Outside of England, to my knowledge, Australia where I live, is the only other country to Have Love Never Dies currently showing, that finished in Melbourne Just before Christmas and is about to open In Sydney. I have seen the show twice now, The Phantom of the Opera I saw 5 times and it is my favourite Musical. In Love Never Dies the story continues with the Phantom Fleeing to Coney Island. 10 years has past and this is where the story takes up.I do not want to give too much away, but Christine is lured to Coney Island with her drunken husband and 10 year old son, to sing for a large sum of money which she really needs after her husband Raul has become an alcoholic, and lost all their money and wealth over the years, so this is Christine's chance to get back to the life she once enjoyed all those years ago.
There is Drama, love and sadness as there was in the original Phantom of the opera and throughout Love Never Dies there are afew subtle references back to the original show through the music score, When Christine sings her signature song the scene too my breath away. If you loved Phantom of the Opera, you will love, Love never dies, Keep and open mind as the story unfolds as you follow this musical and I'm sure you will not be disappointed.
I too had read negative reviews when the show opened in London, perhaps us Aussies do not pay much attention to other's views and would rather see it for ourselves before passing Judgement, I have no regrets spending my money to see this show, it was fantastic. Enjoy the dvd, feel the beautiful music score and enjoy the show.
Buy Andrew Lloyd Webber's Love Never Dies Now
I don't think that ALW intended for LND to be directly compared to Phantom. Phantom and LND are both different, but both VERY amazing/awesome/phantastic. even if the story is different from what some people think should happen, it's still a masterpiece and deserves to be recognized for its own music and story and actors, not for its prequel. the music is amazing. the cast is amazing in both productions. it's worth buying. keep an open mind and you'll be amazed.Read Best Reviews of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Love Never Dies Here
I have watched "Love Never Dies" several times since buying the DVD and just finished reading quite a few of the reviews on Amazon. Not surprisingly people seem to love or hate it but then one usually needs a strong opinion to be motivated to take the trouble of a review. I would like to add a few thoughts of my own.I wonder if many people grasp that "Phantom of the Opera" is at its heart the story of the love of and sometimes obsession for music that most classical composers and performers possess. "Love Never Dies" is simply a continuation of this story line. For all its faults, in this it is successful. The transfer of the characters may be less so.
A number of reviewers have made much of the fact that the Phantom in "Phantom of the Opera" has declared himself denied the sins of the flesh and therefore would be unable to father children. I think it is reasonable to assume that he is simply referring to the repulsion that women would feel to his appearance not to some physical inability. In fact, the use of a baritone voice makes the Phantom in "Love Never Dies" even more of a masculine, testosterone driven creature fully capable of being a passionate lover. The one part of the continuation of the story that does not work though is that in "Phantom of the Opera" he was made a two time murderer. I ran into a theatre goer recently who never noticed the bodies hanging from the rafters. Perhaps the author wishes that to be the case for all of us. That Christine would love a murderer or that he would be worth loving just does not work.
In "Phantom of the Opera", I found Raul nothing but a rich, reckless, self-important jerk so I can easily go with his now being a gambler and a drunk. He treated Christian as so much arm candy, not believing her story of the Phantom, refusing to respect her fear of performing the Phantom's opera and never appreciating her talent or what it took. He does not acknowledge that like her father, a supposedly famous Swedish folk violinist, she too had real God given talent. So now in "Love Never Dies" the man has a wife whose musical passion he has denied and who lives with a secret about their son that she can never share. Psychologically abandoned, Christine simply pours her love into her son. I found the young actor who plays the son to be delightful even if his signature melody was a bit weird for a child. He really succeeds in pulling together the under story of a father and son's love for one another. As for Madame Giry and Meg, it is not much of a stretch to see that they would assist and follow the Phantom. But to Coney Island?
I think Lloyd Webber says that at the turn of the century Coney Island was considered the eighth wonder of the world and that Freud said it was the only reason to visit American. Hard to see this today and my big criticism of the cinema photography is that with their emphasis on close-ups of the principals, one cannot appreciate the stage setting that might place you there. As for the stage settings themselves, they are in my opinion a bit too art deco in their lushness. I certainly did not immediately get that what appeared to be a giant mirror in the hotel room was in fact supposed to be French doors leading to a balcony. But otherwise they are wonderful in concept, color and lighting with the exception of a Christine all in blue against a too blue background singing the title song.
Webber feels this is one of his better scores. That it is good is without question. Listen to it a few times and the tunes will be humming in your head. I would like to see Hart polish up the lyrics a bit more. I think the title song especially needs more works and needs to be sung by an operatic caliber soprano. In fact I would like to hear most of it sung with operatic quality voices. Along with other reviewers, my favorite was "Until I Hear You Sing Once More'. Rather a shame it is the opening song as it sets the bar too high for the rest. I hope "Love Never Dies" does make it to a New York stage.
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I remember as a kid wanting Christine to go with the Phantom. But as I got older, I picked Raoul too. So when I found out about Love Never Dies, I was very excited. I didn't do any research ahead of time (other than to see the basic concept), so I didn't know about any good or bad reviews. I was able to go in to the movie theater with an open mind. (For US residents, there's a second opportunity to view on 3/7/12 in select theaters.)While the production is fantastically eye catching, I wouldn't really call it a sequel. Some of the characterizations weren't very true (Phantom seemed too Emo; the Girys were exceptionally greedy) or weren't believable at all (really deep character changing flaws in Raoul). And there are a couple points in the plot that are very predictable, but still enjoyable.
The costumes, makeup, sets, and music are beautiful. The costumes follow very well the change in both fashion and Old World (1895 Paris) versus New World (1905 New York) mentalities. I noticed another reviewer say that the music was average/not memorable and I completely disagree. Some of the songs seem a little forced to add atmosphere to the plot. But the core songs with Phantom and Christine are very memorable and moving. I purchased the CD the next day after seeing the production and as I listened to it, I found I even remembered some of the lyrics. And Christine's grand aria very much made me feel like it was part of the original Phantom production. The ending certainly follows the adage you either love opera or hate opera there's no in between. The music and scene made me shed a few tears and feel deep empathy with Phantom.
Overall, I would definitely recommend Love Never Dies to any Phantom fan. I am very happy I have the DVD on pre-order. But take it more as an alternate future and appreciate it as a stand alone based on Phantom. It's not really a true sequel.
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