Love Never Dies Double Play (Blu-ray + DVD)

Watched the new DVD of "Love Never Dies" last night. Fantastic production but very different from the concept album that I'm very familiar with and also different from the London production I saw a couple of years ago.

Great casting of The Phantom and Christine, perfect for portraying who they have become in this story but I was none too sure about Meg Giry, supposedly Coney Island's "Ooh La Lah Girl". Raoul and Madame Giry seemed about right and the freaks who serve as narrators of a sort throughout the story were wonderful.

While I was a little disappointed with their take on "Devil Take the Hindmost", in which The Phantom did not seem to be goading Raoul quite enough, I thought their interpretation of "Beneath a Moonless Sky" and "Beauty Underneath" were amazing!

Fabulous sets and costumes really seemed to capture the essence of the story and the subtle updatings of The Phantom's wardrobe made more sense, I thought, than the London production where he seemed to be dressed exactly the same as he was in Paris ten years previously - a very different time and place.

Some interesting changes to the plot cleared up some of the less plausible aspects of the original story and filled in a few plot-holes while only managing to create one new one which I thought was fairly good going. I was interested to see that some of the lyrics remain the same but are now sung by different characters in different contexts whereas others seem completely re-written, retaining only the tune and the basic theme of the originals. There was also much more use of refrains and "samples" from the original "Phantom of the Opera" to which this is a sequel. The London production did this too but with different pieces at different points in the story and to a much lesser extent. In the original, the only repeated tunes are "Little Lotte" and "Twisted Every Way" where Christine reflects on her situation.

Over all, I would give this production a 9/10 with the only things preventing it getting full marks being the casting of Meg which made it harder for me to get involved with her part of the story and The Phantom's lack of relish during "Devil Take the Hindmost". I would definitely recommend this DVD and now I'm off to watch it again!

As a huge fan of 'Phantom of the Opera', I went to see 'Love Never Dies' as soon as it opened in London. At the end, I left the theatre feeling more than a little bemused and a tad disappointed. The performances were excellent, (Ramin Karimloo) but the plot seemed to contradict 'Phantom' in several puzzling aspects, and parts of the production, notably the climax, were oddly limp. I do understand that, later, the London production was improved and re-jigged (sadly, I missed my chance to see it), but this Melbourne production is just something else! An absolute knock-out with fantastic, imaginative staging and all the emotion that the London preview production I saw didn't quite deliver. The music is stunning, the leads are powerful and it's one of the most visually exciting pieces I've seen in a long while.

Please bring the Melbourne re-staging to London! In the meantime, I thoroughly recommend this DVD.

Wow AMAZING!!! This spellbinding production of Love Never Dies is a sequel to Phantom of the Opera and has pieces interspersed throughout to tie it to the original, but it is a very different show and stands on its own merits. The characters have evolved and grown, and become more complex in their relationships with each other. They have become multi dimensional.

The gothic splendour of its Coney Island freak show setting allows the brilliant designer Gabriella Tylesova to provide a sumptuous feast for eyes with her totally breathtaking set design and costumes while the orchestrations and magnificient souring music reach into your soul and sweep you away - to another time - another place, just as Phantom does.

Bravo to Andrew Lloyd Webber for bringing us yet another wonderful piece of musical art. You will laugh, you will cry and you will gasp at the jawdropping staging and incredible performances by a world class cast. Must see for any fan of musical theatre, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Phantom!