“Beneath this mask I wear, there’s nothing of me”
I hadn’t originally intended to get a ticket to see Phantom: Love Never Dies, being appalled at the ticket prices when it was announced, but when the National Lottery gods smiled on me and I got four numbers and ยฃ64 (the price of a middle stalls tickets plus booking fee) I decided to take the plunge to see if indeed love never dies or whether I needed a defibrillator in my manbag.
It has been billed as a stand-alone story, ie not a sequel despite the strapline being ‘the story continues’… and most of the main characters being taken from Phantom of the Opera, the only new addition amongst the leads is Gustave, Christine’s 10 year old son. The action here takes place ten years after the events of Phantom, the masked man having fled to New York and set up a fairground/freakshow at Coney Island called Phantasmaland. Madame Giry and daughter Meg travelled with him, Meg being one of the performers in the show and looking to make it big in showbusiness through being showcased here.
However, Phantom anonymously invites Christine Daaรฉ to come and sing at this prestigious new venue, an offer she is forced to accept as husband Raoul is now a heavy gambler, and a drunk. So they arrive in New York with son Gustave, and it soon becomes apparent that there’s more than just singing on the menu, as secrets and lies from the past rear their head, long-suppressed feelings rise to the fore and frustrated ambitions boil over with shocking results.
Performance-wise, Ramin Karimloo does very well with the tortured romantic stylings that the Phantom now possesses: vocally, he is extremely impressive and provides the one true standout, classic ALW moment in ”Til I Hear You Sing’. Summer Strallen is also really good in the role of Meg, displaying some sharp dancing skills and great comic timing, especially in ‘Dear Old Friend’, with a nicely confident, clear singing style that made her the most interesting character to watch, but too much is asked of her in the final act.
There’s amusingly kooky support from Niamh Perry, Adam Pearce and Jami Reid-Quarrell as Fleck, Squelch and Gangle, Phantom’s circus helpers and there’s seven boys covering Gustave, I saw Harry Child who gave a very good performance with some crystal clear singing, in a role which is surprisingly big for one so young, though I wonder if having so many boys will limit the amount of onstage chemistry that can be built up.
Musically, this is a mixed bag, both in terms of style and in terms of quality unfortunately. ”Til I Hear You Sing’ is the one true classic here and both ‘Dear Old Friend’ and ‘Devil Take The Hindmost’ (the quartet version) are great group numbers, but Love Never Dies itself is hindered by some really ugly staging. And tonally, it lurches from number to number, from rock ballad to burlesque comedy number, from beige ballad duets to cheery company numbers, all to very distracting effect: there’s really no sense of a theme running through the show, and far too many forgettable numbers. And there’s no escaping that it is lyrically very weak, Glenn Slater really needs to find some synonyms for beautiful.
On the other hand, fosterIANโข award nominee Joseph Millson is straddled with a ridiculous caricature of a part in Raoul, who might as well be a different character entirely and despite his best efforts, there’s little for Millson to work with here. And whilst Sierra Boggess is possessed of a sweet voice, she does little but simper her way through proceedings, I saw no real evidence of acting skills to be brutally honest (although I did read she has been ill so perhaps I’m being uncharitable).
The set is very projection heavy, with varying degrees of success: the opening sequence taking us from the prologue set in the future to the beginning of the story is superbly realised (a technical malfunction meant that we ended up seeing it twice!) with smoke swirling and an exhilarating sequence of images and onstage performances suck us right into the dark circus world of Phantasma, also enhanced by a great glass horse and carriage.
But the circus theme is not really visited again which is a crying shame, especially given the circus and performance pedigree of the ensemble. And the later projections fail to match up to the initial splendour, the one used for the final scene in particular needs to be a lot clearer to indicate where we’re actually meant to be. Finally, I have to mention the Phantom’s lair, it is a truly WTF moment, like someone saw The Addams Family and turned up the dial in ooky, kooky craziness: the skeleton trolley-dolly, the singing Medusa-head chandelier, the ORGAN-PLAYER?! All of these things simply have to be seen to be believed.
But the biggest crime is the sheer lack of drama throughout proceedings. Given that no less than four people worked on the book (ALW and Ben Elton, with Glenn Slater and Frederick Forsyth), there’s little attempt to build any suspense, the childish characterisations point exactly to how Christine will choose from the word go and therefore remove any real sense of emotion being built up, and the frequent shifts in mood mean that it all feels very disjointed with jarring choices constantly being made, making it ever more difficult to care about the characters. The final scene in particular is interminable, if only one thing is changed then please reduce this in length by about two-thirds!
As a preview, there were clearly things that will be improved and tightened up, but given the ticket prices in this preview period, I found it hard to forgive the mistakes that were made onstage, as amusing as they made the evening (the thunderous look on ALW’s face as he ran past me during the technical hitch was a real guilty pleasure). But moreover and as an ALW fan, I found it hard to believe how weak this is terms of the material, both story-wise and musically.
This is Lloyd-Webber trying to have his cake and eat it: (ab)using the characters from one of his most successful shows in trying to tell a new story, but one in which they are mostly unrecognisable as their original selves so they might as well be new characters. He can’t pretend that this show could exist without Phantom of the Opera, so to treat it with such disrespect in retrofitting events to make Love Never Dies work leaves quite a funny taste in the mouth. Many people around me had already booked tickets for repeat viewings so it’ll be interesting to see what, if any, changes are made for them, but at these prices, neither glass nor smoke horses could make me return to the Adelphi.
What on earth is Liz Robertson playing? Surely not Christine … ๐
Liz Robertson is Madame Giry, with a terrible accent and possibly thinking she is in Wicked.
Right, we weren't going to bother. But you've talked us into it.
Although actually I think we can retire and leave you to fly the flag for disappointed theatregoers everywhere.
Ooh! Oooh! Please add to UTWE!
This is horrendous stuff.
http://facebook.com/luvshoulddie
Thank, I know see that the show is garbage ๐
Thanks for this review! Although it's disappointing to hear that the show wasn't great, I have to say I'm not surprised. I don't think any fan of the original PHANTOM really *wants* this show to stink. Hopefully they can tighten the show up, particularly before it comes to Broadway.
Did this make you want to rush out and see the original show? Because it makes me feel like curling up with the dependable original. I just interviewed Jeremy Stolle, who understudies the Phantom on Broadway. Check out my Q&A and video with him. He gives some really cool insight into what it's like being on call for the role.
Jesse
http://www.stage-rush.com/2010/02/understudy-hall-phantoms-jeremy-stolle.html
One thing I'm pleased about; the show brings the French name, Raoul, back into vogue again. I used it for one of my main characters in my popular novel "Whispering Palms."
R.S.Charles.
Honestly, if anyone names their child after seeing this show, their children should be taken from them.
I currently feel like never seeing another ALW show ever again, and Joseph is one of my all-time favourite shows.
And WEWs, please do go see it and give the world your pearls of whingedom, we live in anticipation…
Calling this show a shit sandwich would be a complement.
I took a dump during the intermission. Watching it swirl down the hole was more amusing than any part of that poor excuse of a show.
This show was a great let down. Phantom is my favourite show of all, and the sequel wasn't anywhere near as good. We couldn't hear a lot of the singing because the orchestra was so loud. The sets were good, but the plot was weak.I hoped to leave humming one of the songs, but frankly not one of them was memorable. I wish ALW had not made a sequel. I don't think it will run as long as Phantom, or equal it's success.
I just listened to the whole album (Full play Recording) I haven't seen it, and yes at times it seems like Webber is all over the place with the music… HOWEVER! Beneath the moonless sky is memorable as well as a few others and i found the music extremely well done.
I again have yet to see the play, but listening to the full play and it's story… WOW, awesome!!! Could it have been better, the end was unfortunate, but when has the Phantom ever been a happy story, it's a tragedy story and Webber lived up to that.
Read Susan Kay, the life of Erik. It may help fill in some blanks, i believe Webber loosely based this play off the end of that book.
Funnily enough, I was thinking the other about whether I would listen to the soundtrack, and I might borrow someone's copy, I definitely won't be buying it. This is the first time I've seen a Lloyd-Webber show without knowing the music intimately beforehand so clearly this has an impact, I wonder if listening to it without the distractions of the show might make me like it a little more.
Love never dies is definatley the BEST West-End musical on offer at the moment.
I absolutely loved it, the effects were AMAZING, the singing was beautiful, the acting was brilliant and the sets were breath-takingly gorgeous.
I strongly urge anybody reading this to see it, I know it's had many bad reviews but just ignore them. The storyline was evidently incredibly thought out and was amazingly written as was the music. It's the most amazing thing I have ever seen ๐
I think the plot must have been stolen from some 15 year old Phan-girl's Phanfiction. Nothing but a 30-odd page piece of fluff to be enjoyed under a cozy blanket with a box of chocolates that should NEVER have made it to the producer's inbox. Don't believe me? Google "Phantom fanfiction" sometime… *shudder*
I personally loved the show! I am really happy that it has been extended at the Adelphi until January 2012. I am definitely going to buy some more Love Never Dies tickets! It's a shame that Sierra Boggess is leaving – she was incredible. Her vocals blew me away!
ATTENTION ALL LOVE NEVER DIES FANS: If you want to stand against Love Should Die, the people protesting that Love Never Dies was a "train-wreck of a show" go to longliveloveneverdies.blogspot.com and comment or follow us to let us know you support us!