Going to attempt putting my thoughts together about Erkel színház's Rebecca as much as i can, compared to the older Operettszínház staging🤞
General thoughts/staging:
For most part, the current staging is the same as in Operettszínház, except for the LED screens, which imo take away a bit from the whole feeling and vibes of the musical. Sure, some of the videos look nice (like the wave graphics during several scenes), but having a fully hand crafted set always adds to the play. (Also this doesn't come as a surprise, but all of the graphics are ai, as it has become the norm for many new plays/stagings).
Those who know about Erkel, knows how they love including the whole theater in the scenes. This is less used in Rebecca, except for a few times dancers run in from the sides, or during Die Voruntersuchung. During the latter, the whole scene falls apart a bit, since it's so spread out. Beatrice, Giles, Crawley and "Ich" are on one side, while Favell and Mrs. Danvers are on the other, and then you also have the dancers and ensemble in different places than the last 2 stated.
The last 2 things I'd like to mention here are some changes they made. First, for whatever reason they decided to give "Ich" and Maxim a child??? Sure that's gonna be a very functioning family....
Second, I'm guessing incest was too much for Erkel to handle, since Favell tells Danvers to tell them the truth and just say him and Rebecca were lovers, not cousins.
Maxim (compared to Szabó P. Szilveszter):
Currently in Erkel Feke Pál and Brasch Bence are sharing the role.
I saw Rebecca with Feke Pál first (may I add, this was what introduced me to the whole play too), and looking back I overhyped his acting. Going for looks, I wouldn't have a problem with him, except for the lined eyebrows, those are weird. As for acting, he struggles with showing the correct emotions. Really he's either just trying to act firm (with not the most success), or trying to act mad. Don't get me wrong, he's not horrible, plus his voice is great too, but he's nothing compared to Szpsz or Bence, for that matter. As much as I like him as Garai in Trón, I'm not a huge fan of him here. (He's still sort of dear to me since I saw the play with him first and he's funny to me in general.)
On to Brasch Bence, I've only seen him once, but it definitely was a phenomenal experience. He's prim, firm, but still handles both the more extreme and softer moments Maxim has wonderfully. A highlight for me is his Kein Lächeln war je so kalt, I had goosebumps the whole song. During the parts where he's reenacting what happened you can really see how his Maxim still remembers vividly how things went down, and how much these scarred him.
"Ich" (compared to Szinetár Dóra):
Just like Maxim, we've also got 2 casts for her: Tóth Angelika and Kovács Gyopár.
First off, something going for both of them is that the chemistry between "Ich" and Maxim wasn't as strong as Dóra's and Szpsz's. (One thing I'd like to add is that I've only seen Angelika with Feke Pál, and Gyopár with Bence, so I'm not sure how different they may be switched up).
Looking at the character herself, I prefer Angelika over Gyopár. She handles both parts of "Ich" better, at first she's naive, very introverted and scared, but after she learns the truth her switch to being more firm is great. I don't have many more notes for her, since I think she's really great.
As for Kovács Gyopár, she was a bit weak in this role for me. Can't really find the right word in english or hungarian, but I think she seemed a bit too arrogant, especially in the beginning. Her voice was also weaker than Angelika's. Honestly if Rebecca herself would be a role in the musical, I think Gyopár would handle that better.
Mrs. Danvers (without comparing her to anyone):
Okay so for her our 2 casts are Gallusz Nikolett and Malek Andrea.
I enjoyed both of their Danvers', but I do prefer Gallusz Niki. First of all, her voice is insane. Her acting is also perfect for the role, I'd say. A highlight from her is during Manderley in Flammen, she gives such a sinister, kind of insane smile to Crawley that it's chilling. (Small extra, but she's so very beautiful, I love her ☹️☹️)
Sadly I don't remember much of Malek Andrea, she was also nice in the role, but I couldn't really highlight or criticize much. She was kind of plain, in a way where she fulfilled everything needed for Danvers, but didn't really add much extra.
Jack Favell (kind of?? compared to Bálint Ádám):
Just like the others, we also have 2 actors playing him: Veréb Tamás and Puskás Péter. Honestly I'd say this is the only character where I can't really pick a favorite from our casts. Only comparison I'll bring here to Bálint Ádám is how both of our actors lack the fluidity and animation Bálint Ádám had.
Veréb Tamás' Favell is kind of more loveable (as loveable Favell gets) than Puskás Péter's. His voice is also stronger. Don't have many notes for him, since I'm quite fond of his way of playing Favell.
Puskás Péter definitely plays him more repulsively. His Favell is like the most disgusting guy you'll find, I really enjoyed seeing him. His voice isn't as strong, and I was doubting his performance in the first act, but he got it together for the second and I'm really glad he did.
Mrs. Van Hopper (also not compared to anyone):
Last role I'll be talking about 2 actors, thank god🙏🙏 (Didn't see Cseh Dávid Péter's Crawley so this review will be lacking that later, but that doesn't matter now.) Okay so for her our 2 actors are Udvaros Dorottya and Náray Erika.
Imo, Udvaros Dorottya is much much better than Náray Erika. She's much more loud and whiny, she makes it more clear that she's there. Her line delivery is also great, she brings out the jokes in the dialog more.
Náray Erika is nothing special. She's fine, but her Van Hopper really lacks the loudness that Udvaros Dorottya has.
Frank Crawley (from him I won't be comparing the characters to anyone):
Although the role is shared between Fehér Tibor and Cseh Dávid Péter, as I've stated prior to this, I've only seen Fehér Tibor. His Crawley is very cute to me, he's always close to Maxim, and tries to comfort "Ich" the best he can. His firmness is also perfect for the role. Once again not much notes.
Writing about them in one section since I don't have that many notes 💔💔
First, Ben, played by Braga Nikita. His Ben is very dear to me, I want to protect him with everything I've got. His line delivery is adorable, and he brings the hauntedness the character has perfectly.
Next Beatrice and Giles, played by Vágó Bernadett and Fejszés Attila. They're like the unproblematic, straight couple ever to me. I'm especially fond of Vágó Bernadett as Bea, she's so short compared to everyone and it really adds to the character. She's extremely sweet with "Ich" and a great comedic duo with Giles.
I'm sure I missed many things in this, but it's the most I'll be able to get out now, so if anyone read to this point thank you, and I hope it was sort of understandable 🙏🙏
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