Rebecca (musical) Rebecca (musical) Rebecca is a German-language musical based on the novel of the same name by Daphne du Maurier. It was written by Michael Kunze (book and lyrics) and Sylvester Levay (music), the authors of the musicals "Elisabeth", "Mozart!" and "Marie Antoinette". The plot, which adheres closely to the original novel, revolves around wealthy Maxim DeWinter, his naïve new wife, and Mrs. Danvers, the manipulative housekeeper of DeWinter's Cornish estate Manderley. Mrs. Danvers resents the new wife's intrusion and persuades the new wife that she is an unworthy replacement for the first Mrs. DeWinter, the glamorous and mysterious Rebecca, who
Rebecca (novel) Maurier. "The Times" said that "the material is of the humblest...nothing in this is beyond the novelette." In the "Christian Science Monitor" of 14 September 1938, V. S. Pritchett predicted the novel "would be here today, gone tomorrow." Few critics saw in the novel what the author wanted them to see: the exploration of the relationship between a man who is powerful and a woman who is not. "Rebecca" is listed in the 20th-Century American Bestsellers descriptive bibliography database maintained by the University of Illinois. The entry, by Katherine Huber, provided the detailed information on the English and American editions