GtPGKogPYT4p61R1biicqBXsUzo" /> Google+ Sheep Theater Review: Love Never Dies by Andrew Lloyd Webber | I Smell Sheep

Friday, March 9, 2012

Sheep Theater Review: Love Never Dies by Andrew Lloyd Webber

Love Never Dies, written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and directed by Bill Kenwright is the sequel to Phantom of the Opera. Tapped live from the Melbourne, Australia 'Regent Theater'. Wearing opera gloves and mini ladies top hats my girl friend and I attend this one night showing with high expectations. Breathtaking sets create the backdrop to this whimsically dark and twisted world which is combined with beautiful costumes. Unfortunately the script leaves much to be desired and sadly no amount of fancy costumes or stunning stage sets can take away from that blaring problem.

Plot:
The musical is set in 1907, which Lloyd Webber states is, "ten years roughly after the end of the originalPhantom," although the events of the original actually took place in 1881. Christine Daaé is invited to perform at Phantasma, a new attraction in Coney Island, by an anonymous impresario and, with her husband Raoul and son Gustave in tow, journeys to Brooklyn, unaware that it is the Phantom who has arranged her appearance in the popular beach resort.

Phantom of the Opera is by far one of the best modern musicals in history. A story centered around deep seated love and despair, characters having to choose between light and dark, plus just how far the mind can become lost into the abyss really creates some captivating stuff. Combine all these elements with a phenomenal Webber score and you just can’t go wrong. With Love Never Dies we pick up ten years after the opera house in France has burned down, Christine Daae is now a mother and a wife who gets an offer she can't refuse. Christine has been asked to sing for one night and will be paid an outrageous sum, so naturally she jumps on the nearest ship to America with the family in tow. Girl's gotta make the money somehow!

Ten years of marriage have changed both Christine and her husband Raoul, who has become a heavy drinker and gambler thus driving his once happy family further and further into debt. I had a hard time adjusting from the young lad that loved Christine body and soul to the drunken man that was a controlling prick and neglectful father. It seemed too far of a stretch for his character and one I was not fond of. Granted, people do change with time but it just seemed like such a turn from his original character.

Our Phantom is now working with Meg Giry, gal pal of Christine, and company at the circus side show on Coney Island. Some amazing creatures of the night with outstanding musical numbers do much to entertain where the overall script falls a bit flat. Audiences are asked in the sequel to jump to conclusions that never happened in the first one were by far the hardest pill to swallow. That being said, the musical score boasted two songs which truly stood out for me but the rest I’ve sadly forgotten already.

Only in the theater can people get shot (or stabbed) yet still have enough life left in them to sing one final swan song. In parts Love Never Dies rocks out and hits some emotional strings but the lack of backbone from our leading lady and wishy-washy attitude leave the gal I once adored turning into a meek and spineless mother.

Overall Love Never Dies is worth a watch for the hard core Phantom lovers. While it may not be anything close to the first, it’s still a story, good or bad, that I was grateful for.

Getting 3 peacock feather Sheep
KD

1 comment:

  1. Great review, I have never known that there was a "sequel" of sorts to the story.

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