Love Never Dies, redux
I went to see Love Never Dies at the movie theater last night.
Oh. My. Gawd.
They recorded it during a performance in Australia, so the people were actually singing, not a separate soundtrack like they do with movies, but it was filmed so well so that it looked more like a movie than a stage show. So many close-ups, you could see the expressions and emotions a lot better than even sitting in the first row at a real theater.
They also changed a lot since the original London production, and in my opinion everything is better. It's like it went through an editing/post-production phase and cut out a lot of the unnecessary stuff.
(Though keep in mind I only have the London soundtrack to go by, I didn't actually see that show.)
The biggest changes were at the beginning of the show. The London show started with Mme Giry returning to Coney Island years later and then it flashes back to the opening of Coney Island and all the tourists flocking about. Much the way Phantom of the Opera started with the auction and then flashed back to the actual events. They cut ALL OF THAT and it starts with the Phantom singing about how it's been 10 years since he saw Christine. I like it so much better that way. The opening songs were just annoying, exaggerated American accents braying about how wonderful Coney Island is. Bleh.
And they rearranged a few things too...just switched some places of scenes or songs and it flows much better. Cut a lot of extraneous dialogue throughout, and added some new bits that make more sense.
THE BIGGEST THINGS I LIKED
#1: Meg Giry. OMG. In the London show, she turns into this crass, jaded showgirl, but in the Australia show they stripped some of that out and made her closer to how she was in POTO, a sweet person who's just not good enough to be a star. Actually, in POTO I found her character pretty unremarkable, but in LND she's just awesome. She's still got her sweetness, but now she's kinda...damaged. Almost broken, but still so hopeful.
#2: "Beneath a Moonless Sky". I think just about everyone hated this when we first heard the lyrics. I mean, c'mon..."And I touched you/And I felt you"? Just....ugh! But after seeing it...WOW. It is now one of my most favorite songs in the production, THAT'S how good it was. It's extremely passionate and touching. Not unlike "Point of No Return" in POTO, those lyrics are also kinda weird if you haven't seen it performed.
#3: "The Phantom Confronts Christine". This is when Christine admits that Gustave is the Phantom's son. He's just put his mask back on after showing Gustave his face and his hair is all scraggly and he just looks soooo shocked and vulnerable and completely at a loss, not how we're used to seeing the Phantom. I liked this song before, but actually seeing all the emotion to go with it makes it even better.
#4: "Love Never Dies". I still think this song is kinda weak considering it's the whole friggin' point of the show, but it is SO much more powerful when you're watching Christine sing it while looking back and forth from the Phantom to Raoul. They're each on opposite sides of the stage with her in the center between them.
#5: Christine's death. When I heard they were changing the show a lot, of course I hoped Christine would live, but nooooo. But it's such a poignant scene, the Phantom holding her in his lap as he sits on the ground, again looking so startlingly vulnerable. And it makes me REALLY curious about what happened just after the end of the show. In the London show, they talk about a fire that destroyed everything, but now we just see them all sitting on the dock around Christine's body. So WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? Phanfic writers better get on this.
THE BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS
Outside of Christine still dying, only one.
The scene where the Phantom is listening to Gustave play the piano and starts to realize he might be his son. In the London show, something about the Phantom's voice is SO wonderfully astonished. The Australian Phantom put some different inflections and such throughout the show, which mostly I thought were okay and sometimes better, but this once scene...it was just not as good to me! He seemed more frantic than flabbergasted. Phooey.
Also could just be a case of learning the soundtrack so well that it annoys me when I hear another singer and they don't match it perfectly, lol.
Anyway, I think I'm going to go again next week, since it's the only other showing. SO WORTH IT. Really hope this makes it to Broadway sometime soon.
Oh. My. Gawd.
They recorded it during a performance in Australia, so the people were actually singing, not a separate soundtrack like they do with movies, but it was filmed so well so that it looked more like a movie than a stage show. So many close-ups, you could see the expressions and emotions a lot better than even sitting in the first row at a real theater.
They also changed a lot since the original London production, and in my opinion everything is better. It's like it went through an editing/post-production phase and cut out a lot of the unnecessary stuff.
(Though keep in mind I only have the London soundtrack to go by, I didn't actually see that show.)
The biggest changes were at the beginning of the show. The London show started with Mme Giry returning to Coney Island years later and then it flashes back to the opening of Coney Island and all the tourists flocking about. Much the way Phantom of the Opera started with the auction and then flashed back to the actual events. They cut ALL OF THAT and it starts with the Phantom singing about how it's been 10 years since he saw Christine. I like it so much better that way. The opening songs were just annoying, exaggerated American accents braying about how wonderful Coney Island is. Bleh.
And they rearranged a few things too...just switched some places of scenes or songs and it flows much better. Cut a lot of extraneous dialogue throughout, and added some new bits that make more sense.
THE BIGGEST THINGS I LIKED
#1: Meg Giry. OMG. In the London show, she turns into this crass, jaded showgirl, but in the Australia show they stripped some of that out and made her closer to how she was in POTO, a sweet person who's just not good enough to be a star. Actually, in POTO I found her character pretty unremarkable, but in LND she's just awesome. She's still got her sweetness, but now she's kinda...damaged. Almost broken, but still so hopeful.
#2: "Beneath a Moonless Sky". I think just about everyone hated this when we first heard the lyrics. I mean, c'mon..."And I touched you/And I felt you"? Just....ugh! But after seeing it...WOW. It is now one of my most favorite songs in the production, THAT'S how good it was. It's extremely passionate and touching. Not unlike "Point of No Return" in POTO, those lyrics are also kinda weird if you haven't seen it performed.
#3: "The Phantom Confronts Christine". This is when Christine admits that Gustave is the Phantom's son. He's just put his mask back on after showing Gustave his face and his hair is all scraggly and he just looks soooo shocked and vulnerable and completely at a loss, not how we're used to seeing the Phantom. I liked this song before, but actually seeing all the emotion to go with it makes it even better.
#4: "Love Never Dies". I still think this song is kinda weak considering it's the whole friggin' point of the show, but it is SO much more powerful when you're watching Christine sing it while looking back and forth from the Phantom to Raoul. They're each on opposite sides of the stage with her in the center between them.
#5: Christine's death. When I heard they were changing the show a lot, of course I hoped Christine would live, but nooooo. But it's such a poignant scene, the Phantom holding her in his lap as he sits on the ground, again looking so startlingly vulnerable. And it makes me REALLY curious about what happened just after the end of the show. In the London show, they talk about a fire that destroyed everything, but now we just see them all sitting on the dock around Christine's body. So WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? Phanfic writers better get on this.
THE BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS
Outside of Christine still dying, only one.
The scene where the Phantom is listening to Gustave play the piano and starts to realize he might be his son. In the London show, something about the Phantom's voice is SO wonderfully astonished. The Australian Phantom put some different inflections and such throughout the show, which mostly I thought were okay and sometimes better, but this once scene...it was just not as good to me! He seemed more frantic than flabbergasted. Phooey.
Also could just be a case of learning the soundtrack so well that it annoys me when I hear another singer and they don't match it perfectly, lol.
Anyway, I think I'm going to go again next week, since it's the only other showing. SO WORTH IT. Really hope this makes it to Broadway sometime soon.