Love Never Dies (Phantom Sequel)

[TurnerPrize]

I really quite liked this! I went with zero expectations and an open mind, and i only think it was about 55% as good as Phantom, but i still came away quite satisfied and cheery. It got a mini standing ovation too! I didn't stand because i'm not American and it wasn't Les Mis, but about a quarter of everyone around us did which i was not expecting (i've only just read Samuel's spoilers).

The two highlights for me were the two big solos. We found out after that it was the understudy phantom (Ramin's had his appendix out), but we wouldn't have known and his Til I Hear You Sing was the total tits. And then the end of Love Never Dies was equally hairs-on-end amazing. She looked magnificent for it too. The whole show's certainly less spectacular than phantom, but it never feels like it's doing anything on the cheap (HI WICKED), it's just that the plot doesn't demand any big set pieces ala the chandelier crash or the journey to the phantom's layer in the first one. A pity really, i blame Ben Elton because he's a cunt. Actually the set could be a bit more lavish too i thought, but it still felt more than adequate.

I do think the score is pretty wonderful. There were only a few songs that didn't do much for me. I hate Bathing Beauties, but it turns out that's the intention, since it gets described as Vaudeville trash. There was plenty wrong with the show mind you, and in the interval i was thinking it a bit flat, but once you get over the fact that it's a smaller piece than phantom, get over some of the odd staging decisions (MEG SHOULD HAVE FUCKED OFF AT THE END), and ignore the shitty glass horse and carriage, then it's quite good (imo). I nearly cried at the end too. I just wish they'd got someone a bit better to write and direct it. They're the two areas where I found it lacked quite a bit, but this curiously didn't overshadow as much as you'd expect. The songs and the cast more than won me over. I'm not sure why Samuel's taking such offence to whoever Niamh was. I think she was one of the freaks, but she was barely in it. I thought Summer was good as Meg as well, who's annoyingly underwritten but is meant to be quite ropey and annoying, isn't she? The only one who let me down was the lady playing Madame Giry. She was just dull. The plot also seemed to set her up as the main antagonist at the end of act one, only to have her then do fuck all.

Also some of the internet trolls have been giving this an unfair time i think. For example the Phantom is NOT working part time behind the bar, it's just a trick. They must have realised that, but seized on it anyway.

[TurnerPrize]

This is a bit loonish and i wouldn't have expected to feel like this a few months back, but i really do thik this is quite an accomplished piece. I love the way that it all fits together (ignoring the odd SORE THUMB), with lots of little melodies being weaved in throughout.

04 Prologue - a FLAT FLAT FLAT way to start (imo)
09 The Coney Island Waltz
08 A Little Slice Of Heaven - this is very Disney. I can imagine villagers singing it in Beauty and the Beast or something.
09 Only For Him / Only For You
09 The Aerie
10 Til I Hear You Sing
09 Giry Confronts The Phantom / Til I Hear You Sing Reprise
09 Arrival Of The Trio / Are You Ready To Begin
07 What A Dreadful Town
08 Look With Your Heart
10 Beneath A Moonless Sky
08 Once Upon Another Time
06 Mother Please, I'm Scared
08 Dear Old Friend
08 Beautiful
09 The Beauty Underneath - quite ridiculously dated though
09 The Phantom Confronts Christine

08 Entr'acte - lovely tunes, but i see no need and i always gets WELL BORED when musicals start the second act with one of these
07 Why Does She Love Me
07 Devil Take The Hindmost
04 Bathing Beauty - makes sense in the context of the show though
09 Before The Performance - the burst of Prima Donna at the end is a joy
08 Devil Take The Hindmost (Quartet)
10 Love Never Dies
07 Ah, Christine!
03 Gustave! Gustave!
05 Please, Miss Giry, I Want To Go Back... - i liked it on stage, but too long and unfocused for the album i think

[dUb]

Oh I am pleased TP! I don't know when or if I'll see it but my sisters are going in June (partially funded by me) and I would hate for it to be a complete turkey.

So go forth and LOON UP

[TurnerPrize]

It's still a bit of a turkey if i'm being honest. But more turkey ham with like 20% turkey content instead of a whole christmas style one.

Just make sure your sisters aren't expecting another Phantom and they might be fine. (Also i hope you're still seeing the Phantom part of the trip).

[dUb]

In deep trouble it seems

Well its a huge shame as it's one of Webber's best scores since Sunset, but Love Never Dies looks set to die...

Unofficially Jack O'Brien and Jerry Mitchell (why they ever did the show I'll never know... there history and thinking is all wrong for this show... Webber should never have gone here) have now left the production. I heard rumours over the past month that they were squabbling with Webber and now that is leaking into the press. Additionaly Webber has annoyed the set designer of the show reportedly too after Webber being unimpressed with new designs for the show.

Hal has turned down coming onboard and a few others directors have been contacted to "fix" the show - but it seems they are all having trouble getting over the wobbly plot and current staging without really starting again.

The Nederlanders are closing in on Webber too - they are very annoyed. They have held the Neil Simon now for year forbidding any shows going in contracts of over 6 months to prevent long runs so Love Never Dies can come in - but now have too many shows waiting in the wings to turn them away, especially as the show is no where near Broadway ready now. It looks likley Catch Me If You Can will open Spring 2011 with Evita (not Webber produced) wanting the theatre also for 2012.
Additionally the Nederlanders are having doubts about the show continuing in London (they own half of the Adelphi) and the show is struggling to break even they are wanting to hold talks on the shows future. It is still on the cards for LND to shutter for a few weeks in October - but this could be all too late and just adding to the loses. Nederlander is very keen to take Addams Family to London at The Adelpi.

[Madison]

Is the Addams Family doing that well?

[Christian]

Is the Addams Family doing that well?

Certainly better than those killer reviews implied it would:

THE ADDAMS FAMILY (LUNT-FONTANNE)
This week: $1,201,155
Last week: $1,396,262
Average ticket: $115.33
Top ticket: $300.00
Seats sold: 10,415
Total seats: 12,152
Performances: 8
This week: 85.7%
Last week: 97.4%
Change: -11.7%

Word from LND is that the theatre is pretty full but that a lot of the seats are comped. The show has been massively revamped since it first opened and is a lot, lot stronger than it was originally. The problem is the core premise... it's so AWFUL and jsut doesn't tie in at all witht eh characters from the first. It needs a major overhaul in that department to really work for me and I just can't see that happening.

Still, closing for a week helped Martin Guerre to limp on for another year, so who knows, it might help here too...

[TurnerPrize]

I do feel sorry for this show I'm not sure it's been given a fair chance, by internet loons at least (the print reviews were generally decent).

It is flawed (imo, as i have already rambled on about), but still better than so many of the other musicals in the west end right now. And i really do LOVE the score. As an overall piece, with the way it interweaves and repeats melodies, then it's probably my favourite Lloyd Webber right now. Even if it doesn't have so many big stand alone songs.

Do you know what changes they've made to the show, Christian? I noticed that they've reprinted posters for the underground and London area train stations, but all they seem to have changed is to make the word PHANTOM blue and a bit more visible. THAT'LL WORK

[Christian]

Do you know what changes they've made to the show, Christian? I noticed that they've reprinted posters for the underground and London area train stations, but all they seem to have changed is to make the word PHANTOM blue and a bit more visible. THAT'LL WORK

Absolutely shedloads of stuff has been changed, chief of which are the opening 10 minutes and the final scene. Tons of stuff in between too has been tweaked. There's a thread on What's On Stage that goes into the whole thing in minute detail.

I haven't seen it since late March so I expect quite a transformation when I venture to the theatre again. As I keep saying though, I think you can fiddle with it endlessly and still not be able to fix the key problems: the book/setting, the characters and some of the scenic design (which really does veer from the amazing to the god awful).

[Diddy]

Well I'm happy for this to continue indefinitely, because hot boy's boyfriend works on it.

[Whatevar]

Saw this tonight and thought it was absolutely BRILLIANT - easily better than Phantom & probably the best thing I've seen in the West End EVER.

The two leads were both PHENOMENAL and the score & staging were STUNNING.

I know there have been lots of changes but how ANYONE can slag this off is BEYOND ME.

GO AND SEE IT BEFORE IT CLOSES!

[Whatevar]

Oh I am pleased TP! I don't know when or if I'll see it but my sisters are going in June (partially funded by me) and I would hate for it to be a complete turkey.

So go forth and LOON UP

What did they THINK?

[Christian]

They've performed miracle surgery on this and NO MISTAKE. Having said that, I think the Broadway version will get a massive overhaul that will improve it even further - they're sacking the creative team wholesale which I think is a great plan. The only problem is STILL that the basic premise of the book is so bloody STUPID - but I can get over that if they better serve the SCORE.

I still have SPASMS when I hear Bathing Beauty though. And why does Meg have an American accent? Stupid bitch.

This is why we need to go back to out of town tryouts and definitely knock recording cast albums before rehearsals have even begun on the HEAD. Apparently the new ALW Wizard Of Oz will be recorded pre-rehearsals too. MADNESS.

[Whatevar]

I didn't like Meg either but that was the point, no? It would've been nice to have had a better singer in the role but it didn't bother me that much. I liked her Bathing Beauty number, visually! It was fun!

What is the problem with the "premise"? I was waiting for something utterly ridiculous to happen but it all seemed perfectly plausible to me!

[Christian]

I hated taking it out of Paris full stop but him opening up a Coney Island theme park side show under that daft name was just so far removed from the tortured genius of the original. And the plot to get Christine to sing for him was plain daft. The original is so nasty and sinister where she intricately links the Phantom to the Angel of Music her father has promised he will send her when he dies. It's psychologically really twisted as the Phantom really plays on it as he manipulates her.

The fact that all the characters were completely different to the original didn't help much either. The should have just called Raoul FRED and said it was a completely different person. Meg was a prime irritant - I could see the point of what they were doing with her but she didn't have to be quite so one dimensional.

Great score though (not as good as the original overall I'd say, but still... his best effort in ages).

[Whatevar]

PICKY

[TurnerPrize]

Hooray Whatevar, i'm so pleased you liked it! What were your high points?

They've performed miracle surgery on this and NO MISTAKE.

I'm not sure they HAVE really. It just sounds like a bit of deckchair rearranging on the titanic. Although hopefully in this case the Titanic steams right ahead to New York (where it gets a spot of refitting) before traveling all round the world and having a long service.

I cannot understand the thinking behind recording the cast recording for a brand new musical months ahead though. Does it make money sense? Was it to get it done in time for Mothers Day, yet before the proper rehearsals started? I guess that might be it. Although really the songs aren't the (over exaggerated) problem so i suppose it doesn't matter too much.

Also, though i had issue with the characters, i don't see the problem with them being different to how they were in phantom. It's been ten years! I'm massively different to how i was ten years ago. Although granted none of these characters have gone through puberty.

[Whatevar]

I saw this again yesterday and it was still AMAZING

I liked the changes - it all ties in a lot better with Phantom and makes more sense. The only thing I didn't like was the Phantom's comedy "Take him away! NOOOOOOWWWWWW!" and "NOOOOOOOOO!" when Christine dies. It was a bit stupid.

The cast must be worked to death - both the Phantom and Christine cracked a (very minor) note each, but no one I was with even noticed. Sierra Boggess was absolutely stunning again.

[dUb]

HIYA THIS IS AMAZING

[TurnerPrize]

Damn right. Is it on your TO QUEUE list?

I definitely intend to see it again, considering it does now seem to be about 30% different to what i saw (and quite liked) before.

[dUb]

The fuckers don't do Day Seats so my only option is paying a lot or paying a little for a shit seat.

I've watched/listened to that performance about 15 times this afternoon.

[dUb]

And is it me or is he PROPER SEXY when singing that?

[Samuel]

Ooh, so they've changed bits of this now then? I do think perhaps I was a little scathing considering I saw the show at the end of the previews but my memory of it (the little that stayed with me) was that it was a stone cold turd.

As great as Ramin is, I always feel he never listens to the music and tends to fall slightly ahead of it. Marvellous voice though.

[Whatevar]

The fuckers don't do Day Seats so my only option is paying a lot or paying a little for a shit seat.

I've watched/listened to that performance about 15 times this afternoon.

The Upper Circle seats aren't shit - the view is really good and there are usually so many empty seats that you can move forward.

JUST FUCKING GO

[ZZ]

So, I saw this yesterday (I never saw the Phantom on theatre and only the last bit of the film) and I really liked it (apart from the bit where the couple meet again). The part with the 'Love never dies' aria performance was really good.

The lady playing Meg (http://www.loveneverdies.com/the-sho...aley-flaherty/) was stunning.

The boy playing Gustave was scary and I couldn't stand his singing.



Overall it was very interesting and kinda entertaining. Now it's time to see the Phantom I think

[dUb]

Very interesting piece on how the upcoming Australian is changing the show (again )

[dUb]

Closing!

Love Never Dies, Andrew Lloyd Webber's sequel to Phantom of the Opera, will end its run at the West End's Adelphi Theatre on 27 August 2011. The production had previously been booking through to 14 January 2012.

The news comes soon after Love Never Dies, which opened in London on 3 March 2010 (previews from 20 February), opened its Australian production in Melbourne.

There had been reports that Lloyd Webber would work changes from the production, directed by New Zealander Simon Phillips, into the London show ahead of future international productions.

Having opened to mixed critical response Love Never Dies had previously taken four nights off last November to make changes, with a similar gap in performances scheduled for September this year.

Set in 1907, ten years after the conclusion of the original story, The Phantom has escaped to New York with Madame and Meg Giry and found success in the fairgrounds of Coney Island as a magician and entertainer. When he builds a new opera house, he persuades his old ingenue Christine Daae, now a huge star and married to her old flame Raoul, to sing for him once more.

The West End cast is led by Ramin Karimloo as the eponymous masked man with Celia Graham as his muse Christine.

The London production was originally directed by Jack O'Brien with Bill Kenwright credited with having anonymously tweaked the show last year. The production is designed by Bob Crowley and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell.

Productions reportedly considered for the theatre include a West End revival of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s 1960 Broadway musical Camelot, with a cast led by Robert Lindsay.

However, it looks more likely that the National Theatre's hit One Man, Two Guvnors will make a previously tipped West End transfer to the theatre follow its tour. Richard Bean's adaptation of Servant of Two Masters starring James Cordon tours to Aylesbury, Plymouth, Salford, Birmingham and Edinburgh following its run in the NT Lyttleton.

[Whatevar]

[TurnerPrize]

Oh POOR Love Never Dies

It's so much better than a lot of the long running musical shit still in the west end, even if it had a silly story. I hope it can be successful somewhere (without Ben Fucking Elton).

[Whatevar]

I hope it makes it to Broadway and becomes MASSIVE

[Whatevar]

So I've just got back from this (again).

The new Christine (Celia Graham) was really disappointing in comparison to Sierra Boggess. Her "Love Never Dies" was good but it was like she had been practising that all her life and hadn't really bothered with the other songs. Her voice just wasn't as natural and easy. Her scenes really dragged on and some of the audience were actually ASLEEP

Ramin was AMAZING as usual, and the understudy Raoul was excellent. I prefer the new Meg to Summer Strallen too.

[TurnerPrize]

It's a DAMN SHAME there aren't more people like you. It could have run for YEARS

[Whatevar]

It's a DAMN SHAME there aren't more people like you. It could have run for YEARS

I'm forcing dUb to come with me in a few weeks

[TurnerPrize]

Has that happened yet?

Also! The smash hit (no really) Australian version is coming out on DVD, which is nice. http://broadwayworld.com/article/Its...n-DVD-20110812

[Whatevar]

Has that happened yet?

Thursday 25th! *squeal*

[dUb]

OMG I REALLY ENJOYED IT!

I basically think 'Til I Hear You Sing is the best song ever written, even though Ramin Karimloo was selfishly on a NIGHT OFF . His alternate was very good.

I think I preferred it to Phantom and even though it's a bit silly it's all pretty much in context.

Well done Love Never Dies. And PS the chunky black guy was lusted over by at least two audience members

[TurnerPrize]

Oh dUb, Ramin was off when we went too, so i feel your pain. I'm pleased you liked it, though i must dock some marks for you preferring it to the second best musical in the West end Phantom of the Opera.

Did poor Whatevar WHEEP at the end?

[Samuel]

Forgive my stupidity if I've asked this before, but I saw this a mere few days after the previews ended, just HOW different is the revised version?

I can never remove 'Bathing Beauties' from my mind. As far as I'm concerned it's the worst musical number I've ever seen/heard.

[Whatevar]

It's supposed to be "cheap Vaudeville trash" though, isn't it?

I like the MEN in that number

[Christian]

That's still NO EXCUSE.

The BOOK killed this musical STONE COLD DEAD. Until they jettison the ENTIRE PREMISE (and preferably Ben Elton off the planet with it), it's never going to work. EVER.