Andrew Lloyd Webber's Love Never Dies adds 10 weeks to booking period

Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom sequel Love Never Dies has extended its booking period by ten weeks so you can now reserve tickets up until 26th March 2011 at the Adelphi Theatre.

Ramin Karimloo recently announced that he will be leaving the show next year (no date yet fixed) to join the show when it opens in Toronto and subsequently transfers to Broadway.  He is also due to play Enjolras in the 25th Anniversary Concert of Les Miserables at the Barbican on 3rd October,

No news yet on whether Sierra Boggess (Christine) will also be joining the new show.

Love Never Dies booking until January 2011

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies at the Adelphi Theatre has extended its booking period until 8th January, 2011

Love Never Dies moves The Phantom of the Opera forward ten years with the masked hero (Ramin Karimloo) still pining for Christine (Sierra Boggess), but now far away from the Paris Opera House and owner of an attraction on New York’s Coney Island called Phantasma.  He has been joined here by Phantom characters Madame Giry and Meg Giry (played by Liz Robertson and Summer Strallen).

There is still no news of its likely Broadway transfer date.

Andrew Lloyd Webber in trouble for painting Adelphi Theatre black

Andrew Lloyd Webber is facing a 20,000GBP fine for illegally painting the Adelphi Theatre black in line with the marketing and poster publicity material for his latest musical Love Never Dies.

He had been asked to restore the Adelphi or he could face legal action. His "Really Useful Theatre Company" lodged a planning application with Westminster City Council on 21st January, but the painting occurred before they received this application.

Council planning 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 saying that the Adelphi may remain black as long as it is restored at the end of the production.

A meeting of the council's planning applications sub-committee next Thursday will decide whether or not legal enforcement will take place. A draft of the letter which will be sent to Andrew Lloyd Webber reads, "It is a criminal offence to carry out work on a listed building without our consent. We will be pursuing enforcement action for the removal of the black paint."

Ramin Karimloo back tonight in Love Never Dies

Ramin Karimloo is back in Love Never Dies tonight and tomorrow night (Saturday) at the Adelphi Theatre, but will not perform at the Saturday matinee as his surgeon has advised him to take one show at a time.

Hope he continues to recover.

Love Never Dies Postpones Broadway Opening to Spring 2011

The Broadway debut of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Love Never Dies which opened at the Adelphi Theatre  in London March 9th has been postponed. Its Broadway premiere was originally scheduled for November 2010, but it will now open at the Neil Simon Theatre in the Spring 2011.

A statement from the show's producers says that the original date was set prior to Lord Lloyd Webber's diagnosis with prostate cancer last autumn. "Although the cancer has been eradicated, there have been post-operative problems. These have been aggravated by recent air travel and Lloyd Webber's doctors have requested that he does not take any further long-haul flights for the time being and until the problem has been investigated. This prevents him attending auditions and being part of the pre-production process in New York on the original schedule. Therefore, the decision has been made to move The Wizard of Oz forward in London and to schedule the Broadway premiere of Love Never Dies for 2011 thus allowing Andrew the freedom to travel to New York and oversee the audition and rehearsal process later in the year."

The Spring 2011 date also takes into account the schedules of director Jack O'Brien and choreographer Jerry Mitchell.

Lloyd Webber said in a statement, "I am extremely frustrated that I cannot travel to New York for the time being. I will be focusing my time on producing The Wizard of Oz in London now, and plan to be available for the creative process of bringing Love Never Dies to Broadway as soon as possible. I’m grateful that Jack and Jerry’s schedules can allow me to do this juggling act."

Love Never Dies Karimloo undergoes surgery

Ramin Karimloo who is playing the Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber's  Love Never Dies has been suffering from a flu-like virus which has caused him to miss shows at the Adelphi Theatre over the Easter weekend.

But it’s not a virus as the actor has now posted the following message on Facebook today:  “It's not flu as first was suspected. Blood tests showed a problem and I was rushed for Key Hole surgery last night. Did not see that coming at all. All is well and will be fine and I'm determined to be back asap."

Karimloo's understudy, Tam Mutu is playing the role of Mr Y in his absence.

First night Review of Love Never Dies

Having seen an early preview and attended the opening night of Love Never Dies at the Adelphi Theatre (with seats that were paid for!) I can only say that last night’s show bears no resemblance to the one I saw two weeks ago.  And I am sure that in another two weeks it will be a different show again with AL-W tweaking it until it reaches his idea of perfectionism..

The plot in a nutshell is that Love Never Dies moves The Phantom of the Opera forward ten years with the masked hero (played by Ramin Karimloo) still pining for Christine (Sierra Boggess), but now far away from the Paris Opera House and owner of an attraction on New York’s Coney Island called Phantasma,.  He has been joined here by Phantom characters Madame Giry and Meg Giry (played by Liz Robertson and Summer Strallen).

The Phantom anonymously invites Christine to perform at Phantasma and she arrives there with  son Gustave and husband Raoul (Joseph Millsom) who has turned into a debt-ridden, hard drinking gambler. It would seem that more happened between the Phantom and Christine back at the Paris Opera House than we were led to believe as Gustave is the Phantom’s 10 year old son.  So Christine’s dilemma is to sing or not to sing for the Phantom …?  I will not reveal the denouement but the final death scene (I won’t say who dies) is extraordinarily moving.

The score is one of the composer's most seductive. Musically it features a mix of light opera, vaudeville and some rock, but it could do with a few more rousing ensemble numbers (like Masquerade). The opening Coney Island Waltz is similar to the discordant frenzy at the start of Carousel.

A large part of the set backdrop features flowing back projections which are timed to perfection with rhythmic shifts in the music.  In the opening sequence a very bleak and grey Coney Island is brought to life and becomes full of shimmering towers, lakes and big dippers with shadowy carousel horses and flashing Ferris wheels

The show’s weakness is within the book, written by Lloyd Webber and Ben Elton, which lacks narrative tension and the weight to support the superstructure. With a libretto to match the melodies, this will lift Love Never Dies it into the realms of a spectacular “must see” show rather than an enjoyable night at the theatre.

With an opening scheduled in New York later this year I am sure it will get there.

May Love Never Dies be "phantom free" tonight!

The curtain goes up tonight at the Adelphi Theatre on Love Never Dies which is the long-awaited £6 million sequel to The Phantom Of The Opera. It has been two years in preparation, and the question is with £9 million already taken in advance ticket sales can it emulate the success of Phantom? This show is  still running in London after 24 years, has been seen by more than 100 million people worldwide and made a jaw-dropping £3.3 billion at the box office.

Love Never Dies has actually been in gestation since 1990 which is four years after Phantom opened with sell-out shows every night and theatres all over the world clamouring to stage it.

The lead up to the opening night has had its up and downs but seems calmer than the lead up to Phantom. I decided to have another look at Behind the Mask which is the Phantom of the Opera documentary that was released few years ago. It shows footage of the run to the previews and opening night of the show with interviews with Andrew Lloyd Webber, Cameron Mackintosh and members of the creative team and original cast members as well as rehearsal clips and production hitches/disasters.

There were various hirings and firings with the sacking of the director Hal Prince in favour of Trevor Nunn until Les Miserables bombed when it first opened at the Palace Theatre and he was reinstated.

Richard Stilgoe couldn’t come up with lyrics that either he or Andrew Lloyd Webber were happy with and he was replaced by Charles Hart.

Steve Harley was replaced by Michael Crawford as the Phantom despite six months of preparation and contract negotiation

The original MD was replaced and Michael Reed brought in.

Michael Crawford was referred to as Joan Crawford by the cast and backstage crew and was feared because he was such a perfectionist and would go into a rage as he could not tolerate mistakes.  He would arrive at Her Majesty’s Theatre at lunch time and take six hours to get into costume, make and character for the Phantom. 

We have heard about Sierra Boggess’ virus on the Saturday night before the official preview of “Love Never Dies” began and how brilliant her understudy was.  This is similar to Claire Moore going on with no costumes and rehearsals and being sublime when Sarah Brightman was off with a throat infection.  Both of the leading ladies returned the following day ready to reclaim their roles.

Then there was the remote controlled “phantom” gondola that went out of control whenever a fire engine passed nearby Her Majesty’s Theatre as the radio was on save wavelength as local fire brigade!
I am sure a lot of stories and backstage dramas will come out after the opening of “Love Never Dies” tonight.  I just wish them all well and hope it can at least part follow the success of “Phantom”.

South Bank Show Revisited interview with Lord Lloyd Webber

The South Bank Show Revisited is a new ten part ITV1 series where Melvyn Bragg will re-interview outstanding guests from the South Bank Show.

He will talk to them about their latest projects, while referring to their earlier work and using archive footage from the original shows.

The first programme in the series airs on 28th March and follows Lloyd Webber as he prepares for the opening of  Love Never Dies. The South Bank Show has interviewed Andrew Lloyd Webber four times: including a show in 1986 about The Phantom of the Opera and another in 2000 on The Beautiful Game.

Melvyn Bragg will be asking Andrew Lloyd Webber about Love Never Dies which is his new musical due to open at the Adelphi Theatre on 9th March, as well as his work on BBC talent shows, including his latest  “Over the Rainbow” where he is trying to find a Dorothy for his new production of “The Wizard of Oz”.

Bragg said: “I hope that by looking at past work over 30 years and talking about where they are today, the artists will give us a unique perspective on their process and progress over several decades.”

Love Never Dies Promos this Weekend

Tonight Andrew Lloyd Webber will be a guest on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross at 10.35pm on BBC1. He will give an update about Love Never Dies, which started previews at the Adelphi Theatre earlier this week.  Sierra Boggess, who plays Christine Daaé, will also perform the show’s title song ‘Love Never Dies’.

And on Sunday ALW will appear on ITV1’s Dancing On Ice which goes out at 6.50pm. This time he will be accompanying opera diva Katherine Jenkins as she performs her version of “Love Never Dies” while Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean perform their dance interpretation on ice.

Andrew Lloyd Webber extends Universal contract to 40 years

Andrew Lloyd Webber has renewed his record contract with Universal to make it one of the longest continuous deals in the music world.

The deal covers digital and CD sales, publishing rights for film, TV and advertising. It will encompass his entire back catalogue which includes the original Jesus Christ Superstar album originally released in 1970.

The composer has signed a new long term contract ahead of his eagerly awaited Phantom follow up Love Never Dies, which is currently previewing at the Adelphi Theatre.

Lloyd Webber's music has sold in the tens of millions over the past forty years with Phantom of the Opera alone having exceeded 20 million.  Other hit productions have included Evita, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Cats.

Technical problem at first preview of Love Never Dies

The reason the large musicals always enter into a period of previews before the all too important opening night was clearly illustrated by the first preview of the of Phantom of the Opera sequel Love Never Dies.

The musical came to a grinding halt within the first five minutes when there was a problem with the stage revolve at the Adelphi Theatre. Andrew Lloyd Webber quickly ran up the stalls aisle to stop the show while the problem was fixed. The audience was asked to remain in their seats and director Jack O'Brien went on stage and told them that all would be well. The show started up again with Liz Robertson continuing with the opening scene.

There were a few tiny problems with the trapeze artists but leading lady Sierra Boggess who had been ill and missed dress run was in top form.  As was Ramin Karimloo who certainly delivered.

The audience gave the show a standing ovation and Andrew Lloyd Webber said “It's halfway there” with the usual tweaking and tightening up needing to be done.  You only have to witness the reaction from the departing audience to see that it’s going to be another great hit for the composer, which he deserves with his great passion for musical theatre and his desire for perfectionism

Lloyd Webber's Love Never Dies cancels its first preview

Love Never Dies  has cancelled its first preview on February 20th sending the following note to ticket holders:

"It is with great regret that we have taken the early decision to cancel the first preview of Love Never Dies at The Adelphi Theatre on February 20th. This complex show is half way through its technical production period, as we write this letter, and it is clear that we need the two extra days' work which will take us to Monday February 22nd. We are not, at this time, behind schedule and everything is looking extremely promising. Planning ahead, however, it is clear we would only be able to present an exhausted company on stage at the end of next week and, possibly, a show still not in a technically safe and secure state. Rather than spring this on you at the last minute, we have taken an early decision to cancel.

Most other previews are already heavily sold, but as a precautionary measure we have held back seats for the performances on Friday March 5th and Monday March 8th for customers who have been affected.

We are aware that many of the audience who planned to see the show on February 20th bought tickets explicitly because it would have been the first public performance. This, of course, has an inbuilt risk to it, as it is not infrequent that the plan of a new show's arrival is knocked off course by technical demands. We are, nevertheless, very sorry to disappoint those who hoped to see the first performance. We will try to keep to schedule over the next ten days and aim for a dress rehearsal on February 20th. We fervently hope that we may be sufficiently prepared for this to be a public dress rehearsal. If we can do that, we will contact you by Friday evening February 19th and you will be most welcome to join us for that special occasion as well as having your preview seats re-booked. You will appreciate that this is an ambition and an aim and we cannot guarantee it, but maybe you can will us along."

The World Premiere of  Love Never Dies will take place on 9th March at London's  Adelphi Theatre. Previews now begin on 22 February and the show will subsequently open in New York on 11th November 2010 and then in Australia in 2011.

Update on Love Never Dies

This  sequel to Phantom of the Opera has so far taken £8.5 million in advance ticket sales with plenty of time for that figure to almost double with  previews starting on 20th February and the opening night at the  Adelphi Theatre on 9th March.

Rehearsals are under way with the full company due to assemble next week at a rehearsal complex in South London.  In the centre of the largest rehearsal hall is a giant revolve resembling the one that is about to be installed at the Adelphi.

The principals (Ramin Karimloo, Sierra Boggess and Summer Strallen) already know their roles well because they worked on the show's concept album.  There will be a CD released around the same time as the official first night of Love Never Dies.

The designer Bob Crowley is having the backdrops made in the paint room at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane and the incredible Coney Island roller-coaster and fairground is being built backstage at the Adelphi