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Love Never Dies -Adelphi Theatre, London 2010 — Page 16

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#377

LOVE NEVER DIES - Adelphi Theatre, London 2010

Posted: 4/15/10 at 6:54am

A couple of weeks ago Devonian posted the following questions on this thread, I was in New York at the time, so did not have the time nor money to answer these.

As I saw the show again, yesterday’s matinee, which I really enjoyed, surprisingly more than the first time, but can understand why people have issues with the show.

Here's a few more questions (in no particular order):

Who is Mr Y's interior decorator? His room seems to change as the plot dictates- first just the strange cubicle for robot Christine and a piano, (nobody lives in that room!); then it has its entrance in the middle of the floor- that seems to have been added later (lord knows how people got into the room before that). Then, just so that Mr Y can sing about creepy stuff the chandelier and strange statue appear. Is he still moving in to this new pad or has he just been to the Coney Island boot fair? Then, considering there is only the one entrance to the aerie how does Mr Y not notice Madame Giry and Meg hiding in the corner?

The same could be said for the Phantom of the Opera, who buys all those candles for the Phantom’s lair, by the lake, obviously Phantom cannot leave The Opera House, because of his disfigurement.

Anyway Phantasia is designed as a tower and would have a spiralling staircase, albeit it probably would not finish in the middle of the floor though.

Why has Raoul become so utterly opposite to his earlier portrayal? What is the motivation?

This for me is the highlight of the show, in the PoTO, Raoul is the perfect gentlemen who would never forget to hold a door open for a lady, where the Phantom is a bitter, callous murderer and his only grace is he let Raoul go, only because he was minutes from a lynch mob.

In LND the Phantom is the perfect gentlemen, polite and kind portrayed as intelligent by the way he stands next to the piano on his entrance. He even stands in the way of a gun to stop Christine and Gustav getting harmed. The two times he loses is temper is when he is in doubt/concern for his son (Gustave). Raoul is the opposite, a nasty, drunken, blackmailer and gambler. A complete bastard to his wife.

Think this is a stunning and part of theatre,

What does Mr Y sing about all the dark things in The Beauty Underneath, when all the rest of the time he seems so nice?

Don't Know.

Who keeps a gun lying around on their piano?

Don't know, but guessing for protection from ALW crazed cat. lol

Why try to kill yourself when you are hatching a plan to bring your true love to America?

I was not aware that the Phantom was trying to kill himself, anyone?

Why does Gustave not wonder why a man in a mask is talking to his mother? He certainly doesn't ask about it (perhaps that would be rude?) Is it really enough to make him forget his terrible drowning nightmare? And doesn't anyone wonder why Mr Y exits via the balcony?

Pass

Why couldn't the resourceful Mr Y escape Paris with money? He obviously hung around long enough for the oh-so-believable night with Christine (when he was 'no longer shy'- ah, so that's it, he was just shy in Phantom 1.)

Pass, but trivial

How does Mr Y know meg will be on the pier with Gustave? Oh and why does Christine employ such a crap nanny? That kid wanders around on his own all the time!

Mary Poppins was not known about at the time.

Oh and what the hell is he doing singing (endlessly) up a ladder?

Pass, but trivial

Why does Madame Giry just run off after the gunshot - she never returns with help?

And here's a big one- would a dying mother really ignore her terrified 10 year old son as he crouches in the corner, in favour of singing to- well, just about anyone else? Boy, that kid has messed up parents!

Why is the stage so empty most of the time?

I agree, with the hot air balloon scene it looks very empty, but glad that went for a set instead of projections, more could be made of the stage space. Also the stage looks very empty at the end also and does not look right.

What has the show logo (and house cloth) remotely got to do with the story?

I hate the logo too, this has not grown on me, I have criticised it in the past on here.

Anyone who has the answers to these questions, please provide me with one more: how could anyone in their right mind give this drivel 5 stars?

This is without doubt the worst Lloyd Webber I have ever seen, (probably including the abysmal national tour of Sunset Boulevard)

What I would say about the show is that it was very gutsy to go with the show in this format, they could of gone with a lot of special effects and try and dazzle peoples affections, but they didn't, I said before the show opened "that this show would need to better Phantom on illusions to work", I was wrong, could you imagine if they tried to stage the Phantom leaping from The Empire State Building to the Chrysler Building via Macy's or making a roller-coaster crash, how awful that would of looked? Also the creators were brave to have Christine die at the end, could of had The Phantom use his superpowers to save Christine from Raoul, how would that of looked?

ALW could of also gone with a lot more music from Phantom, but just left it at little teasers, which I thought worked brilliantly

One issue I have myself is with Ramin in both the Phantom and LND, also the swing who played the Phantom yesterday. they came across to me as too small for the part, I imagine the Phantom to be someone who towers over Christine both size and being stocky.However Ramin acting and singing is spot on.

The beginning needs to be redone as is very woeful.

The Phantom's entrance next to the piano works well in principle, making him look intellectual, by standing next to a piano, but in theory it is still disappointing.

The projection screen, has a annoying gap between it and the stage.

Why no life ring on the pier at the end, with today's emphasis on health and Safety.

What is missing from the show is one person and that is Cameroon Mackintosh, with this man with his creative eye and instinct you would of had a better put together show and presented very well.

I have other issues which I cannot remember now,but will come back.

Still more to add to this post.




Updated On: 4/15/10 at 06:54 AM

#379

LOVE NEVER DIES - Adelphi Theatre, London 2010

Posted: 4/15/10 at 9:38am

Everytime I hear Mister Y and Phantaska I just feel like slapping myself in the face.

They are just so stupid.

I can understnad Mister E. since Erick is supposedely his hame (although never nemtioned in part 1 or part 2)

and why call the park Phantasma, for most people that would ring some bells when your wife gets misterously invited to sing for a mysterous person in a park named after a Phantom (but i guess they thought him dead, but still)

As for the Aerie, I get what youre saying, it all comes doen to bad design. In the original, the lair features alor in both acts, so it can be a massive set piece (even though it is not)
In this, the aerie is only in act 1 so they probably dont want to go the huge set piece (like the Sunset Mansion) if it is not used in act 2.
I also think that the 2 scenes SHOULD be done as if it were in 2 different places: The first time more like where he would "live" with the piano and robo-christine. The second for where he "works" with all the aotomations and mechanics. (any one else notice what looks like Squelch's head on a pole in the short video clip of that scene?)

So for having the spiral staircase, well i guess it's a tower. It just seems to me that again this "building" was designed with out imagening it is an actual building.

Well, Im no set designer, well not professionally, but I have mamany ideas that would have worked far better from what i've seen and heard.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27199361@N08/ Phantom at the Royal Empire Theatre
#380

LOVE NEVER DIES - Adelphi Theatre, London 2010

Posted: 4/15/10 at 12:01pm

Phantom killing himself...

I haven't seen the show but have read in several reports that at one point when he he is moping around about not having Christine, he puts the gun to his throat.
#381

LOVE NEVER DIES - Adelphi Theatre, London 2010

Posted: 4/15/10 at 1:02pm

"(any one else notice what looks like Squelch's head on a pole in the short video clip of that scene?) "
Yes it's one of the tricks. Squelch walks over to the left hand side of the stage, and stays there, watching the Phantom going all pervy over Gustave, until Phantom starts rocking and rips away Squelch's clothes, revealing him to be a head on a stick. Misdirection like the Phantom's appearance in Act 2 I expect.
#382

LOVE NEVER DIES - Adelphi Theatre, London 2010

Posted: 4/15/10 at 1:29pm

I was wondering why the actor playing Squelch had his head cast in those blogs.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27199361@N08/ Phantom at the Royal Empire Theatre
#383

LOVE NEVER DIES - Adelphi Theatre, London 2010

Posted: 4/17/10 at 7:30am

RUG has a bit of trouble:

According to a report in the Daily Mail, Andrew Lloyd Webber is facing a E20,000 fine for illegally painting the Adelphi Theatre black in order to promote for his latest musical, PHANTOM sequel LOVE NEVER DIES.

Webber has been asked to restore the theater, and if he refuses, could face legal action. Webber's "Really Useful Theatre Company" lodged a planning application with the Westminster council on January 21, but according to the theatre staff, the painting occurred before they received this application.

Council officers issued a report saying "The works have changed the character and appearance of the theatre and harmed its special architectural and historic interest, and also the Covent Garden conservation area's character and appearance."

The Theatres Trust is supporting Webber, saying that the theater may remain black as long as it is restored at the end of the production.

Whether or not legal enforcement will take place will be decided at a meeting of the council's planning applications sub-committee next Thursday. . . .
REPORT OF DAILY MAIL STORY
#384

LOVE NEVER DIES - Adelphi Theatre, London 2010

Posted: 4/17/10 at 9:01am

Its been a very long time since a tgheatre in the West End wa spainted or altered for a specific show on the outside. He really could be in a spot of bother for this little slip up.
Auditoriums and interiors of many theatres are changed very often these days and there is always a clause in the contract that the entire building will be return to its original state when the production closes.
London's biggest ever job was when 'Starlight Express' vacated the Apollo Victoria after 18 years as a train station. It took almost 3 months just to clean up after that show and then another long stretch of time to redecorate the whole building after nearly 25 years of no refurbishment.

#385

LOVE NEVER DIES - Adelphi Theatre, London 2010

Posted: 4/17/10 at 11:42am

I have walked pasted Love Never Dies many time and have to say I have not really noticed any changes except that hideous LND face with Christmas tree lights above it.

I cannot see what the fuss is about.
#391

LOVE NEVER DIES - Adelphi Theatre, London 2010

Posted: 4/18/10 at 1:29pm

As my mum took me to the opening of Phantom all those years ago, for her 80th birthday I repayed the favour and took her to see Love Never Dies last night.

I wasn't expecting a epic and i didn't get one. I've always had a soft spot for Phantom, but this seemed to miss the mark by a mile.

One of the main problems was actually Ms Boggess. She must have been having a bad night, because last night last she seemed to screech her way through the role. The story was extremely weak and as for that ending!!

Mum enjoyed herself, and liked the framed picture of her with Michael Crawford back stage at Phantom even better.

Will this ever get to Broadway? Judging by last night's performance, they need to re-work the whole thing.
#392

LOVE NEVER DIES - Adelphi Theatre, London 2010

Posted: 4/19/10 at 10:07pm

sorta frivolous question for those who have seen the show or know more about it, but I'm curious...

spoilersish i suppose.

At the end of "Only for him/Only for you" on the album, there is that little conversation between the Giry's, and Madame Giry says to Meg "It seems you have an admirer, a certain Mr. Thompson" and that creepy music starts to play. I never heard anything about this mentioned again on the album. Does anyone know what this is referring to?
#393

LOVE NEVER DIES - Adelphi Theatre, London 2010

Posted: 4/20/10 at 1:07am

I haven't seen the show, but considering what Meg reveals later on about how she helped the Phantom get the permits and grease the wheels so he could build Phantasma, I would say that Meg regularly went out with influential and/or rich men and slept with some of them. I assume that Mr. Thompson is the latest, thus the creepy music.

In the last scene of the show, Meg's mother says she doesn't know that Meg prostituted herself, but that's hard to believe--not because the character, Madam Giry, doesn't mean it but because it is just another hard to believe thing in the show.
#395

LOVE NEVER DIES - Adelphi Theatre, London 2010

Posted: 4/21/10 at 6:19am

I went to see this on Saturday and was really impressed. The characters are much better drawn; the music is not as 'Gilbert & Sullivan' and the projections and sets are terriffic. I was no Phantom fan, so maybe that's why I liked it so much. It's quite different. The audience seemed to like it as well - in the interval people were talking about it and at the end there was an ovation (though given Mama Mia & Les Mis still gets those doesn't say a lot). Whilst I liked the music as I bought the CD prior I was not optimistic given the comments here and elsewhere but I was pleasantly suprised. Advice? Go and see it and make up your own mind.
#396

LOVE NEVER DIES - Adelphi Theatre, London 2010

Posted: 4/21/10 at 10:58am

QUOTE "At the end of "Only for him/Only for you" on the album, there is that little conversation between the Giry's, and Madame Giry says to Meg "It seems you have an admirer, a certain Mr. Thompson" and that creepy music starts to play. I never heard anything about this mentioned again on the album. Does anyone know what this is referring to?"

The script has changed at that part of the show from the bit on the CD. It is now more obvious what is going on. Mr Thompson is from some sort of office (possibly mayor's?) and Meg is told to go "see" him by her mother as she has time before her next performance. It is quite clear that Madame Giry is Meg's pimp in the show and that Meg is sleeping around with influential men and rich financiers to help the Phantom and ultimatley the Girys.
Upcoming Shows: 9 to 5 (Birmingham), Priscilla (Wimbledon), Matilda (London), Cats (Manchester) and others TBC.

Updated On: 4/21/10 at 10:58 AM

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