Add

First hit musical sequel?… “Love Never Dies”

Earlier in October, Andrew Lloyd Webber unveiled his global press launch of The Phantom of the Opera’s upcoming sequel called… Love Never Dies.

The launch took place in London’s West End where Webber gave a little introduction on how this idea for a sequel came about. He also introduced the much anticipated two leads for the original cast of Love Never Dies: The Phantom will be played by the dark and handsome Ramin Karimloo (who’s currently playing the Phantom in London’s West End production) and the role of Christine will be portrayed by Sierra Boggess (who played the part of Miss Daae in the Las Vegas production of Phantom). The launch wrapped up with a sneak video performance of one song by the Phantom in the sequel called, “Till I Hear You Sing” performed by Karimloo. (We’ve included the video for you to enjoy below the article.)

We’re hotly anticipating this spectacular sequel to the major Broadway hit… but there’s also an underlying sense of worry and wringing of the hands. The Broadway nation loves The Phantom; there’s no denying that. It’s all at once the most uplifting, beautiful and saddest story ever told. Yes, there was a cliffhanger at the end of the musical leaving audiences wondering what exactly became of the Phantom – but I’m sure audiences could have lived in suspense indefinitely. It was such a powerful story that tied up in a nice satisfying package.

Hence, our grim concern on what Love Never Dies means for us and how things will all play out. Frankly I can only think of one moderately successful musical sequel production. That would be The Talk of New York which was the follow-up to George M. Cohan’s Forty-Five Minutes from Broadway. The actor Victor Moore played Kid Burns in both productions and the sequel remained popular for 20 weeks or so.

This sequel’s success is the exception to the rule. Otherwise, Broadway is littered with epic sequel failures – many of which were so poor performing that they closed within weeks. William Gibson’s The Miracle Worker was a moving play about Helen Keller and her teacher, Annie Sullivan. Gibson’s sequel, Monday After the Miracle, depicted what happened to Keller and Sullivan 20 years later. Apparently no one wanted to know.

Similarly, Bring Back Birdie which is the sequel to the 1960s fun hit Bye Bye Birdie hit a wall. This musical ended after only four sad performances. We can also refer to Annie 2 and others to see that this musical sequel business is very risky and often-times turns out for the worse.

Nonetheless, Webber’s confidence in his Phantom continuation story inspires us. We’re holding onto our optimistic hopes that this sequel will buck the trend and reach phenomenal heights. We’re eagerly anticipating the world premier in London at the Adelphi Theatre on March 9, 2010. The second production will open in New York on November 11, 2010 and then move to Australia in 2011.

Webber shares that Love Never Dies will involve all the original characters we fell in love with in The Phantom; the only new addition will be Christine and Raoul’s young son. The story is set 10 years after the Phantom’s mysterious disappearance from the Paris Opera House. We learn that he is alive and well living overseas in the fairgrounds of Coney Island in America with Madame Giry and her daughter Meg. He’s risen to prosperity amongst the freaks and oddities around Coney Island and has become somewhat of a mogul. Though he should be content with this new life where he can live above ground as opposed to below, as the title suggests the Phantom still clings to his eternal love for Christine. He lives waiting only to be reunited with her and plots to make this happen.

Taking 18 months to complete, this sequel story is obviously centered on obsession, passion and intrigue. Webber is extremely happy with the casting for the production and describes the romantic tension between the two leads, Karimloo and Boggess, as so intense it’s at times “unbearable.”

From the audience perspective, we wonder exactly what’s in store for our favorite characters? Apparently it will be similar to a Beauty and the Beast story with many twists. Could this mean that our beast will finally win the beauty’s love? Time will tell.

Please enjoy the video of the “Till I Hear You Sing” song number from Love Never Dies:

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.