LOVE NEVER DIES - US Tour — Page 13

They both were in the first night in Providence. We saw it on Tuesday evening, December 26.

Love Never Dies is missing an "All I Ask of You" type song. No one is really "in love" in this show.

The Christine/Raoul relationship in POTO was the least interesting and least developed aspect of the show that mostly consisted of that song and some superficial melodramatic bits. LND didn't need a love duet or that cliched minuscule subplot. It was replaced with the relationship of Christine and Gustave.

CATSNYrevival said: "Love Never Dies is missing an "All I Ask of You" type song. No one is really "in love" in this show."

Interesting topic. To me the real love in this is between Christine and Gustav - and "Look with your heart" would qualify as the appropriate Mother/son song

A Director said: "Listen to the original version of the show's title song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxF69wON2oc"

Interesting and sure you can hear a few notes in succession that are the same, but overall ALW took this in a different direction

Watching the DVD for the first time in awhile - and falling in love with the score once again. So happy this is touring the US.

One question for those who've seen the tour in the opening scene (Till I hear you sing) does Christine's image in the portrait do the weird trick of moving around?

dmwnc1959 said: "At this point I’m more or less confirming to myself that we must have had a “technical malfunction” of some sort.During the performance I attended there was a screen in place before the show started with a sunrise image on it.Once the Phantom started singing you could see him through the screen, and that he was singing to a portrait, but those of us in the balcony, even in the front row, couldn’t see the majority of the portrait or the image on it.I knew it was of Christine from the preview video I had seen, but did every one else? The screen did not raise until he finished singing and when Gangle, Squelch, and Fleck appeared out from under the removed platform and untangled themselves at the beginning of “The Coney Island Waltz” sequence."

Not a technical malfunction. I saw the evening performance January 7 and it started the same way. I did find it an odd choice of direction to play the the entire beginning of the production behind that scrim, especially since (like you mentioned) it blocks the view of the Christine portrait from being seen upstairs. It would be different to keep it in place if it was used for projections, like the original London production had. I thought the half-mask/curtain in place at the beginning of intermission was much more visually exciting to look at, but it was quickly replaced by that boring black scrim with the "sun" outline on it again.

For those who haven't seen the tour yet, this is the "sun" scrim which is present pre-show, and for the majority of intermission:



The stage as it looks for the first minute or two of intermission:

Updated On: 1/14/18 at 03:07 PM

OK - that scrim makes no sense at all...And that they rush the half-mask back to that makes even less sense (reminds me of the Act I finale of Sunset Blvd revival with the stage-length scrim of Normas face that they took away within 30 seconds)

I thought the moving portrait of Christine was one of the coolest things from the Australian production... hope that if this does end up in NY that they rethink some of these things



Thanks for those pictures

chernjam said: "One question for those who've seen the tour in the opening scene (Till I hear you sing) does Christine's image in the portrait do the weird trick of moving around?"

I don't recall the image of Christine moving in the portrait (as it does on the DVD), but it could be that I was more focused on the Phantom's performance of the song.

I agree with those who've mentioned the curious decision to use the stylized "sunburst" scrim before the show starts and during the interval, and especially throughout the opening number. It's a very drab-looking design that seems to have no particular connection with the show, and it makes "Till I Hear You Sing" look dull. I don't see the point.

mozgrrl said: "Question, and sorry if this has been asked before. I just opened my POTO25th Anniversary box set and was delighted to see a CD of LND with Ramin & Sierra. Was this CD of the original cast ever actually released or was it only a special thing for the box set?"

That was the Original Concept Album (it was recorded before LND World Premiere in London, so there were a lot of changes to the score since, most notably the prologue being gone and the moving around of songs)

I think they might have repackaged it for the box set - but if I remember correctly its the same recording that's already been released

mozgrrl said: "Question, and sorry if this has been asked before. I just opened my POTO25th Anniversary box set and was delighted to see a CD of LND with Ramin & Sierra. Was this CD of the original cast ever actually released or was it only a special thing for the box set?"

Does it include the behind-the-scenes "making of" DVD for LND?

Updated On: 1/16/18 at 11:39 AM

mozgrrl said: "Where can you see the "behind the scenes" LND's video??? I'd love to see that."

It's included in the "Deluxe Edition" of the LND concept recording CD. I pre-ordered this version back when ALW first announced the show (2010?), but I assume what Amazon is selling is still the same product.

It's been a while since I've watched it, but if I recall correctly, it includes interviews with some members of the creative team, footage of the construction of some key set pieces (the "ghost horse" carriage sticks out in my mind), and footage of Ms. Boggess and Mr. Karimloo recording the album in the studio with ALW.

Updated On: 1/16/18 at 12:27 PM

Pithyaspromised said: "Does anyone know if there's a set schedule for the covers? I know Bronson has said he's only technically scheduled on the matinees, but I'm hoping to have him for a Thursday evening performance when I have tickets!"

He hasn't been doing many evenings since Mr. Cortes took over the lead, but anything can happen. The best thing to do is follow Mr. Murphy on Twitter, where he regularly posts his schedule for each stop.

While Meghan Picerno is out performing in Candide, Alyssa Giannetti got to have her debut as Christine in Cleveland during the matinee yesterday. I got to see it, and let me tell you, if I hadn’t known it was her debut by reading Bronson’s IG, I wouldn’t have guessed it. She was stunning. Hit the notes to the title song flawlessly. I can only imagine how it had to feel at the end of it! Lots of love on stage from the cast when she took her bows. And for what it’s worth, I’ve seen Bronson twice now and he is magnificent. His schedule seems to be weekend matinees now as the Phantom alternate. Going back next Sunday.