Rebecca - Charing Cross Theatre

Lol. I'm on a hot bus here in Hammersmith tying myself in knots, aren't I?

What I am saying is a good performance forgives a thousand sins in my world.

Manderley may not be represented well by the cheap as chips set, but the wonderful music and lead performance were mesmerising enough, on their own, that it took me on a fantastic theatrical journey, regardless.

Everyone will decide for themselves what aspects of a show they value more than others.

Set design as a tool of storytelling, unless it involves helicopters, chandeliers and giant beanstalks, is usually lower on my radar than script, performance and music. So I loved this show despite its crappy set, cos the ingredients I value were there in abundance.

To your point about the orchestra - from what I gather, the new 'band room' is just that - a room where the band sit. The other shows you mention are in the open pits which allows the natural acoustic to shine. When every instrument is in a room, and piped through speaker, you'll never get the same effect. Could 5 musicians or 18, but it will still sound like it's come through a speaker - no matter how much reverb you stick on in.

Apologies for being that person, but to those of you who have already seen it what is the running time? Website currently states 2hours 15mins but that seems a little short. We have tickets for a Sunday matinee in a few weeks and are trying to work out if we could fit something else in afterwards.

Thank you.

Has any musical on this forum ever had the one star vote in the lead? Or is this a first?

Wild....

Maybe they are painting the set?

The white curtains got stuck

After seeing it on Thursday I must say it is such a wasted opportunity. I really hope this isn't the only West End production of Rebecca, otherwise it would be extremely sad.

Positives: music (no doubt it is just awesome), Richard Carson (for me the perfect Max), Lauren Jones (so good) and the guy playing Ben (sorry, didn't catch his name but was brilliant).

Negatives: lyrics (the translation works but is very mediocre, sometimes silly), the venue itself (hearing trains during quiet solo performance of I was so bad), direction (no invention and some bad choices), of course stage and costumes (OMG this is the ugliest show I've ever seen in London - if you don't have the money to do a proper staging, don't do the opulent historical Rebecca! The stage is so impractical and ugly that it hurst. The costumes don't even fit the actors. I've never thought I would "judge the book by its cover" so much but in this case the staging is bringing the whole performance down massively).

Average: Melanie Bright as Mrs. Denvers - not particularly bad but definitely not amazing. She looks far too young for Mrs. Denvers (aka someone who has been taking care of other adult woman since her childhood) which pretty much supports the vibe of a student production. Her voice and acting is fine but not enough for Mrs. Denvers (in my opinion one of the best female roles ever written). It is kinda hard to understand the personality and motives of her Mrs. Denvers (and I also blame a director for this).

Overall: if you know and love Rebecca, don't punish yourself with seeing this. If you are not familiar with Rebecca, don't go there either, she deserves better introduction.

I'm very much of the opposite belief in a lot of ways, but I couldn't agree more when it comes down to the arts and especially theatre. We have a point as a society where people are almost afraid to be seen as anything but adoring of a production.

I think that people should be respectful at the show and once it finishes, there's no need to talk negatively and reactively in areas where people involved with the show might hear it, but there is absolutely no need for the odd, standing ovation culture that seems to have been cultivated. Not every show deserves that fawning reaction, in fact most do not, and there is nothing disrespectful about simply applauding instead. 

The same applies to reviews and online discussion - there are a lot of critics and spaces who seem afraid to be honest about the shortcomings of shows. How often do you see a WOS review go below 3 stars, for example? Sometimes shows deserve to be criticised from top to bottom, but there is a certain culture which has been cultivated by some that suggests that is disrespectful or rude. I'd say it's part of the choice you make when you release your work to the world. Nobody is obligated to like it, or stifle their critique.

I've witnessed a lot of amateur theatre over the years - some exceptional, some very good, some average, some awful. Just as with professional theatre. However I have never seen the worst amateur village hall fiver-a-ticket-to-include-a-drink mob have a set as naff as this.

Absolutely atrocious.

I was there today. The show was cancelled about 20 minutes before the start time due to technical issues. I’m sure that whatever it is, it must have been serious. I understand that yesterday they had a couple of understudies on, so maybe there’s something to do with that too.

The very last minute cancellation was pretty mad, the staff however seemed in good spirits and dealing with the chaos pretty well. Some people got quite angry at the front of house/box office staff, which seems very unfair to them considering there’s nothing at all they can do about what happens backstage.

In particular a woman who shouted and demanded to speak to the manager, as if the manager could just put the show on at her request. I myself work as front of house and have been through this kind of situation, so thought this would be a good opportunity to remind theatre goers to be kind to the front of house staff. You anger will probably not make your message reach the right people. It’s probably more constructive to send an email/letter to the producers/managers/board members.

Having seen the show earlier this week, I was quite sad to see it cancelled today, but they did offer to exchange my ticket to a different date.

I have to agree with one of the earlier comments. Yes, the set is pretty terrible, but the story, the music and the performances are so beautiful that it is easy to ignore the background.

For anyone wondering wether to go or not I’d say: if you know and love the music, definitely do not miss it.

If you know nothing about it, listen to the German soundtrack and you’ll probably fall in love with the music and book your tickets.

I’m of the opinion that if this run goes relatively well, they might get a transfer or it might motivate someone else to do it better.

A friend who knows someone in the cast mentioned something about the set breaking and them having to rebuild the whole thing?! (Maybe they'll make it better...)