LOVE NEVER DIES - US Tour — Page 16

I would say most Phantom fans who were around pre-LND either dislike or hate Love Never Dies. Maybe some teenagers on Instagram who think Bronson Norris Murphy is sexy and think The Phantom and Christine are so perfect together. Obviously the show has some fans but why would you respect ALW when he trashes Phantom Phans at every turn and insulted a fan with breast cancer who had seen his show over 100 times.

Mister Matt said: I don't know about the breast cancer lady, but the "Phans" were most definitely trashing Lloyd Webber when he had prostate cancer. And you can find any number of their nasty, and often outright insane, comments all over the internet from the moment he announced the project was opening in London. He's trashed regularly by Sondheim snots, musical theatre "academics" and by his obsessive crazed "fans" when he dares to choose to write a sequel (thousands of "how DARE he do this to US?" comments from his fans, as if they should dictate what the man is allowed to compose). He has MORE than earned the right to respond to those who have been trashing him to a pulp. Please. The Phans behaved abominably and posted things FAR crazier than anything found in Love Never Dies. If I respect Lloyd Webber, it's for his own passion and conviction in his projects, despite what the crazy entitled fans insist he write (or don't write) for THEM. It's nuts.

I was too tired to say it - but THANK YOU Mister Matt... was precisely what I was thinking. When a "Phan" is more obsessed with something than the creator of the work, well, perhaps they might want to chill a bit.

Most of the reviews for LOVE NEVER DIES say the story doesn't make sense. Many of the comments posted here agree.

Poor ALW can't make up his mind if LND is or is not a sequel to Phantom.

Except for the Prologue which takes place in 1911, Phantom takes place in 1881. LND takes place in 1907. ALW claims LND takes place 10 years after Phantom. Really? One would assume ALW knows how to add.

No wonder Phantom fans feel ripped of BY LND.

Call_me_jorge said: "Wouldn’t it be cool if this ended up at the Broadhurst???"

I've been wishing it would go into the Broadhurst since I first saw the original London production. When ALW was interviewed at the Phantom 30th anniversary celebration, he said (I'm trying hard to remember exact words, but take this as paraphrasing) "I suppose the best possible thing for me would be to have Love Never Dies play alongside Phantom on Broadway, even if it was only for a week, so that people would have an opportunity to see both shows back-to-back".

Updated On: 2/20/18 at 10:40 AM

Mister Matt said: "I don't know about the breast cancer lady, but the "Phans" were most definitely trashing Lloyd Webber when he had prostate cancer. And you can find any number of their nasty, and often outright insane, comments all over the internet from the moment he announced the project was opening in London. He's trashed regularly by Sondheim snots, musical theatre "academics" and by his obsessive crazed "fans" when he dares to choose to write a sequel (thousands of "how DARE he do this to US?" comments from his fans, as if they should dictate what the man is allowed to compose). He has MORE than earned the right to respond to those who have been trashing him to a pulp. Please. The Phans behaved abominably and posted things FAR crazier than anything found in Love Never Dies. If I respect Lloyd Webber, it's for his own passion and conviction in his projects, despite what the crazy entitled fans insist he write (or don't write) for THEM. It's nuts."

If this comes to broadway - I believe ALW has said that he'd love to offer it to Sierra and Ramin - as he loved both of them in these roles and for LND they had very much been part of the whole process since 2009 I think.

CATSNYrevival said: "It's kind of odd to me that he decided to re-record the Australian cast instead of the other album with Ramin and Sierra, but I imagine they would have pretty much had to re-record that one from scratch where as the Australian cast was closer to the current version.

I think he should bring it to Broadway as a limited engagement. That seems to be the way producerssave face when a show dosen't sell well by announcing from the beginning that it's only going to run a few weeks or months."

Cats - I don't believe this is a re-recording of the Australian cast... it's probably an audio of the DVD. I think when they filmed it I read that they filmed the performance 3 times (2 times in front of a live audience, 1 without) and they made a master audio of that. So it's just releasing on CD something that was already in existence. Whats interesting is that they recorded the recent changes. It seems like in ALW's mind this is definitely the final edits. So if there was a Broadway production, I'm assuming this would be the only new recording.

chernjam said: "Cats - I don't believe this is a re-recording of the Australian cast... it's probably an audio of the DVD. I think when they filmed it I read that they filmed the performance 3 times (2 times in front of a live audience, 1 without) and they made a master audio of that. So it's just releasing on CD something that was already in existence. Whats interesting is that they recorded the recent changes. It seems like in ALW's mind this is definitely the final edits. So if there was a Broadway production, I'm assuming this would be the only new recording."

I understand that it's mostly the same as the DVD audio but they did re-record "The Beauty Underneath" and a small ensemble recorded "Streets of Cony Island." That music credits page that Mister Matt posted from the booklet also credits "additional recording" on about 15 total tracks. They made a lot of alterations for the album but I guess it would have been a lot more work to update the recording with Ramin and Sierra. That's what I was trying to say.

Lot666 - I have seen similar stuff... I think Sierra would be an easier sell for. I mean I was kind of surprised she was in School of Rock (seemed a waste of a role for her) but obviously did it be cause ALW wanted her and she was available. This would be coming full-circle with this piece, in a much better received production. I can see a scenario where she agrees and is able to talk Ramin into it. It would just make the Broadway premiere of LND that much more anticipated.

But who knows... it is show business. And I'm just speculating here having no idea what's going on in Ramin's or Sierra's life.

I don't think either of them have the appropriate vocal range for the roles.

Theatrefan2 said: "Ramin has already played 3 versions of this, maybe he just needs to break away from it. Make that 4 with POTO"

Yes! Please no more Ramin on Phantom recordings.

I get this is a fan thread but some of the comments on this are just bizarre. This idea that rabid Phans somehow destroyed Love Never Dies and were gunning for Lloyd Webber's demise is just nonsense. Much of the negative buzz around the show in London did not come from so-called Phans but from the general public (The Times ran a piece that made RUG panic about the negative responses online, but these were not from Phan communities but rather from general theatre boards like this one - the key one being the What's On Stage board), and the moniker that sank the show was not coined by a "fake blogger" as Lloyd Webber would have it but by the West End Whingers, who are known in the industry and are not fake. The criticism then as now surrounds the nonsensical plot, redundancy of the sequel itself, and bizarre characterizations. These were already conceived well before curtain up at the previews and were available for anyone to criticize who listened to the cast recording. In fact I don't recall much criticism in the way of the staging - save that the costumes were hideous, such as that awful Mills & Boon Fabio shirt - but of the material itself. This is why the show is ultimately doomed whatever incarnation it ends up in. It's not surprising that the majority of the reviewers even in this US tour say exactly the same thing. It's just not believable, and it's unnecessary. It turns what was a tragic unrequited love story into one that isn't about unrequited love at all, and basically appears to be a cheap rewrite of the original to appease Phangirls rather than enrage them (though they seem to have reacted not how RUG thought - so obviously they're more astute than what the powers-that-be had perhaps thought).

This idea that rabid Phans somehow destroyed Love Never Dies and were gunning for Lloyd Webber's demise is just nonsense.

Who said that? The reality back then (I remember it well) was that there certainly were negative criticisms of the show on all sides, primarily to do with the book, though nearly as much regarding the score as well from the time the CD was released. Before it was even staged, I can't tell you how many times I read about how much people hated Bathing Beauty. Anyway, the Phans were noted for being just a bit more than critical, however. You didn't have to go far to read their ridiculous hysterics and there were plenty of articles about them at the time. I think the plot is silly, but the original is almost as bad. And the idea that the characterizations are bizarre is just silly. There is nothing in the original that tells us so much about the characters to think they WOULDN'T change in such ways after a decade. Most people do, much less fictional characters from a musical with very little back-story, I imagine the people huffing and puffing the most about the story are the same as those who cry over the feeling of a kidnapper and murderer. Hopefully, they will one day gain a little perspective, but let's not pretend that Phans didn't get ridiculously hysterical over it. They did. It was embarrassing. In fact, here is a sample from one of them:

https://www.facebook.com/notes/love-should-die-exposing-the-lunacy-behind-phantom-love-never-dies/the-mission-of-love-should-die/328954166949

That's just the tip of the iceberg.