Love Never Dies

The sequel to The Phantom of the Opera has been a regular topic of conversation for musical theatre fans for some time, and has been billed as the show to see this year.



It’s with no little fanfare that Love Never Dies finally opens.





Set in 1907, a decade after Phantom, a mysterious businessman invites Christine Daaé to perform at Phantasma, a new attraction in New York’s Coney Island. With her husband Raoul and son Gustave in tow, she journeys to America, unaware that it is the Phantom who has arranged her appearance.

Since it opened in 1986, The Phantom of the Opera has become one of the most successful pieces of entertainment ever created, but can Love Never Dies replicate its success?

If the fabulous staging is anything to go by, then yes, and then some. From the opening scene, with its forced perspective set, faded posters and generally unsettling atmosphere, it’s up there with the best.

Director Jack O’Brien has also made excellent use of multimedia projection, something which in other shows looks desperate and can often fall way short of the mark. In this case, however, the money spent on the effect is up on stage for all to see and the 21st century technology places you right in the middle of early 20th Century New York as a rundown Coney Island is brought back to life in vibrant, sparkling fashion.

The projection also allows for economical use of the set; sparse (though no less grand) pieces of stage furniture are combined with contextual imagery to create convincing environments.

O’Brien has a fantastic box of tricks at his disposal, and he makes full use of them, especially when he subtly integrates the Adelphi’s stage revolve while deftly sidestepping the accusations of gratuitousness that have dogged other productions. It never feels intrusive or gimmicky, and gives scenes a depth and cinematic quality that pull the audience in. The best example of this is during Christine’s big number; with the seraphic singer on the Coney Island stage, Raoul and the Phantom stand in opposite sides of the wings, each battling for her affections. What could be a fairly pedestrian moment is transformed into something truly mesmerising by the stage turning and forcing focus onto the different players.

Sierra Boggess as Christine has the serene beauty you expect, and her voice is incredible. However, the stand-out female in Love Never Dies is Summer Strallen as Meg Giry. Now a brassy, yet damaged, showgirl, Strallen gives Meg a tangible personality, brimming with humour and fragility.

Ramin Karimloo is evidently comfortable as the Phantom, having starred as the masked man in the original show at Her Majesty’s Theatre, but once again, the most impressive male isn’t the lead. Rather it is Joseph Millson as Raoul who gives Christine’s husband a believably bitter world-weariness and palpable hatred of his rival.

So, back to the original question. Can Love Never Dies match the success of Phantom? It seems unlikely. While the staging and casting are as good as any you’ll encounter elsewhere in the West End, the songs and story are sadly lacking.

While The Phantom of the Opera’s story isn’t particularly gripping, it has some of the best music to have ever graced the stage. Each tune is more memorable than the last and the melodies burrow into your brain, refusing to move for days. Love Never Dies however, has neither a strong story nor the sort of tunes that stay with you and encourage repeat viewings.

It’s not that the music is bad — there is worse out there in Theatreland — but it is not what we have come to expect from Andrew Lloyd Webber and certainly not what we, the audience, wanted from this long-gestating show.

Nonetheless, Love Never Dies is absolutely worth seeing. There are bound to be tweaks and improvements as the run progresses, and while there’s still money to be made, you can bet that Lord Lloyd Webber will make sure those changes happen.

The chances of it emulating its big brother and being with us in another 25 years are unlikely, but the West End’s latest musical deserves to be seen while it’s here.

Love Never Dies is the biggest thing to happen in theatre for years and anyone with a love of theatre will marvel at the exceptional staging and outstanding performances.