Review: Rebecca

REBECCA OF STRONG WOMEN

Hitchcock’s The Oscar-winning film Rebecca is probably the most familiar version of Daphne du Maurier’s performances based on the text of the same name. The musical version of the Kunze – Levay duo is now taking over the stage of the Helsinki City Theatre.
The melodramatic story of the widowed Maxim de Winter, whose divinely beautiful wife Rebecca has mysteriously died and who marries a humble companion he met in Monte Carlo, keeps the suspense going until the end.

In the performance, directed by Kurt Nuotio, Rebecca dances as a ghost in the background of the events. Thunderstorms, a roaring sea and strong lighting elements surround the newlywed young couple; The past does not want to let go of its grip.
The music composed by Levay is ear-catching, and Liisa Ryömä’s Finnish translations are finely rhymed. The title melody Rebecca is guaranteed to be remembered.

Skilful singing

The beginning of the musical is structurally a bit heavy with huge set changes, as we move from the present to the day where it all began.
The social circle that has settled in Monte Carlo runs smoothly with its swingers. The New Yorker, Mrs. van Hopper, played by Riitta Havukainen , jumps on her companion (Sanna Majuri) and the servants of her hotel.
To the surprise of the entire society, the widower de Winter (Kari Arffman) falls in love with van Hopper’s companion and soon she heads towards de Winter’s Manderley manor as a young man.
The main couple played by Major and Arffman is quite mundane compared to the rest, even strongly typed people. The setting is apt to raise the theme of everyday presence, silent trust and deep love alongside the passion, evil and intrigue that surround it.
The housekeeper of Manderley Manor, Mrs. Danvers, dressed strictly in all black, is like the evil witch in all fairy tales. Sari Ann Moilanen takes her role as a woman who morbidly cherishes Rebecca’s memory wonderfully.
Major and Moilanen form a counterpart, between whom the battle is fought. The duets of Major and Moilanen are like duels, where each of them just has different weapons. Skill-wise, the songs are on point.
As the performance progresses, the Major’s first-person narrator grows from a fearful young woman to a woman who knows her place.
The stage is sometimes full of everything, sometimes just a stripped-down cloud sky. The set design tells a story on a mental level.
The choir parts of the crowd scenes sound handsomely and the crowd moves naturally, as befits a decent musical.
Even though Rebecca’s musical version pulls a quick plot twist from the story, the viewer still stays involved.