Review: Rebecca

THE MANSION OF GREAT EMOTIONS

The musical Rebecca has two major musical themes. There is the Manderley theme, which characterizes the setting, which frames the performance, and there is the Rebecca theme, which is based on the stormy roar of most of the tension of the storytelling.
The music paints the schlager with great pathos.

Rebecca’s lyrics are by German Michael Kuntze and the music is by Hungarian-born Sylvester Levay. The premiere was in Vienna, as was the duo’s previous major success Elisabeth, which was performed in Finland by the Turku City Theatre.

Europeanness is reflected in Rebecca at most in the event environments. In terms of structure and characterization, it is in the same family as the Anglo-American musical of recent decades.
Before his own musical production, Kuntze distinguished himself as a German translator of English-language musicals. Levay, on the other hand, has worked for decades in Hollywood with film and television music.
In addition to a romantic couple, a contemporary musical needs a thrilling counterforce, crowd scenes that can be used to build choral parts, as well as a few lightening comic characters and an absolutely impressive setting.

Daphne du Maurier’s novel offers all of this.
The main character of the musical is a young woman, aptly played by Sanna Majuri , who ends up as a young man at Manderley Manor.
The Major and his counterpart, Mrs. Danvers, aka Sari Ann Moilanen , form a perfect counterpart, both outwardly and vocally. The blonde, delicate girl next door and the dark, dramatic wielder of power meet on an equal footing. Warm, realistic and decadent, sexual; On this very familiar setting rests Rebecca’s battle between the worlds.

Costume designer Sari Salmela has emphasized the down-to-earth nature of the protagonist by varying the muted shades of red in the clothing, until at a turning point in the power relationship, she also embraces the confident fuchsia red dedicated to Rebecca.
In the melodrama dedicated to women, Kari Arfmann’s role in the male lead is thankless. Arffman invests a lot in expressing emotions, but a more restrained way of presenting it could lead to a more charismatic result. Liisa Ryömä’s Finnish translation also doesn’t offer much help with Maxim’s rhythmically varying songs, even though the lyrics of the otherwise large solos built on legato lines sound great.

The worst thing about Rebecca is the comic lightening. Not at all in terms of execution, as Riitta Havukainen’s American upstart is watched and listened to with delight, as well as another extremely caricatured person, Antti Timonen’s Jack Favelli.
However, the melodrama doesn’t really want to withstand comic relief outbursts.