Love Never Dies

OMG! We saw it in West End!!! The original London cast!!!! Yay!!! Our 37 pounds ticket included dinner in Covent Garden. We walked to the theatre after the rather mediocre dinner with intense excitement.

I still rmb watching Phantom of the Opera in HK 4 years ago. Totally blew me away. This time, we were in the upper circle. Quite high indeed but still ok. And the ticket only cost 25 pounds. I paid $790 to see the show in HK.

The show was still great despite the fact that I hate some parts of the plot. The singing was superb!! Especially Ramin Karimloo, who played the Phantom. Amazing voice! Totally hypnotising. His live was better than this recording I assure you! Oh btw, he's quite hot too, no?

And i wrote down some thoughts about the show:

One of the reasons why I wanted to come to London is because of the musicals. There are always great shows for you every night. Tonight, I saw the my first musical in London-Love Never Dies. Given my terribly limited understanding of drama and music, I’m not gonna write a critical review. These are just some thoughts that came across my mind quite naturally during or after the show.

I watched The Phantom of The Opera (TPTO) when it came to HK a few years ago and I loved it. I heard that Love Never Dies (LND) isn’t as good. I probably went to see the show biased. So, be warned. And yes, it isn’t as good as the original.

Spoilers Alert! Skip to the last part if you don’t wanna know the details.

There are 2 things I hate about LND’s plot.

1. They made Raoul a problem gambler. I liked him so much and hate Phantom in TPTO.
2. Phantom is the father of Christine’s son.

The 1st spoiled LND for me and the 2nd TPTO. Urgh. C’mon! Raoul a gambler? You’ve gotta be kidding me. And Phantom being the father is... Yes, it was very significant in the story and gave an emotional ending, but it killed TPTO for me. Totally killed it.

The plot was rather loose in LND. I have no idea what that circus show was about in the first scene. There were scenes which were absolutely fantastic but putting them all together just seem awkward. Some scenes didn’t fall into places, like the one on the beach. Great signing, great music, great choreography, it just didn’t work for me.

So much for the ‘dislike’. There are things that I find spectacular.

The cast was fantastic! Amazing performance from the leads. But the one who stood out for me was Ramin Karimloo (The Phantom). He was phenomenal! He has one of the most amazing voices I’ve heard! His magnetic voice kept me enthralled all the way through the show and it was irresistible. 把聲真係rich到漏! I mean, it’s worth the $ just listening to him sing. Absolutely amazing! I was so moved! MOVED! You can feel the passion rushing out of his voice filling the auditorium, melting into the air.

The songs. It was very surprising that there was ‘rock music’. ‘Love Never Dies’ the theme song sung by Christine was very moving and you could feel the momentum of it. The duets sung by Christine and The Phantom were good.

Back to the scenes. If you look at them individually, there were some scenes that moved me very much. The first one was when Christine was about to go on stage. The Phantom and Raoul were trying to persuade her to go and not go on stage. I could feel the battle in her heart. It was either The Phantom or Raoul. Then she sang ‘Love Never Dies’. Breathtaking!

The second one is the final scene. It ended quite abruptly but was indeed well staged. The surprise factor was very successful. I gasped when Meg shot Christine. Then The Phantom held her in his arms and sang their final duet. Before she died, she told Gustav The Phantom was his real father. When she died, The Phantom took off his ring and put it in her hand. Gustav tried to take off his mask. Instead, he knelt down and took it off, finally facing his son with his true face. That was a very emotional scene and I was so agitated. (And it ended before I knew...)

People say it’s more difficult to make a sequel than a new story. Indeed. I’d still recommend this to anyone who’s seen TPTO. It’s not a brilliant sequel but there are moments you don’t wanna miss. And, see it in London with Ramin as The Phantom!