Why Rebecca the Musical is not opening at Shaftesbury Theatre

There have been all sorts of rumours circulating why Rebecca the Musical has been pulled from its Spring opening at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London's West End with Flashdance closing there on 15th January.  

I am very sad that it has been postponed, especially as there was a very strong rumour that the excellent Miss Haydn Gwynne was in line to play the deluded Mrs Danvers

Well wonder no more why it has been delayed as the producer Ben Sprecher said yesterday:  “The reason that Rebecca will not be at the beautiful Shaftesbury Theatre is that the excavation under the stage, in order to allow for the staircase of Manderlay, could not be done. We are committed to not compromising the artistic vision of this production. The Theatre is situated over an ancient stream which, when we did the test hole, completely filled up with water. Second, the Theatre back wall is supported by the interior walls that would have to be removed during the excavation. Further, in the UK whenever there is a substantial excavation, any artefact found in the digging immediately brings the construction job to a compete halt indefinitely while it is determined whether or not the is any significance to the "find", All of these obstacles combined forced us to rethink going forward at this historic theatre. Therefore, REBECCA the musical will be announcing its new production schedule and theatre very shortly.

Thank you all for your excitement about the show. On behalf of all the creative personnel on this production, we hope it will be worth the wait.”