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Post by zahidf on Jan 27, 2020 10:07:39 GMT
More news
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Post by WEGuy93 on Jan 27, 2020 10:17:36 GMT
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Post by distantcousin on Jan 27, 2020 10:38:56 GMT
Excited for this! I saw the original 3 times!
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Post by ABr on Jan 27, 2020 10:53:12 GMT
If tickets arn't through the roof at Curve then I will possibly go and see this! As would have loved to have seen the OLC for the cast, and have seen the OAC recording. I didn't love it, but didn't hate it either haha! SO would be willing to give it a go if the price is right  |
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Post by robertb213 on Jan 27, 2020 13:11:46 GMT
If tickets arn't through the roof at Curve then I will possibly go and see this! As would have loved to have seen the OLC for the cast, and have seen the OAC recording. I didn't love it, but didn't hate it either haha! SO would be willing to give it a go if the price is right Curve are generally pretty reasonable with their pricing (I've only paid £36 for Phantom in March). I would also say don't be put off by cheaper seats at either the back of the stalls or the circle, it's a great view from anywhere in the auditorium. |
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Post by HereForTheatre on Jan 27, 2020 13:22:09 GMT
The ticket prices at Curve go up to £49.50 for Love Never Dies. That is for top price tickets at the weekend. Though as Robert says above, all the cheaper areas are actually perfectly good views too and don't suffer from common problems like cut off ect so you really don't need to pay for those top price tickets.
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Post by horton on Jan 27, 2020 14:29:40 GMT
Ooh look, he's upgraded to a lovely sparkly mask.
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Post by TallPaul on Jan 27, 2020 14:38:34 GMT
Ooh look, he's upgraded to a lovely sparkly mask. Shades of Damien Hirst about it...except it probably wasn't his original idea to begin with! |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2020 15:04:51 GMT
Well this is great news. Long overdue a tour.
I saw the London production many times and thought it was a much better production than the Australian one. ALW's odd blame game on the London production when it didn't go down as he had hoped was misguided I think. London and Australia were fundamentally the same show. But for me, other than the (static) wooden rollercoaster backdrop of the Australia version it was quite ugly. The hotel scenes, backstage (Dear Old Friend) and Christine's dressing room (pre LND) looked SO unattractive. The London sets by contrast were breathtaking. And having the dressing room done totally black with just Christine's dressing table, mirror and lights accompanied by some of the best music of the show was simple but divine.
Anyway, I digress. Assume this will be based on the Australian production as that set would actually tour very easily in a slightly adapted form.
Either way, it has some of ALW's finest music and I look fwd to seeing it :-)
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Post by duncan on Jan 27, 2020 16:50:27 GMT
Beautiful score. Terrible, really really terrible book.
I loved the spectacle of the original London run and the OCR still gets a run out from time to time but jiminy the actual plot etc were not worthy.
I feel for ALW, scores like this and Women in White deserve so much better than the dross they ended up underscoring.
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Post by londonmzfitz on Jan 27, 2020 17:24:21 GMT
Well this is great news. Long overdue a tour. I saw the London production many times and thought it was a much better production than the Australian one. ALW's odd blame game on the London production when it didn't go down as he had hoped was misguided I think. London and Australia were fundamentally the same show. But for me, other than the (static) wooden rollercoaster backdrop of the Australia version it was quite ugly. The hotel scenes, backstage (Dear Old Friend) and Christine's dressing room (pre LND) looked SO unattractive. The London sets by contrast were breathtaking. And having the dressing room done totally black with just Christine's dressing table, mirror and lights accompanied by some of the best music of the show was simple but divine. Anyway, I digress. Assume this will be based on the Australian production as that set would actually tour very easily in a slightly adapted form. Either way, it has some of ALW's finest music and I look fwd to seeing it :-) OMG - I thought I was the only one! Having seen it many times from the first preview to the last matinee (don't even touch the subject of giving it a closing date and then bringing it forward a blooming week!!!) I became quite exasperated with the changes. And I think Ramin did to, behind the scenes. I really liked the first one, the creepy dark stage and billboards giving way to the whole Coney Isle fair - changing it to Ramin singing alone on stage right at the beginning when people were still settling into their seats was just urgh. I've got the Aus version on DVD and still haven't watched it, almost feels like a betrayal of my fondness for the London version. |
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Post by crabtree on Jan 27, 2020 17:28:26 GMT
But it was the ending that was so awful - Christine seemingly putting the Phantom before her own son. The woman next to me shouted at the character on stage.
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Post by Dawnstar on Jan 27, 2020 17:51:07 GMT
Beautiful score. Terrible, really really terrible book. I loved the spectacle of the original London run and the OCR still gets a run out from time to time but jiminy the actual plot etc were not worthy. I feel for ALW, scores like this and Women in White deserve so much better than the dross they ended up underscoring.
I didn't mind The Woman in White, though I didn't see the original production, only the recent revival at the Charing Cross Theatre. I agree with you on Love Never Dies though. I remember sitting there simultaneously getting goosebumps from the gorgeous music & wanting to murder whoever it was who decided to so completely change the characters from what they were like in Phantom that I really couldn't believe they were the same people. I'm struggling to think of any likely casting for this tour that would tempt me to sit through the plot for a second time.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2020 16:27:27 GMT
Well this is great news. Long overdue a tour. I saw the London production many times and thought it was a much better production than the Australian one. ALW's odd blame game on the London production when it didn't go down as he had hoped was misguided I think. London and Australia were fundamentally the same show. But for me, other than the (static) wooden rollercoaster backdrop of the Australia version it was quite ugly. The hotel scenes, backstage (Dear Old Friend) and Christine's dressing room (pre LND) looked SO unattractive. The London sets by contrast were breathtaking. And having the dressing room done totally black with just Christine's dressing table, mirror and lights accompanied by some of the best music of the show was simple but divine. Anyway, I digress. Assume this will be based on the Australian production as that set would actually tour very easily in a slightly adapted form. Either way, it has some of ALW's finest music and I look fwd to seeing it :-) OMG - I thought I was the only one! Having seen it many times from the first preview to the last matinee (don't even touch the subject of giving it a closing date and then bringing it forward a blooming week!!!) I became quite exasperated with the changes. And I think Ramin did to, behind the scenes. I really liked the first one, the creepy dark stage and billboards giving way to the whole Coney Isle fair - changing it to Ramin singing alone on stage right at the beginning when people were still settling into their seats was just urgh. I've got the Aus version on DVD and still haven't watched it, almost feels like a betrayal of my fondness for the London version. Deffo not the only one, I loved London. And whether people like the LND plot or not, the Aus version 'solved' nothing - very much the same musical. Disclaimer - I am not a huge fan of the Phantom story - so coming in to LND I wasn't remotely precious about the characters. In fact in Phantom I can never get over him being fundamentally a murderer. And I couldn't feel sympathy for him. The softer Phantom at the start of the LND run I was quite onboard with. And none of the plot tweaks did anything for me. Been a huge fan of ALW over the years and he wants to be liked. And when the critics don't like his work he finds something to blame and it's usually the production (though for Stephen Ward, it was of course morphine). For years if the critics savage something I wish he'd just stick two fingers up and say "I wrote it, I like it, and this is how I want it." But he doesn't. I lived in Australia for a bit, and with no disrespect they do not have the range of West End musicals we do, so when a West End show opens there, it is a BIG deal. And the critics always LOVE it. So it then worked for ALW to jump on the critics love of the Aus production and claim it was how LND was always meant to be. But it worked as you often hear people claiming that the Aus version is so much better. And I totally disagree. It's good but it's no way better. Forgetting what the critics said, I saw the London version many times and the Australian version in it's second sit down production in Hamburg (I went three times). Original London was classy, spectacular and understated where needed. It LOOKED sublime. Yes the Aus set has a good backdrop of the wooden rollercoaster. But the set pieces within it were fairly basic and as I have said the hotel room and Christine's dressing room just SO ugly I struggled to get past it. This set can tour easily and I am sure is what we will get. Though I remain hopeful they will re-design the hotel room and the dressing room. A totally new production, version 3 if you will, would be better still. The most impt thing about LND (and any musical) though is the glorious music. And for that I can't wait :-) Fingers crossed for a big orchestra and a great cast. Do we know as yet who is producing this? |
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Post by Being Alive on Jan 28, 2020 17:05:25 GMT
It would appear that David Ian and RUG are producing this, which makes me feel hopeful there might be a little bit of spectacle?
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jan 28, 2020 17:48:07 GMT
Ooh look, he's upgraded to a lovely sparkly mask. More appealing the masses than this...  |
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Post by mrtumnus on Jan 28, 2020 18:59:20 GMT
If it comes to Glasgow I'll be there. Saw it when it opened and loved it, saw it again later in the run and didn't like the changes much. However for me it's main problem was its name. No-one outside the theatre world knew it was the continuing story of the Phantom. It would have done much better if it had been called The Phantom Returns with the tag line Love Never Dies IMO. <script async="" src="moz-extension://3daa0bdc-4875-4586-9f48-084fb8c395fd/web/libs/ciuvo-addon-sdk.min.js"></script> |
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Post by carmella1 on Jan 28, 2020 19:03:10 GMT
Ah Paint Never Dries coming back. I saw all the reincarnations and hated them all. I remember the first one trying to keep awake. At the interval you could hear everyone saying how bad it was.
I also hated the whole concept that Christine was in love with the Phantom all along and that her son was really his. The only song for me of any entertainment was Devil Take the Hindmost.
Have them follow one another at a theatre that would be fun. One day Phantom one day PND.
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Post by longinthetooth on Jan 28, 2020 19:05:46 GMT
Wonder if Killian will jump ship from Phantom (1) so he can complete the set as Phantom (2)? #joke
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Post by carmella1 on Jan 28, 2020 21:49:37 GMT
OMG you mean he was never in PND. Absurd LOL
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Post by horton on Jan 28, 2020 22:21:47 GMT
Ooh look, he's upgraded to a lovely sparkly mask. More appealing the masses than this... I much prefer the original artwork- albeit that it suggests a show of more sophistication and gothic menace than any version of LND ever mustered. It made me imagine the Phantom might have created a new mannequin model in lieu of Christine to sate his obsession. Nah- nothing as creepy as that was ever on offer. |
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Post by ukpuppetboy on Jan 28, 2020 22:40:21 GMT
I’m in agreement horton . It’s fair classier (and interesting) that the desperate audience grab of the sequinned mask, which is a bit of a tacky cash in for fans from the original (and Mamma Mia/Pricilla). Though there is something a little reminiscent of Laurence Olivier (in lippy) from ‘Time’ about it too... |
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Post by distantcousin on Jan 28, 2020 23:23:31 GMT
The sequinned mask is utterly bizarre. Bears no relation to the mask in the story, is anachronistic and is incongruous with the themes of the show.
Who on earth signed that off??!
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Post by danb on Jan 29, 2020 7:43:50 GMT
The sequinned mask is utterly bizarre. Bears no relation to the mask in the story, is anachronistic and is incongruous with the themes of the show. Who on earth signed that off??! Is Kenwright involved? 😀 |
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Post by londonmzfitz on Jan 29, 2020 9:14:46 GMT
Ah Paint Never Dries coming back. I saw all the reincarnations and hated them all. I remember the first one trying to keep awake. At the interval you could hear everyone saying how bad it was. Were you in the production, or paid to keep going? Or just needed the sleep? |
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