Breaking News: Has REBECCA Cancelled Its Broadway Run?

The offstage saga of REBECCA The Musical continues to twist and turn with drama of its own. Today, Michael Riedel reports exclusively in the New York Post that, according to his sources, the show "has been cancelled due to a lack of financing."

Riedel writes "Sprecher spent last week scrambling to raise money from other investors but it appears he was unable to put a deal together. Yesterday morning panicked cast members began hearing rumors that "Rebecca" was off. There is no official word yet from the production but The Post has learned that the show will not open this season."

4:25PM Update - Click Here for the New Story... OFFICIAL: REBECCA Is Delayed Indefinitely; Producers Blame Anonymous Email for Scaring Away New Investor This Week

3:00PM Update - A source tells BroadwayWorld.com that the show will be 'officially postponed' in an official announcement later today, with the show having been unable to make up it's $4.5 million budget deficit in time for rehearsals to begin. A meeting with the creative team is said to be underway at the current time. 

At this time, there is no official confirmation either way, but BWW will update you as the story continues. 

As BroadwayWorld reported last week, REBECCA's lead producer Ben Sprecher told the NY Times last week (and the cast) that he had commitments from investors to alleviate the $4.5 million gap in The Musical's budget. At that time, the cast was said to be notified as well that rehearsals would indeed begin on Monday, October 1. 

At the time, Actors Equity's Nick Wyman told NYT: “No one has said the words to me that the money is in the bank, but I would bet on the show taking place. Does he have the money right now? I don’t know. Will he have it by Monday morning? I bet he will. He has been confident that we’ll have the money.”

REBECCA, the new musical based on the classic novel by Daphne Du Maurier novel, previously delayed the start of its rehearsals by two weeks due reportedly to the death of a key investor responsible for a $4.5 million investment pool in the production. REBECCA was scheduled to begin rehearsals Monday, September 10 prior to an October 30 first preview and November 18 premiere at the Broadhurst Theatre. 

REBECCA features original book and lyrics by Michael Kunze, music by Sylvester Levay, English book adaptation by two-time Tony Award winner Christopher Hampton (Sunset Boulevard), English lyrics by Hampton and Kunze, and direction by Tony Award winner Michael Blakemore (Kiss Me, Kate; City of Angels; Noises Off) and Francesca Zambello (Little Mermaid). Multiple Tony-nominated director/choreographer Graciela Daniele (Ragtime) will create The Musical staging for the show. Scenic design is by Peter J. Davidson, costumes by Jane Greenwood, lighting by Mark McCullough, sound by Peter Fitzgerald, hair & wig design by Tom Watson and special effects by Gregory Meehand projections by Sven Ortel. Musical direction and supervision is by Kevin Stites.

The cast of REBECCA features Jill Paice as “I”, Ryan Silverman as Maxim DeWinter, Karen Mason as Mrs. Danvers, James Barbour as Jack Favell, Howard McGillin as Frank Crawley, Donna English as Beatrice de Winter, Henry Stram as Ben and Nick Wyman as Giles.

REBECCA is a new musical drawn from the classic Daphne Du Maurier novel about love and obsession reaching from beyond the grave. In this romantic thriller, Maxim de Winter brings his new wife (“I”) home to his estate of Manderley. There she meets the intimidating housekeeper Mrs. Danvers, who had a very special relationship with Maxim’s first wife, the beautiful Rebecca, who died a year earlier in a boating accident. The young woman discovers Manderley is a house of devastating secrets, and THE MYSTERY of Rebecca may be the greatest of them all as she finds the strength to challenge Mrs. Danvers and save her marriage.

REBECCA had its world premiere in 2006 at Vereinigte Buhnen Wien in Vienna, where it played to sold-out houses for more than three years. Vastly successful productions of REBECCA have also played Budapest, Hungary; Bucharest, Romania; Helsinki, Finland; Stuttgart, Germany; St. Gallen, Switzerland and at the Imperial Theatre in Tokyo.

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