Anyhow, I thought this post would be about "Love Never Dies", the sequel to "The Phantom of the Opera", Andrew Lloyed Webber style. I never was that interested in seeing it to begin with to be honest, thought that Webber should have just left the Phantom alone after the end in the original. But as I came across a DVD recording of the Australian cast performing this piece I thought I would give it a try.
The story is taking place 10 years after the first production. The Phantom never died, instead Madame Giry and Meg brought him to the US, to Coney Island to be exact. There he created his own circus for "freaks" and runs the place. Of course he never got over his Christine, and lures her (and her husband Raoul and son Gustave) to come over to Coney Island to sing. Secrets are being revealed, hearts broken and tragedy strikes.
My feelings about this production is a bit mixed. When it comes to the characters i'm completely lost. Raoul went from "prince charming" to an alcoholic gambler, Madame Giry from a protective mother to wanting to pair her daughter up with the Phantom, Meg went from an innocent ballet girl to a singing "oh lala girl" and prostitute and the Phantom from an manipulative murderer to a rather lovable heartbroken man. The only person who was somewhat the same was Christine! Many characters almost seemed to develop backwards and there was a lot that didn't make any sense at all. When it comes to the story plot I kind of liked it, even though it was a bit cliché in a way. What really saved this production was the music. The music was amazing and for the last couple of days i've kept several of the soundtracks on repeat. The actress who plays Christine (Anna O'Byrne) is outstanding, a beautiful voice and give the role great justice. Ben Lewis who plays the Phantom had to grow on me a bit. I think most Phantoms i've heard have had tenor voices, while i'm quite sure that Ben is a baritone. Now after a few days I must say that I really have fallen for him, he's almost in the same class as Ramin Karimloo (from the London production) who's one of my big favorites. I'm not that hard to impress, everyone who sings better than me (which is about 95% of the population of the earth haha) I find more or less amazing. One thing that bothers me about Ben's Phantom is that he gives me a lot of Dracula wibes, speaks very deep, slow and mysterious and moves a lot like I would expect Dracula do. He also uses a lot of very odd hand gestures, and he's got a rather creepy stare. Yes, Dracula wibes with other words. The boy who played the son of Christine was extremely talented. About 10 years of age, could song in tune, act and was a real cutie! The weakest vocals came from the actress who played Madame Giry, I didn't like her voice at all, it was very raw in some way. Apart from the majority of the vocals being outstanding the visuals were breathetaking! The set was very creatively made and the clothes were a real pleasure to look at. It was with other words very clear that this was a very expensive production with a lot of work put into it.
Even though the production had some flaws I would say it's a very good one! If you ignore the fact it's a sequel to "The Phantom of The Opera" and just sees it as a production of its own, without trying to make sense out of the characters from the previous theathre/film, it's actually a very good piece. I did enjoy it, and the music in particular. The songs will continue going on repeat for a while now :)
My feelings about this production is a bit mixed. When it comes to the characters i'm completely lost. Raoul went from "prince charming" to an alcoholic gambler, Madame Giry from a protective mother to wanting to pair her daughter up with the Phantom, Meg went from an innocent ballet girl to a singing "oh lala girl" and prostitute and the Phantom from an manipulative murderer to a rather lovable heartbroken man. The only person who was somewhat the same was Christine! Many characters almost seemed to develop backwards and there was a lot that didn't make any sense at all. When it comes to the story plot I kind of liked it, even though it was a bit cliché in a way. What really saved this production was the music. The music was amazing and for the last couple of days i've kept several of the soundtracks on repeat. The actress who plays Christine (Anna O'Byrne) is outstanding, a beautiful voice and give the role great justice. Ben Lewis who plays the Phantom had to grow on me a bit. I think most Phantoms i've heard have had tenor voices, while i'm quite sure that Ben is a baritone. Now after a few days I must say that I really have fallen for him, he's almost in the same class as Ramin Karimloo (from the London production) who's one of my big favorites. I'm not that hard to impress, everyone who sings better than me (which is about 95% of the population of the earth haha) I find more or less amazing. One thing that bothers me about Ben's Phantom is that he gives me a lot of Dracula wibes, speaks very deep, slow and mysterious and moves a lot like I would expect Dracula do. He also uses a lot of very odd hand gestures, and he's got a rather creepy stare. Yes, Dracula wibes with other words. The boy who played the son of Christine was extremely talented. About 10 years of age, could song in tune, act and was a real cutie! The weakest vocals came from the actress who played Madame Giry, I didn't like her voice at all, it was very raw in some way. Apart from the majority of the vocals being outstanding the visuals were breathetaking! The set was very creatively made and the clothes were a real pleasure to look at. It was with other words very clear that this was a very expensive production with a lot of work put into it.
Even though the production had some flaws I would say it's a very good one! If you ignore the fact it's a sequel to "The Phantom of The Opera" and just sees it as a production of its own, without trying to make sense out of the characters from the previous theathre/film, it's actually a very good piece. I did enjoy it, and the music in particular. The songs will continue going on repeat for a while now :)
These are four of my favorite songs from the musical (the Australian cast). There are so many more great soundtracks but I leave it like this, at least for now :)
Love, Kristina
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