomenon—seen by 2.8 million across 14 countries—finds a thrilling home in Belgium’s open-air setting through early September 2025. Adapting Daphne Du Maurier’s gothic novel, famously immortalized by Alfred Hitchcock’s Oscar-winning film, this production is a visual and emotional triumph.

The story traces the journey of an unnamed timid young woman (later referred to only as Mrs. de Winter) who falls for widower Maxim de Winter in Monte Carlo, only to find at his Manderley estate that the spectral presence of his first wife Rebecca endures through the obsessive devotion of the housekeeper Mrs. Danvers, creating a world where love, jealousy, and psychological torment collide. Michael Kunze’s libretto and lyrics, paired with Sylvester Levay’s score—both veterans of Elisabeth and Mozart!—offer stirring highlights such as “Rebecca” and “The Power of a Woman in Love,” though some other numbers lacking a strong melodic line feel like spoken dialogue set to music. Stéphane Delaporte’s French translation, however, lends the text a welcome clarity and depth, sharpening the contours of the drama.

The cast of 21 rises impressively to the occasion. Laura Tardino’s Mrs. de Winter conveys both fragility and resolve, her crystalline soprano shaped at the Conserveratoire Nationale de Créteil and Lyceum. Opposite her, Jeremy Petit, back at Bruxellons! where he played Edward in Blood Brothers after Mama Mia! at Mogador, brings a brooding charisma to Maxim, marked by flashes of inner conflict. Liesbeth Roose proves the evening’s most formidable presence, her Mrs. Danvers chilling in both poise and vocal power, with her showstopping rendition of the title song. Nathan Desnyder (nominated for his portrayal of the Puss in Boots and soon to be seen in Treasure Island this winter at Bruxellons!) injects sardonic wit into Jack Favell, while Marie-Aline Thomassin, relishing her turn as the domineering Mrs. Van Hopper, provides a comic counterbalance that keeps the story from sinking into gloom.

The staging itself represents a triumph of imagination and execution, as co-directors Jack Cooper and Marina Pangos, for the first time behind the scene at Bruxellons after playing the lead in My Fair Lady at Burxellons! and in The Sound of Music on tour, create fluid transitions between Monte Carlo’s sunlit elegance and the gothic austerity of Manderley, aided by Kylian Campbell’s energized choreography (Elisabeth) and Laure Campion’s deft musical direction of an 18-piece orchestra, which captures both the tension and lyricism of Levay’s score. The design elements cohere beautifully: Sylvianne Besson’s adaptable set conjures multiple environments with striking efficiency; Béatrice Guilleaume’s costumes are rich in period detail; Laurent Kaye’s lighting bathes the stage in moods ranging from spectral unease to infernal blaze; and the sound design ensures that the drama reverberates with clarity and impact.

For the second time around, after Elisabeth three seasons ago, Bruxellons! undeniably succeeds in breathing new life into a somewhat austere Viennese production, delivering a musical Rebecca that is both gripping and meticulously crafted. For those seeking a summer evening of theatre that lingers in the imagination long after the final flames have died down, don’t miss a trip to Brussels to see it before the end of the month. If not, another brilliant but smaller case musical is to follow until September 23rd, Good Bye Norma Jean, reimagining the last days of the icon Marilyn Monroe, also adapted by Stéphane Delaporte from the book and lyrics by Allard Blom with original music by Sam Verhoeven.

Patrick Honoré - BroadwayWorld - 2025 08 26

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