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| Love Never Dies | |
| Posted by: jeffef 12:07 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
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| IIR, this did not do well or get good reviews. Is it worth the watch this weekend in lieu of anything else to see? I do enjoy ALW music but never heard this score. | |
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| re: Love Never Dies | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 09:38 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
| In reply to: Love Never Dies - jeffef 12:07 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
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| I'm amazed and flabbergasted that this thread has gone this long without one mention of Puccini. | |
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| re: Love Never Dies | |
| Last Edit: Singapore/Fling 02:59 pm EDT 04/24/20 | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 02:58 pm EDT 04/24/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Love Never Dies - Chromolume 09:38 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
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| It might be because most people haven't listened to "Love Never Dies" to know if Webber pulled anything from Puccini for this show. Or it might be because this show wasn't very successful, so if he did pull from the master - either musically or dramaturgically, as he has done in the past - it didn't do Webber much good. But thanks for keeping us focused on this. It's important we don't forget. ;-) |
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| re: Love Never Dies | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 03:04 pm EDT 04/24/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Love Never Dies - Singapore/Fling 02:58 pm EDT 04/24/20 | |
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| LOL. But indeed, one of the more famous songs in the show has perhaps the most direct steal he's ever made. And yet, no scandal...;-) | |
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| Love Never Dies: Webber on facebook | |
| Posted by: lordofspeech 02:46 am EDT 04/24/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Love Never Dies - Chromolume 09:38 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
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| I don’t know how to link this, but a friend sent me s clip from, it seemed, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s facebook page in which he speaks eloquently and simply about the merits of this revised,, Australian-produced LOVE NEVER DIES. He acknowledges that the first production (despite the remarkable talents of the team, including Sierra Bogess) didn’t quite gel, and it was because, he says, he developed cancer as the project progressed, and he couldn’t do his best with it. He seems genuinely pleased with this later, revised version, which will be streamed this weekend. It’s worth trying to find the interview on his facebook page. | |
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| re: Love Never Dies: Webber on facebook | |
| Posted by: MatthewMurray 10:43 am EDT 04/24/20 | |
| In reply to: Love Never Dies: Webber on facebook - lordofspeech 02:46 am EDT 04/24/20 | |
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| Was it this? | |
| Link | Love Never Dies Journey |
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| re: Love Never Dies: Webber on facebook | |
| Posted by: lordofspeech 12:07 pm EDT 04/25/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Love Never Dies: Webber on facebook - MatthewMurray 10:43 am EDT 04/24/20 | |
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| Yes!!!! | |
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| re: Love Never Dies | |
| Posted by: MikeP (ACL15@aol.com) 04:58 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
| In reply to: Love Never Dies - jeffef 12:07 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
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| The story is preposterous. In some ways it betrays the original. Its also highly melodramatic. That said...I've seen it 2x and I loved it. The score is gorgeous, the designs are beautiful and the staging is perfect. If you are not an ALW fan, this show wont make you one. However, if you suspend expectations and just go with it, its a wonderful experience. The recent US tour was much better than the Australian video version. But, its still worth seeing. |
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| re: Love Never Dies | |
| Posted by: GavinLogan1 03:19 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
| In reply to: Love Never Dies - jeffef 12:07 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
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| Huge ALW fan here. I think that this score is one of the most glorious and well-written scores of his career. The harmonies on songs such as "Dear Old Friend" and the quartet of "Devil Take The Hindmost" are thrilling... lots of signature sounds, but really a glorious score. Sadly, it is tied to the WORST story imaginable. I haven't seen the rewrite so I'm going to watch, but the show destroys the beauty and power of those final moments between Christine and Phantom in the original show, and that is unforgivable. I won't give away plot points here to newcomers to the show, but I actually have an idea that would have made the entire show so much more logical, dramaturgically. I haven't got a CLUE how anyone involved with this production thought there was any logic at all to this continued story. I will share my thoughts after the airing this weekend. But if you want to here some exquisite melodies and harmonies and orchestrations-- yes, watch. It's at least worth it for posterity, and to hear melodies that could've been tied to something so much more sublime. |
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| re: Love Never Dies | |
| Last Edit: EvFoDr 01:53 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
| Posted by: EvFoDr 01:51 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
| In reply to: Love Never Dies - jeffef 12:07 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
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| This is one of those shows that I don't think anyone will ever argue is well written (plot/book). But in the way you have phrased the question, I think it's worth watching this weekend in lieu of anything else. Honestly I had trouble getting through it the first time. But I saw the tour (based for the most part on the production in this video) when it came to the US and was won over by the music. I like ALW music quite a lot. In fact Evita is my favorite musical. And I like the original Phantom quite a lot too. Even if you just watch the opening number (this production's version of Music of the Night), the title song, and the extended musical sequence in Act One where the Phantmom and Christine are reunited for the first time, I think you will like the music in those numbers. This sequence has the the sort of lush, intense, music where two characters sing to each other so intently, no cheating out to the audience. Reminds of me of Tonight in West Side Story, or Say It Somehow in Light in the Piazza. Someone below called the title song a non starter. I get it. The melody is almost unsultingly simple, which can verge on boring, and the lyrics are ridden with cliches. BUT. When I saw the tour I was gobsmacked. The costume and set in this moment are gorgeous, a major plot point is being played out in juxtaposition which adds some needed drama, and for a moment you just revel in the gloriously sung high notes. This number definitely got the biggest audience response when I saw it. Why not? LOL. It streams all weekend. You can always cleanse your pallet with the Sondheim birthday concert on Sunday night :-) |
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| As someone who loves a couple and likes several ALW musicals... | |
| Posted by: dczoo 01:20 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
| In reply to: Love Never Dies - jeffef 12:07 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
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| I enthusiastically recommend you skip this one. In London, at least, it was a total waste of an afternoon. Right down there with Whistle Down the Wind. | |
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| re: I would agree but.... | |
| Posted by: bway1430 01:41 am EDT 04/24/20 | |
| In reply to: As someone who loves a couple and likes several ALW musicals... - dczoo 01:20 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
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| This is not the London Production. In fact it is very different. I think it it is still a weak show but it is far better than what was playing at The Adelphi in London. | |
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| re: As someone who loves a couple and likes several ALW musicals... | |
| Posted by: KingSpeed 08:21 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
| In reply to: As someone who loves a couple and likes several ALW musicals... - dczoo 01:20 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
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| Whistle Down The Wind is great. Saw it twice! | |
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| re: Love Never Dies - music? | |
| Posted by: jeffef 01:08 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
| In reply to: Love Never Dies - jeffef 12:07 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
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| How is the music? Worth listening or just watch TCM like usual? |
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| re: Love Never Dies | |
| Posted by: NewtonUK 12:55 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
| In reply to: Love Never Dies - jeffef 12:07 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
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| I saw the original London production - which was as bad as they say. For a start, all these years later, neither ARould our Christine had aged a day. Beyond that - we arent meant to believe that after the action of PHANTOM, Christine had sex with the Phantom. No thanks. If she sought him out for a fling, bad bad bad. If he found her and rpoed her, even worse. The Australian reworking gave me great hope. In Act One they seemed to have fixed every unfortunate plot point from the original London production. But after intermission - nothing changed. Ran out of time? They did prove that the show could be fixed - they just stopped too soon. ANd the title song, repurposed from THE BEAUTIFUL GAME, is a non starter, |
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| re: Love Never Dies | |
| Posted by: GavinLogan1 03:14 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Love Never Dies - NewtonUK 12:55 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
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| Actually, the title song was written for the Phantom sequel in the 90s, which then went nowhere. Then he did use it in "The Beautiful Game", giving it a lovely Irish lilt and orchestration. However, when the Phantom sequel was again a thing, he put it back where it belonged... and in the rewritten "The Beautiful Game", "The Boys In The Photograph", it wasn't missed at all. As a matter of fact, several other songs said the same thing better, so it was a good move for that show. | |
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| re: Love Never Dies | |
| Posted by: NewtonUK 04:03 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Love Never Dies - GavinLogan1 03:14 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
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| Yes - I know it was first written for the still born Phantom sequel - I just don't think it's much of a song, or why he wouldnt right a better big song for the new show ... the other original LOVE NEVER DIES mistake was not incorporating themes from PHANTOM - maybe even reprises - which EVERY one in the audience was waiting for. The production also looked really cheap next to Maria Bjornsons extraordinary PHANTOM designs. The book was the biggest culprit - I mean - Christine dying, not the Phantom? WTF is that about? Ah well. Just as PHANTOM was the story of Andrew and Sarah Brightman, so LOVE NEVER DIES simply shows us how Andrew now thinks of Sarah, | |
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| re: Love Never Dies | |
| Last Edit: WaymanWong 04:47 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
| Posted by: WaymanWong 04:45 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Love Never Dies - NewtonUK 04:03 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
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| The lyrics of this title song are such a litany of leaden cliches about love. It's so generic and jejune, like a bad Hallmark card. ''Love never dies. Love never falters. Once it has spoken, Love is yours. Love never fades. Love never alters. Hearts may get broken, Love endures...'' ''Love Never Dies'' seems like an even blander variation of ''Love Changes Everything'' (though I prefer its melody more). |
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| Link | 'Love Never Dies' (title tune with lyrics) |
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| re: Love Never Dies | |
| Posted by: showtunetrivia 05:47 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Love Never Dies - WaymanWong 04:45 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
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| I can never hear “Love Changes Everything” without hearing either the Forbidden Broadway lyrics, or the version my kids sang,,which started, “Love, love changes everything, hands and fingers, knees and toes...” with choreography, too. Laura, expecting 98 degrees tomorrow... |
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| It’s really far fetched plot even for a sequel | |
| Posted by: dramedy 12:10 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
| In reply to: Love Never Dies - jeffef 12:07 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
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| But i enjoyed watching it a few years ago. I think it’s the Australian version that was recorded. As sequels go, it leaves you with “why bother making it” opinion but it’s a pleasant diversion now. | |
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| re: Such a pity that ALW did not use Frederick Forsyth's draft... | |
| Posted by: bway1430 01:47 am EDT 04/24/20 | |
| In reply to: It’s really far fetched plot even for a sequel - dramedy 12:10 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
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| Forsyth fleshed it and out and released it as a novel but his take on the story was FAR more interesting. SPOILER: The Phantom owns Coney Island in this version as well and lures Christine to NYC - his first encounter with Christine is in a spook house hall of mirrors where she sees not one Phantom but 16 at once. I would love to have seen that musicalized/staged. |
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| re: It’s really far fetched plot even for a sequel | |
| Last Edit: JereNYC 01:08 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
| Posted by: JereNYC (JereNYC@aol.com) 01:02 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
| In reply to: It’s really far fetched plot even for a sequel - dramedy 12:10 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
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| I saw this years ago because a friend had the DVD and I agree that it makes absolutely no sense at all. Like...none. There are plot holes in the original through which one could drive a train, but, at least, the original works on a superficial level if you don't think about it too hard. LOVE NEVER DIES doesn't even give you enough to work with in that sense. But we were trying to think of a plot that might be more plausible for a PHANTOM OF THE OPERA sequel and I think the best that we could come up with was this: that Christine career continued, but never really bore out the promise of her debut, but she continued on, due to Raoul's patronage. At some point, there's a terrible accident, but she survives, due to Raoul's access to the best medical attention money can buy. She recovers, but she's horribly disfigured. Not wanting to be pitied, Raoul and Christine perpetuate the fiction that she's dead and return to Paris where she decides, with Raoul's assistance, to hide in her old mentor's lair in the opera house, just to be able to experience music again without anyone knowing that she's there. She discovers an amazing tenor in the chorus that she thinks has real potential and figures out a way to coach him secretly. Rather than repeat the mistakes of her youthful mentor, Christine tries through more conventional means to draw attention to her protégé, but is increasingly frustrated that he isn't seen as anything more than chorus. Against Raoul's advice, but with his reluctant assistance, she revives the old OG note system, but it goes awry when it's assumed that the murderous psychopath of old has returned. The management goes on the offensive, which results in accidental injuries and deaths as they single-mindedly pursue Christine through the byzantine maze of the opera house and its secret passageways. The tenor, meanwhile, is horrified at the spotlight that's been turned on him as a result of all this because he's just fallen in love with one of the opera's current star baritones and he knows that, if the romance is discovered, both of their careers are over. It all comes to a head when Christine is captured and brought up to the stage and her identity is revealed, to the shock of all. Raoul pleads her case and points out that she didn't cause any harm and that it was the opera management who actually over-reacted and started hurting and killing people. The chorus and the ballet, led by the star baritone revolt against the management and they are forced to resign. Raoul takes over the opera and Christine officially becomes a vocal coach. They finally marry and the tenor and the baritone pursue their romance in relative secrecy. I mean, it's not great. But it's better than LOVE NEVER DIES. |
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| re: It’s really far fetched plot even for a sequel | |
| Posted by: showtunetrivia 01:42 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
| In reply to: re: It’s really far fetched plot even for a sequel - JereNYC 01:02 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
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| I like it! Laura |
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| That’s phantom 3 | |
| Posted by: dramedy 01:06 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
| In reply to: re: It’s really far fetched plot even for a sequel - JereNYC 01:02 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
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| If Nunsense can have a dozen sequels so can phantom. | |
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| re: It’s really far fetched plot even for a sequel | |
| Posted by: showtunetrivia 12:35 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
| In reply to: It’s really far fetched plot even for a sequel - dramedy 12:10 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
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| It’s later than the Aussie one; this one is 2012. I don’t know how different it is from the Aussie production, but I found that one so laughably awful, I’m kinda glad I spent the time. Though now, I’d advise watching it while slightly inebriated. It will help. The plot makes no sense, starting with setting it in 1907, where POTO is set in 1881 (with a prologue in 1911, with older Raoul all alone). So LND says, screw that, we think POTO was set in 1897, cuz it’s now ten years later. And if you think that’s absurd, have fun swallowing the basic premise of LND. Go on, I’ll wait patiently while you choke on it. For my part, it’s an unintentionally hilarious train wreck of a show. Laura, now watching the temp creep towards 92... |
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| I think the voyage to America by the phantom | |
| Posted by: dramedy 12:38 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
| In reply to: re: It’s really far fetched plot even for a sequel - showtunetrivia 12:35 pm EDT 04/23/20 | |
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| On a sailing or steam ship would have been more interesting and scary than Coney Island setting. | |
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