Love Never Dies - all views allowed

Madame Giry wrote:I for one, am delighted with Love Never Dies, and for one reason only:

FORBIDDEN BROADWAY is going to go to town with this!

I can hardly wait...

~Madame~

I hope they do a whole sequel dedicated to it's crap. Because honestly, there is SO MUCH to explore in terms of bad sh!t.

That is probably the best way to look at all this sequel nonsense. And it will bring more than smattering of smiles and laughter, too, should they take on LND.

OK.... so Celia Graham is Christine understudy in Phantom II, right? Has she been on yet? I read Sierra Boggess was/is going to miss a show because of some TV promo stuff. I wonder what she is like in the role. I loved her acting in the original, especially towards JOJ, but I fond her voice a bit whiney.

Anyhow... According to Daily Mail, big changes are being done to the sequel after some less successful previews. In the word of ALW himself: "We're halfway there"...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1253858/Madonna-signs-Abbie-Cornish-new-film-Edward-VIIIs-abdication.html

According to this article, both the prologue and the end scene is being trimmed, and there are attempts to make some moments tighter and more dramatic. But I found this comment most amusing:

And while Karimloo has a fabulous baritone that stops the show, he doesn't have the showbusiness artistry that Michael Crawford displayed as the original stage Phantom. That's being worked on.

I wonder how they'll learn him the showbusiness artistry of Michael Crawford in two weeks time?

operafantomet wrote:OK.... so Celia Graham is Christine understudy in Phantom II, right? Has she been on yet? I read Sierra Boggess was/is going to miss a show because of some TV promo stuff. I wonder what she is like in the role. I loved her acting in the original, especially towards JOJ, but I fond her voice a bit whiney.

Does her performance while Sierra was ill count?

operafantomet wrote:
I wonder how they'll learn him the showbusiness artistry of Michael Crawford in two weeks time?

I admit it's kind of hard to tell from all the way over here in Denver....but it sounds like Crawford had a lot more to work with. The LND Phantom appears to be so neutered that I can't imagine anyone turning him into a dynamic star performance. Whatever else, I don't blame the actors...they have to eat like the rest of us, and it sounds like they're doing the best they can.

As for myself, I have March 9 off so I'll cue up my OLC at around 7:30 London time (12:30 pm local) and raise a glass to the memories of Steve Barton and Maria Bjornson, who were taken from us too soon but were at least spared the pain of seeing their legacy tainted.

~LCD

If they cut the singing medusa head chandelier and the four armed thing before I go I will actually kick up a fuss. Purely because I want to see the reaction of those around me to this...

Anyway, my tickets arrived today I feel a weird mixture of emotions sad, sceptical but also excited (as in excited to see if it is as bad as they say it is.)

dolly-ry wrote:If they cut the singing medusa head chandelier and the four armed thing before I go I will actually kick up a fuss. Purely because I want to see the reaction of those around me to this...

Anyway, my tickets arrived today I feel a weird mixture of emotions sad, sceptical but also excited (as in excited to see if it is as bad as they say it is.)

I doubt they'll cut what seems like an expensive set piece.

Good. Every review I read mentions this and most of it describes the whole "WTF?" the whole audience seems to think at that point. Oh to see the looks on their faces.

LadyCDaae wrote:raise a glass to the memories of Steve Barton and Maria Bjornson, who were taken from us too soon but were at least spared the pain of seeing their legacy tainted.

Amen.

but it sounds like Crawford had a lot more to work with. The LND Phantom appears to be so neutered that I can't imagine anyone turning him into a dynamic star performance. Whatever else, I don't blame the actors...they have to eat like the rest of us, and it sounds like they're doing the best they can.

Certainly, but it is true that Ramin is not the dynamic star that MC is. He is neither as good an actor or singer, and doesn't have quite the stage presence.

I also wish they would stop calling Ramin a baritone.

LadyCDaae wrote:
As for myself, I have March 9 off so I'll cue up my OLC at around 7:30 London time (12:30 pm local) and raise a glass to the memories of Steve Barton and Maria Bjornson, who were taken from us too soon but were at least spared the pain of seeing their legacy tainted.

~LCD

Well said. I'll drink to that.

May their legacy live long and proud after the horror that is Love Never Dies has faded from memory.

~Madame~

Madame Giry wrote:I for one, am delighted with Love Never Dies, and for one reason only:

FORBIDDEN BROADWAY is going to go to town with this!

I can hardly wait...

~Madame~

Sorry to burst your bubble, but I believe Forbidden Broadway closed up shop for good early last year

But then again, maybe LND is bad enough for them to do an encore!

R.

Raphael wrote:
Sorry to burst your bubble, but I believe Forbidden Broadway closed up shop for good early last year

Almost a year to the day...March 1, 2009 was the final show.

Well, at least we still have Broadway Abridged to look forward to.

I will admit I just saw Sierra performing "Love Never Dies" on Johnathan Ross and she did put in one great performance.

OK, this quote comes from a very hardcore fan of the 2004 film who saw the first preview and admits the show is not Webber's best work and has problems...but did like certain aspects of it, such as:

I like that Ramin is more like gerard in the deleted scene and not the manic original...

Because, of course, the Phantom is just supposed to be an an gsty romantic, right?

Paula74 wrote:OK, this quote comes from a very hardcore fan of the 2004 film who saw the first preview and admits the show is not Webber's best work and has problems...but did like certain aspects of it, such as:

I like that Ramin is more like gerard in the deleted scene and not the manic original...

Because, of course, the Phantom is just supposed to be an an gsty romantic, right?

That was pretty much the last nail in the coffin for me.

Just for sh!ts and giggles:



(With credit to South Park)

R.

*the sound of thunderous applause*

And lots of laughter. He-he-he.

heheh, That's a good way to start the morning!

So feel free (including lurkers) to denounce me as childish and immature, but today I went to Dress Circle because Elaine Paige was doing a signing (and for some reason I became ridiculously shy upon meeting her and had no idea what to say...but she was lovely). Anyway, to my horror, the entire shop was FILLED with copies of The Phantom of Manhattan...you couldn't escape them! Worse, people were actually buying it. In my disgust, I stole yet more LND flyers, ripped them up (no ALW there to catch me in the act this time! ) and then, since it was on my way home, decided to post the ripped up flyers through the letterbox of the offices of Really Useful. That made me feel a bit better.

ALW was on the Jonathan Ross show on TV last night to promote LND. Think Sierra sang the title song...not sure though as I didn't watch it.

Scorp wrote:
ALW was on the Jonathan Ross show on TV last night to promote LND. Think Sierra sang the title song...not sure though as I didn't watch it.

I saw that on the TV down the pub last night. Sounded was muted, though. For the best maybe...?

Aled_Boyo wrote:

Scorp wrote:
ALW was on the Jonathan Ross show on TV last night to promote LND. Think Sierra sang the title song...not sure though as I didn't watch it.

I saw that on the TV down the pub last night. Sounded was muted, though. For the best maybe...?

LOL, same! I was in Spoons and saw him come on there. Sound was also muted...

I'm assuming it was pretty much the same as what they did on the South Bank awards - and that was very boring! I also saw the new video for Til I Hear You Sing the other day, too. While I don't mind the song, really, the video is tremendously cheesey. It reminded me of Meatloaf or something..

http://www.musicline.de/player_flash/?pid=0602527247939&tid=0602527247939-0-0&type=product&musicloadurl=&site_variant=de

more clips, some are different

One of them Giry does a "Christine! Christine!" and reminds me of Carlotta.

Gustave does sound like a girl.
These clips make me feel a little bit better, just a little.

I actually love how in "mother please, Im scared" when Gustave meets the Phantom you hear the dn dn dn dn dn dn dn dn from the title song, lol.

justin-from-barbados wrote:
These clips make me feel a little bit better, just a little.

Thanks for sharing the link to these clips. I tried listening to them though and well, beyond the fact that I like the melodic interplay between Raoul and the Phantom during Devil Take the Hindmost, these clips actually make me even less chariable about the show and score. Everyone is so extremely one-dimensional. There's nothing complex or conflicted or interesting about these characters. It's all black and white, good and bad, boring and trying-too-hard. And the plot, oy, the plot. Pleh.

~Madame~

So for "Beautiful" he just got new lyrics for "I Have Brought You"? Ok then.

My immediate reaction to the themes from the original was to smile fondly, but then I realized they were in this horrific sequel and became offended instead.

phantomgirl110 wrote:So for "Beautiful" he just got new lyrics for "I Have Brought You"? Ok then.

My immediate reaction to the themes from the original was to smile fondly, but then I realized they were in this horrific sequel and became offended instead.

Him so blatantly reusing tunes from the original is really bothersome. On one hand, I see he's trying to link the sequel to that musically. On the other, more dominant hand, it just feels so LAZY. In an early interview, I remember him being all snooty about "Oh, you'll only hear motifs from the original music. Only hardcore phans will notice."

LIES.

Right, against my better judgement I listened to the soundtrack and I would like to be sick after "Beneath a Moonless Sky" it just does not feel right at all, these are not the characters from the original. My heart has just broken slightly I think. E/C fans are going to have a field day with this musical.