'Rebecca' Delayed, Again, After Major Investor Dies The investor was responsible for an investment pool of $4.5 million for the musical, more than one third of its $12 million capitalization costs for Broadway, according to the producers, who declined to divulge the investor's name. The investor, who lived in Europe, had been expected to provide $2 million for the show, and he had also secured pledges totaling $2.5 million from three other people. That money is still being sought as well. One of the "Rebecca" producers, Ben Sprecher, left for Britain on Sunday to continue the estate negotiations. As a result, rehearsals for "Rebecca" - which had been scheduled to start on Monday - will be delayed two weeks until Sept. It is the second postponement to rattle the producers, cast and crew of "Rebecca," based on the Daphne du Maurier novel; last winter the producers announced that the show, which had been scheduled to open on Broadway in April, would be delayed until this fall because they had not been able to raise the $12 million budget in time, citing the bad economy. That delay cost the musical its leading actor and actress, who were set to play the main characters in "Rebecca," a mysterious Englishman and his new, second bride who is haunted by the memories of the first wife. Those roles have since been re-cast. The latest postponement will push back the load-in of the show's elaborate set (which is already built) to its Broadway theater, the Broadhurst, by two weeks as well, and performance dates are sure to change; the producers said they would announce new dates for the start of preview performances and an opening night soon. "Rebecca" had been scheduled to begin previews on Oct. 30 and open on Nov. 18. But that presumes that the show will go on, an outcome that is in doubt given the complications of securing a significant sum from an estate in just two weeks' time. If the musical's lead producers, Mr. Sprecher and Louise Forlenza, cannot nail down the money in that time, the cancellation or indefinite postponement of "Rebecca" is likely. The producers declined to be interviewed on Saturday, but they said in a statement: "Since the tragic and sudden death of a major investor in early August, we have been working with the representatives of the estate to complete the committed investment. We had been reassured that the commitment would be honored, and have tried day and night to finalize this matter, but as of yet have been unable to do so, which has left us no choice but to delay the start of rehearsals for 'Rebecca' by two weeks. We are fiercely committed to resolving this issue as soon as possible and getting the production back on track in two weeks. Philip J. Smith, chairman of the Shubert Organization, which owns the Broadhurst, said in a telephone interview on Saturday that Mr. Sprecher informed him a day earlier about the new delay and the latest in the negotiations with the investor's estate. "We want to be cooperative and let them work it out, but it's a very difficult, very unusual happening - I've been around here since 1950 and I've never seen a scenario quite like what's happened to 'Rebecca,'" Mr. Smith said. Evidently the lawyers for the estate seem to be cooperating, so there's some hope, but estate business is very complicated and we just need to see what happens. But let's face it: there's a short window of time for this to be resolved. The cast of "Rebecca" is led by Jill Paice ("The Woman in White") as a new wife, simply known as I, and Ryan Silverman (who has played Raoul in "The Phantom of the Opera" on Broadway) as her husband, Maxim de Winter. The show has music by Sylvester Levay, an original book and lyrics by Michael Kunze, English book adaptation Christopher Hampton, English lyrics by Mr. Hampton and Mr. Kunze, and direction by Tony Award winner Michael Blakemore ("Kiss Me, Kate") and Francesca Zambello ("The Little Mermaid").