Love Never Dies

Andrew Lloyd Webber's Love Never Dies will not disappoint the Phantom faithful. The film version is an unfortunate necessity, as the live musical will not be played in the USA with its original cast. My only complaint with the filming of the musical is that instead of a broader, panned out view, the shots are very zoomed, leaving out other happenings on stage and exposing actors' microphones and hair pieces. Ben Lewis does the great Michael Crawford homage with his strong, clear voice. ALW triumphs with beautiful recurring themes and an exciting rock sound for songs like 'Beneath a Moonless Sky' and 'The Beauty Underneath', delighting Phans with the occasional riff from the original. Finally, the last half hour is consistently unpredictable, edge-of-your-seat exciting. Love Never Dies is sufficiently unique, yet powerful and unique to hold a flame to its precursor and stand alone as another spell- binding ALW show.

Saw it live in London in October 2010 and was mesmerized by it. The cast was very different sadly but the story is still the same. I was blessed to get pictures of the cast after the performance and it is one of my favorite musicals altogether. Am glad to see it on film, though the impact is a little weakened. Nevertheless, Christine and her Phantom live again at last, for all of us, we are blessed to have Sir Andrew's gifts carry on their lives. Was disappointed in the removal of it from London completely and if you want to see it live Melbourne is the only place that is showing it. I still have the score rolling through my mind and am touched at the way the new and the old meet paths. Worth a watch and a box of tissue.

First let me say that the primary review on the IMDb page is pretty much spot on. I agree with everything the author said, particularly about the constant close-ups that deny you the audience's perspective and reveal flaws that the audience would otherwise never notice. I was particularly irritated by the way the cast's Mics were worn, giving the appearance that each person had a large birth defect at the peak of their forehead. I'm sure the audience couldn't even see the Mics from their seats when worn in this fashion so I understand why they did this for the live stage performances, but the camera close-ups made it particularly unpleasant (for me at least).

More importantly though, the close ups and the overhead angles provided a view that was just never meant to be seen, and I can tell it took away from the overall performance even though I've never seen it live. I'm pretty sure the rotating stage and sets would've been much more impressive from the audience perspective, rather than the top down view where you clearly saw the separation in the floor and don't get to see the sets shifting the way you should. I would've preferred the majority of the shots to be wider with an occasional close-up, so you can take in the sets and scenery not to mention the other cast members.

I consider myself a pretty big Phantom Phan, having seen POTO on tour in multiple cities over the last 15 years, and having watched the movie and listened to the soundtrack countless times. I'd already heard a little bit of the LND soundtrack, so I was a little excited but very skeptical when I sat down to watch the Blu-Ray, like most Phantom Phans would be I'm sure. IMHO the opening song and 1st Act is MUCH weaker than POTO (one of my biggest criticisms of LND), but it gets better and better with each passing minute and delivers with a 3rd Act that very much lives up to its predecessor. In the end I really enjoyed LND and I'd definitely watch it again.

Since I hadn't listened to much of the soundtrack before I watched the movie, the best part for me was not knowing how the sequel was going to play out, particularly the third act and the ending. If I'd known the whole story before I watched/listened to the Blu-Ray, I would've been hugely disappointed (so I recommend not listening to it beforehand if you haven't already). Most of the songs themselves are just OK IMHO, but aren't nearly up to par with POTO (how could they be?). There are a few diamonds in the rough however, and there are some distinct nods to some of the original POTO scores sprinkled throughout. Unlike POTO I'm fairly sure I won't find myself listening to the soundtrack very often if at all, but I'll definitely watch the live performance on Blu-Ray again.

I think people that are fans of musicals in general will like LND, but as far as Phantom Phans go I think it's safe to say the results will be mixed, just as they were with the POTO motion picture (something that I happened to like). There are a LOT of Phans that just don't want the original story and music touched, period, while there are others who have always wanted more, and in particular for the Phantom to "get the girl". The way I see it, the purists that liked the original don't have to watch the movie or LND, and there's a phenomenal Blu-Ray available from the 25th anniversary performance at Royal Albert Hall that they can watch over and over again. For those that have longed for the story to continue (or end differently perhaps), LND offers them this. I certainly wouldn't spoil LND by giving any hints about how it plays out, but I will say that it's not at all predictable and the ending definitely delivers.

Very entertaining film of the musical. Camera work left a lot to be desired, however: too much movement around action shots. Lighting was very dark, and much of the set was constantly in the dark. Yes, of course, much of the set is supposed to be, I guess, in this vehicle, but the people were poorly light frequently, and the focus seemed to be blurry. I wondered if they were trying to shoot "Mame" with Lucille Ball. Really nice score. Clearly a Weber opera with leitmotifs from other shows and particularly "The Phantom". Nice touches throughout. Pretty duets and ballads. Singing was quite fine overall. Anne O'Byrne was quite good. The opening Phantom ballad however was a bit stagy. He was trying to sound too hard, I thought, like the original with the wobbly voice.

Okay, so, I watched this reasonably soon after having watched the Phantom of the Opera 25th anniversary performance--so a) it was fresh and b) I might be a little harsh.

The camera work was a little...interesting. There was only one shot (before the curtain call) that showed any of the audience, so it was easy to forget you were watching a play in a theater--except that you kept seeing stage lights in shots. Not a bad thing, but not ideal. The music is good, but rather weak in comparison to Phantom. Phantom is soaring and operatic... LND had me asking if Webber composed it in collaboration with Trans-Siberian Orchestra. The big thing for me, however, is the continuity disasters between LND and Phantom that fundamentally change the apparent story in Phantom. Full-disclosure, I think Love Never Dies would be perfectly fine in it's own right, but as a sequel to the awesomeness of Phantom of the Opera... I was a bit disappointed. I did appreciate the sporadic musical references to Phantom of the Opera in the score, however.