Love Never Dies

(Regent Theatre, Melbourne)

Sitting in the foyer alongside a group of women sipping on their $22 a glass champagnes one turned to me and unsolicited offered the information that 'those who have seen Phantom of the Opera do not like Love Never Dies whilst those who have not seen it, do'.

This was not exactly what I wanted to hear as we were about to walk into the auditorium but those words were to come back to me as the performance progressed.

Speaking of Love Never Dies, Andrew Lloyd Webber is quoted as saying "I don't regard this as a sequel – it's a stand-alone piece". I suppose that is a matter of perspective. It is true that the show tells a complete story that can be viewed quite apart from Phantom of the Opera. But Love Never Dies contains references linking back to Phantom of the Opera and features some of it's main characters; the Phantom, Christine, Raoul, Madame Giry and Meg Giry. It also repeats some key musical motifs. Perhaps most significantly the bare bones of both stories, in my opinion, are effectively the same. The Phantom, besotted by Christine wants her to perform his work and he is in a tussle for her affections with Raoul.

Love Never Dies is set about ten years after the events of Phantom of the Opera but the action has been transported to a sort of circus of oddities in Coney Island, New York. This makes for some very colourful scenes and some impressive staging although rarely with the same sense of magical effects that characterised Phantom of the Opera.

The characters seem to have had personality transplants. The Phantom does not possess the same menace, Raoul has lost some of his debonair charm and the Girys have suddenly transformed into schemers.

The earlier words of my anonymous co-patron came back to me. Had I not seen Phantom of the Opera I would have thought Love Never Dies is a splendid, colourful show but comparisons are inevitable and I had to wonder why bother?

This is not to belittle the performances which are uniformly powerful with excellent singing and the staging which is also impressive but mostly 'un-magical'.

The production transfers from Melbourne to Sydney next January.