Hi all

I just returned from the premiere of Love Never Dies - Andrew Lloyd Webber's much-anticipated sequel to Phantom of the Opera - at the Adelphi Theatre in London.

For those who want to avoid the spoilers - read no further.


With tonight's performance being the first of the previews - the audience was truly buzzing ... all clearly being fans of Lloyd Webber curious to see whether this would be train wreck or smash hit.

In this, the sequel - the Phantom escapes Paris to travel to Coney Island where he setups Phantasmaland - an otherworldly paradise of rides, amusements and freaks ... and invites Christine to New York to sing in his latest creation.

The show gets off to an unusual start with no overture but straight to the drama with an aged Madame Giry returning to the remains of the Coney Island fairground ... setting the scene of what history has gone by.

Projection plays an enormous role in the show - and the system in use is truly world class ... full screen projection the length and width of the entire stage scrim - high definition quality that adds a whole new dimension to modern theatre making.

Clouds billow across the stage in a whirlwind of action - both on projection and on stage - as we go back in time and see the once-defunct Phantasmaland come to life before our eyes. The video sequence is amazing ...

Unfortunately things came to an abrupt halt at this point - 10 minutes in ... curtains fall and technical difficulties stop play. The show's director comes on stage - apologies profusely and so we wait - hoping that they do indeed continue ( Saturday night's performance was cancelled )

Thankfully they fix the problem - and so we continue.

Scott Penrose is the show's magic creator and he has included some true beauties.

Highlights include a full-size horse-pulled carriage made completely of glass - automaton style. You can see completely inside - empty. Instantly the carriage is filled with cast members - a beautiful appearance, unexpected and magical.

Other notable pieces include the walking skeleton - human legs, skeleton torso - last seen in Siegfried & Roy's show at The Mirage ( except their skeleton smoked cigarettes ) ... and a rock playing guerilla autamaton atop a mirror box.

The lead role is played by Ramin Karimloo - who last played Phantom in the original London production. His voice is quite simply INCREDIBLE and he literally owns the stage - without him the show would be no where. Sierra Boggess plays Christine - who too, has the most angelic of voices.

As with any sequel - your audience comes into the show with certain ideas, knowledge & pre-conceptions. And Love Never Dies is no different ... unfortunately - to make this plot work - the creators have been fairly liberal in their creative licence leaving many to scratch their heads wondering if they perhaps missed something in the original Phantom production ... and what possibly happened to their favourite characters.

In this continuation - Raoul is a drunken, wife abuser with gambling debts - Christine has a child - Meg Giry turns kidnapper and murderer - and the Phantom turns family man - after discovering that the child is really his ( "Luke, I am your father") Don't remember them consummating that relationship on stage ?

Phantom lures Christine to Coney Island, Phantom wagers Raoul that he will get Christine to sing for him, Christine sings, Raoul leaves, Meg is jealous, Phantom discovers child is his, Meg kidnaps child - shoots Christine and Phantom becomes a single dad.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Now that's an interesting plot line.

Will this show likely be running in ten years time - no. Will it ever achieve the same success as Phantom - never.

Despite all this - there are some true moments of brilliance that one could only wish they were better able to capture ... closing the first half - the Phantom lures the child to his lair in a scene filled with the gorilla automaton, walking skeleton and a hanging chandelier of 20+ Medusa like skulls that come to life in song. The Phantom is discovering that the boy's love of music & the bizarre mirrors his own life - against a backdrop of symphonic rock that is in a word - breathtaking. The scene is so unlike any other number in the show - sheer "rock opera" - it is eery, scary and brilliant. But over far too soon ...

The show's Coney Island story make it a must-see for magicians ... if only to experience that scary freak world of yester-year. But for musical theatre lovers - it takes the Phantom to where he was never meant to go - out of the mysterious and into the realm of mere mortal normality.