We’ve been periodically checking up on the progress of Love Never Dies, the Phantom of the Opera sequel ever since we found out it had come into existence mid-October. Imagine our absolute thrill to discover a short video with updates from the cast members on how production rehearsals were going! With previews of the musical starting soon (VERY soon in fact since the most avid Phantom fans already have tickets to previews starting February 20th), the pace at rehearsals has definitely picked up. Cast members share that run throughs of Act I have begun and everything is looking stellar! (Of course this just leaves us wanting to hear more detailed information, but everything in its proper place and time…)
Though we’re saddened that Ramin Karimloo (Phantom) and Sierra Boggess (Christine) did not have an opportunity to appear in these spur-of-the-moment interviews with the cast – the interviewer caught them as everyone was breaking for lunch – it’s still exciting to get a feel of the rest of the talented cast’s personalities beyond the stage. Evidently Joseph Millson (Raoul) is a light-hearted fellow who joked around with the brilliant director Jack O’Brien and shared that he grew a moustache for rehearsals even though costume will be providing him with a fake one for the live performances. (From us to Joe, keep the moustache – the look suits you so well.)
Talking with Summer Strallen (Meg) reveals that Jack the director has been impressing the entire cast with his passion for this musical and its characters. Apparently Jack is able to act out every single one of the character’s emotions and dialogue, making them wonder if this couldn’t all just be a “one-man show.” The narrative and details of the performance are still shrouded in mystery – every time it feels like someone is going to reveal a spectacular detail it all ends up very vague. However, if we make it through this period of sworn secrecy then we expect that we’ll be blown away come February 20th. (For assurance from a cast member that this is “Andrew’s best musical to date” and for a more detailed account of how a rehearsal day goes, read this blog by Richard Linnell who is one of 6 boys to play the role of Gustave in Love Never Dies. He shares the most interesting insights from a 12 year old’s perspective – like how all the cast members are so fond of tuna fish and cucumber sandwiches!)
Watch the video for updates from the Love Never Dies rehearsal:
We were so excited by this video update that after we went and watched Ramin Karimloo’s “Till I Hear You Sing” rendition twice more. With Valentine’s Day coming up, it’s so fitting to immerse oneself in a love story that neither time nor space can crumble. Whether it’s true love or the ill-fated kind remains to be seen. What we can say is that it’s difficult not to root for the lonely Phantom who continues to long for his muse and reason for being a decade later…
The bare bones of the story is that the ever-elusive Phantom has traveled to Coney Island in America to start a new life after the events that transpired in the original musical. Madame Giry and her daughter Meg have accompanied him to America for reasons that are still a mystery to us. Starting again as a freak show attraction, the Phantom ultimately works his way up to mogul of the island and architect of many of the attractions. It’s now 10 years later and our somber Phantom still finds his soul unfulfilled and his work meaningless since Christine is not in his life. What follows is a mysterious invitation to Christine to journey across the Atlantic and sing at one of the island’s attractions, with her husband Raoul and son Gustave accompanying her. We wonder how many years of longing and loneliness can change a relationship…
If The Phantom of the Opera album is still not part of your collection, you should highly consider adding it in time for the release of the Love Never Dies album (which will coincide with show’s opening in the West End in March). The original London cast album for Phantom was the 8th best-selling album EVER – incredible for a musical. That’s how good it is. Buy the The Phantom of the Opera album on Amazon.
Can it be true?! … Recent buzz in the Broadway and music world confirm that Judy Craymer, the brilliant creator of Mamma Mia!, a global smash hit musical, is taking on a new project. This time Craymer will be taking the beloved song of the pop band Spice Girls and working them into a full-fledged glittery musical spectacular! Though the news is not the second Spice Girls reunion that fans have been hoping for, the musical may promise to be a whole lot better!
Craymer seems to be a mastermind at taking popular pop music and turning it into a successful staged musical. Though her record stands 1-for-1 with turning the best of ABBA into Mamma Mia!, the fact that the ABBA musical has won critical acclaim and earned $600 million worldwide as a Hollywood blockbuster gives us overzealous confidence that the Spice Girls musical has great chances.
Geri “Ginger Spice” Halliwell persuaded Craymer to start work on the project in hopes that it will open in London in the next 2-3 years. The British producing will be collaborating with Halliwell and Simon Fuller (the former manager of the girls) to develop the musical show. Of course, Victoria “Posh Spice” Beckham and the other girls will be adding their input along the way as well. The chosen name for the upcoming musical is Viva Forever and all of the pop group’s greatest hits will be featured in the show.
Craymer shares that her goal will be to create a unique celebration of the band’s music and capture the phenomenal impact they made on popular culture in the nineties. The Spice Girls were all about having fun, living life and laughing a lot – perfect themes for a joyful stage performance. Viva Forever is going to follow the same fictionalized style as Mamma Mia!; but Craymer assures us that audiences will get a full “sense of a story, about a group of women, that you knew was very much related to the music.”
The prospect of incorporating such pop classics as Who Do You Think You Are, Wannabe and Mama is very exciting for Craymer, but of course thinking about which music to include can’t start until the story is written first.
So until further progress is made, we are left dreaming and wondering if the Spice Girls will be playing any role on stage when the musical opens. Chances are high given that they can all sing, dance and act enthusiastically. We shall see…
Meanwhile, reminisce with use and listen to our favorite Spice Girl classic:
Can’t wait? Join us and listen to the Spice Girls’ Greatest Hits in the meantime.
Legally Blonde: The Musical opened at London’s Savoy Theatre a couple days ago after past performance runs on Broadway and a U.S. Tour. It was up in the air whether London’s opinionated theater critics would embrace the kitschy, frivolous and over-enthusiastic musical which is a homage of American college culture and Greek life. Perhaps they would miss (or find very un-funny) many of the jokes parodying said culture which had American musical audiences guffawing over. To our delight, it appears that these fears were unfounded because most all of the London’s theater critic population are giving the Legally Blonde musical warm reviews and a positive reception.
The stage show is based on the 2001 comedy of the same name starring Reese Witherspoon. The musical’s narrative follows the film plot very closely; it tells the story of a beautiful, bubbly and (very) blonde sorority girl named Elle Woods who enters Harvard Law School to chase after the man of her dreams. Originally hailing from Malibu, California, Elle starts her journey on a date with her steady college boyfriend, Warner, whom she is expecting to propose. Unfortunately, it seems that the anticipation of attending Harvard Law has pushed him to re-evaluate his future in favor of someone more “serious”… so he dumps her. Not one to give up so easily on something she wants, Elle puts her brains and originality to the test and surprises herself by also gaining admittance to the prestigious school in order to redeem Warner’s affections. From there, Elle embarks on a hilarious, vibrant, touching and fashion-filled road to discovering her inner strength while making others realize there is more beyond the blonde exterior.
The team of Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin developed the score for the musical with the book by Heather Hach. The producer of the London show, Sonia Friedman, was quoted as saying: ”Elle is a great role model for women. She shows that there’s nothing wrong with wearing pretty clothes and lipstick, while still being a strong woman.”
During previews in London, throngs of enthusiastic females showed their support for the musical and embraced the light-hearted, tongue-in-cheek humor of the show. Many of the critics admitted that despite themselves, they were charmed by the “sheer cheek” of the musical which seemed to know it was overdoing everything, yet reveled in the fact.
Daily Telegraph’s Charles Spencer said, ”I tried, I really tried to hate this show, but resistance is futile.” Paul Taylor from The Independent joins in his praising chorus by stating, “Oh my god, I’m like so totally going again.”
However, not all of London’s critics were won over as some deemed the musical “preposterous.” But even among the dissenters they all agreed that the stage version was better than the film.
Judge for yourself and enjoy the song, “Serious” performed by the original Broadway cast. (It’s the scene where Warner attempts to get “serious” about life and his future.)
Legally Blonde: The Musical first opened on Broadway in April of 2007. It ran for a year and a half before closing in October 2008. Currently it is playing in London’s Savoy and is on a U.S. Tour.
Come Fly Away … with the new Broadway musical inspired by Frank Sinatra tunes – it’s anticipated for a New York opening in early spring. Rumors have been confirmed that Twyla Tharp, the respected dance choreographer and director, will be heading this project which combines her powerful dance moves with Frank’s lovely vocals. The musical had its world premiere at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta under a different title, “Come Fly With Me.“ (No official reason is mentioned for the name change, but we suspect it has something to do with decreasing confusion with Ol’ Blue Eyes’ classic song number.)
Take a peek under the curtain...
Produced in special arrangement with Frank Sinatra Enterprises and the Sinatra Family, Come Fly Away tells the story of four couples as they fall in and out of love with each other throughout the course of one evening in a crowded nightclub. Tharp aspires to take audiences on a journey to feel the essence of Sinatra’s music beyond his smooth-as-silk vocals. She incorporates the story of many couples she’s known into the show’s narrative, as well as some of Sinatra’s best work.
Songs included in the musical are classics like “Witchcraft,” “Let’s Fall in Love,” “Fly Me to the Moon,” and “My Way.” A 19-piece live big band will be present on stage to bring life to the nightclub as well as provide the music to Sinatra’s vocals. The show will incorporate original recordings of Sinatra’s voice; some of the material comes newly discovered from the archives of the Sinatra family.
Though Sinatra’s songs are sung primarily from a man’s point of view, Tharp shares what is going through a woman’s mind by giving equal voice to both sexes in the narrative. There is a female vocalist who will sing several numbers with the band to assert female independence and offer the female perspective.
Tharp is hoping to create a scrapbook for audiences and remind them of memories from their love lives. From those that worked, failed, evolved into friendship and everything in between.
She’s had plenty of experience bringing Sinatra’s music to the stage with her past experiences with shows “Once More Frank,” “Nine Sinatra Songs” and “Sinatra Suite.”
No official word on casting yet, but previews will begin on Broadway starting March 1st.
The show will open at the Marquis Theatre in New York on March 25th, so we’ll keep you updated with news as it develops.
In the meantime, enjoy one of our favorite numbers from Ol’ Blue Eyes himself:
We’ve been periodically checking up on the progress of Love Never Dies, the Phantom of the Opera sequel ever since we found out it had come into existence mid-October. Imagine our absolute thrill to discover a short video with updates from the cast members on how production rehearsals were going! With previews of the musical starting soon (VERY soon in fact since the most avid Phantom fans already have tickets to previews starting February 20th), the pace at rehearsals has definitely picked up. Cast members share that run throughs of Act I have begun and everything is looking stellar! (Of course this just leaves us wanting to hear more detailed information, but everything in its proper place and time…)
The stage show is based on the 2001 comedy of the same name starring Reese Witherspoon. The musical’s narrative follows the film plot very closely; it tells the story of a beautiful, bubbly and (very) blonde sorority girl named Elle Woods who enters Harvard Law School to chase after the man of her dreams. Originally hailing from Malibu, California, Elle starts her journey on a date with her steady college boyfriend, Warner, whom she is expecting to propose. Unfortunately, it seems that the anticipation of attending Harvard Law has pushed him to re-evaluate his future in favor of someone more “serious”… so he dumps her. Not one to give up so easily on something she wants, Elle puts her brains and originality to the test and surprises herself by also gaining admittance to the prestigious school in order to redeem Warner’s affections. From there, Elle embarks on a hilarious, vibrant, touching and fashion-filled road to discovering her inner strength while making others realize there is more beyond the blonde exterior.
