Evening all,

So, after seeing the ‘original’ Love Never Dies a total of 5 times, I just knew I had to see it again after the major changes had been made. So, on Saturday December 11th, I took another trip to Coney Island.

Before the show

I guess it would be safe to say that standing on the corner of the Stage Door of the Adelphi is a good idea..providing that leading man Ramin Karimloo’s dressing room light isn’t on. As I waited, many many people passed and as the only idea of whether the first floor dressing room light was on was the reflection in the cafe window opposite, I didn’t hold out much hope. Then, from the corner of my eye, Adam Pearce (who plays Squelch) turned the corner and waved at someone, who carried on straight down the road. Undeniably it was Ramin. The minutes passed slowly and I began to wonder if perhaps he’d skipped out of entering the Stage Door and decided to go in the main theatre entrance but then he came back around the corner..coffee cup in hand. Now, to say the least, after meeting him twice previously, I knew his good nature but I never – not even in my wildest dreams – expected him to wave at me first. Yet, as I stood there, Ramin looked up, saw me, smiled widely and waved. After a small exchange of “hi” and “how are you?”, we chatted a little about Sheytoons and then he had to dash. Not without shouting over his shoulder “see you after the show!”

But that is not all…

As I stood, practically frozen to the spot, the window directly above me slid half open and Ramin began his usual warm ups. Then, out of the blue, he began to sing Sheytoons songs and play guitar. It was such a special moment. After getting that private concert of Wings, Driftwood and Steal Our Moments, I knew it would only get better. Time passed and other members of the cast trickled in. Joseph Millson was least recognisable..with two or three coffee cups and Madame Giry by his side; but I wished him a good show to which he replied “thank you very much.” Ramin’s understudy, Mr Tam Mutu was the last cast member I recognised. After that, it was show time…

The Changes ***SPOILERS***

The entire prologue from the original show is now gone. Replaced instead but the image of the Paris Opera House burning..on spins a cheesy newspaper headline effect “Paris Opera House Burns”, followed by another reading “Masked Impresario Presumed Dead” (or words to that effect). Now, compared to the old version, this seemed extremely abrupt and had me wondering what Andrew Lloyd-Webber had done…Then Ramin came on and sang his big number Til I Hear You Sing which never fails to impress me. I thought it rather threw the audience in at the deep end though; putting such a big number so early in the show. Next came the sort of  ‘memory’ part. It rather reminded me of The History Boys a little. All the characters came on, Madame Giry taking the helm, Meg following behind her, Fleck, Gangle and Squelch behind her…all rather eerily lit; I was half expecting them to say their names and what happened to them…

So, after singing and dancing their way through Only For You the ensemble broke, leaving Meg and her mother on the stage. It became the ‘backstage’ area (as seen during the song Dear Old Friend) and the pair read the newspaper headlines about Christine being brought to the Metropolitan Opera House by Mr Hammerstein…this I rather disliked. It didn’t really seemed to fit very well. Christine was rather thrust into the story whereas before the Phantom sang about bringing her back to him (as heard in Giry Confronts The Phantom/Til I Hear You Sing Reprise). Still, I was intrigued by the new lyrics and how much more light this scene shed upon Meg. She saw Christine’s coming to American as a good thing. She missed how they used to dance together at the Paris Opera. Taking all this negative feedback I have been giving, I believe this scene was a good idea in some capacity…it gave Meg more depth and helped me to understand how her state of mind evolved as the musical went on.

Christine departed, as usual, with Gustave and Raoul at the port and then I got confused. Christine was employed to sing at the Met. Yet she was asked “why aren’t you singing at the Met?” Turns out, I would find out why I was so confused later, when everything was explained to me. The former Mister Y – now Mr H – still sends his merry Trio to collect the Soprano and her family yet Squelch, Gangle and Fleck are now all in black and for reasons unimaginable to me, Squelch is required to do a spinning dance like a small child who is learning ballet. The magic with Raoul’s cane still amazes me though. Cut to the second use of the Indiana Jones Map effect and Christine, Raoul and Gustave are in the hotel room. Gustave now plays the small piano part which used to be Christine’s; to which Raoul replies “it hurts my head”. I thought they made a rather bad job of disguising the fact that Gustave was clearly musical. Raoul receives a telegram from their host Mr H and dashes off to the bar to meet him. Gustave and Christine are left alone and sing Look With Your Heart but end with a rather disappointing hug; no sweet dancing to be seen…

Thus begins the huge set of Beneath A Moonless Sky and Once Upon Another Time. Now I have always been in agreement with many others about the fact that Christine says the words “that night” as if she needs to be reminded. I’m glad they cut that little section; as if she would have forgotten something like that! I am always eager to see the passion between the Phantom and Christine during BAMS but this time…Phantom got grabby! Ramin was fierce and as Celia backed up to the sofa – which had been pretty much ignored previously – he pulled her right to him. It was a rather apt use of the line “again and then again” I thought. Then the sadness struck; the realism of what the Phantom had felt. As Ramin lowered Celia onto the couch and began his next few lines (“and when it was done…”), the utter heartache of his mistake shone through. It was the first time I had truly felt his pain in that song.

Then Gustave came in screaming about his nightmare; as usual. After that, things went a little sour. The changes have made the Phantom a much worse person than he used to be. The wager should have stayed between Raoul and the Phantom yet now, Gustave is brought into it for being such a “perfect specimen”. Now posing as Hammerstein, the Phantom barters Gustave’s freedom on Christine singing for him…if she sings, she leaves with Gustave; if she doesn’t, he stays at Coney…eternally. Ummm…I really wasn’t sure about this…but it did incorporate a motif from the original show, which made me smile. It was one of the most touching and heartbreaking parts of the original show, when Christine first removes the Phantom’s mask; he calms and begins to sing Stranger Than You Dreamt It. That was a nice addition, with altered lyrics. The Phantom takes his leave, Raoul returns and the show goes on.

Now Dear Old Friend has always been one of my favourite songs in the show because of Sierra and Summer’s hilarious reactions and Joseph’s great timing and this time it didn’t disappoint. What with the addition of Meg’s earlier scene, showing her excitement for Christine’s arrival, the betrayal was even more evident once she found out that Christine was to sing the aria and not her. Some lyric changes have been made but all for the best. Gustave is taken by Fleck, Gangle and Squelch, just like before and we’re greeted by another projection…only this time the voice over is the original part – sang by the Trio – instead of the old new part sang by the Phantom. This made me rather sad, I thought that was a good little bit.

Ok! Beautiful and The Beauty Underneath. It felt very uncomfortable this time around. The Trio arrived and then just didn’t leave. I thought this was supposed to be the moment when the Phantom realised he shared a special bond with this child, something for only the two of them to experience but it would seem not…The Trio hung around, not really saying or doing much…just seemed to be littering the stage…Ramin’s “What’s this?” and “go on” were not as I expected either. They are normally soft and inquisitive yet this time, they were a bit flat. I suppose they were less feeling because he is only keeping the child as collateral at this point in the newest version. The realisation of the bond between the Phantom and Gustave was not as evident either, it was rather more ‘played down’ that I would have liked. Christine, followed by Meg this time, finds her way to the top of the tower and finds the pair and the Trio just as the Phantom removes his mask to Gustave. The boy screams “it’s horrible, horrible” as usual and Meg takes him away while the Trio disappear offstage. We get the normal first half of The Phantom Confronts Christine followed by a heartbreaking second half with altered speaking parts. A bargain is made between Christine and the Phantom; Gustave must never know who his true father is. Christine promises never to tell but swears to sing the aria because the song should not go unheard. More new lyrics were implemented and, as the song went on, I could see the two characters moving closer. Ramin’s Phantom was completely incredible; even from so far away, the emotions projected so extraordinarily. Their faces almost touched but Celia pulled away..a stab at the Phantom’s assumption that perhaps Christine was still in love with him.  Madame Giry comes on complaining about everything going to Gustave, after the Phantom leaves. As Madame Giry leaves down the stairs, Meg no longer runs after her, having no longer heard the bitterness of her mother.

Curtain closes…Act II begins…

Two of my favourite moments of the show – Why Does She Love Me? and Devil Take The Hindmost – wer up next and with Ramin and Joseph on, I felt the connection between the two characters like I always have in the past between those two. The mocking and sadistic nature of the Phantom was marvellous and, even though a verse in DTTH has been altered, I still found it enjoyable.

Next came Ladies, Gents/Coney Island Waltz Reprise. This part, in the newest version is rather disappointing. Having promoted the Trio a little more, earlier in the production, they just walk onto the stage – having completely lost the use of the hot-air balloon. There are no longer any Swing members on the beach as Heaven By The Sea Reprise has been completely cut. Meg now comes down in the balloon to sing her revised version of the Vaudeville style Bathing Beauty. Adding men to the song and an almost cringe-worthy dance had me, again, wondering what ALW was thinking of when he changed the production. Somehow though, they managed to get an even smaller beach towel for Meg and removed the umbrellas.

Mother, Did You Watch? was up next and compared to Summer Strallen’s reactions, the understudy was a little out of her depth, I felt. Moving through to Before The Performance I felt that the second half flew by. Perhaps this was because it was more familiar to me. The major change in BTP was one that thoroughly disappointed me; perhaps it was only personally disappointing to me because I am a firm believer in the Phantom’s mysterious nature. As Raoul comes in to talk to Christine – trying in vain to persuade her to come away with him – he open the door of the dressing room; outside there are no lights, no smoke and absolutely no swelling music. He says his piece, kisses Christine (something I missed with the understudy Raoul) and leaves. The change has the lights flickering on Christine’s mirror and then…wait for this…The Phantom…shoots up through the floor…Now, called me old fashioned but I much, much preferred the old new entrance when the door opened, blue light shone in, smoke poured in and swelling music blasted out as the Phantom strode through it and then with a swish of his hand, the door closed behind him…

Devil Take The Hindmost Quartet and Love Never Dies were as normal. Celia had great emotions during the title song. As Raoul left the wings and Christine turned to see the other wing empty, her voice was full to brimming with sadness; something I’d never quite seen with Sierra. The Phantom returns as Ah Christine! begins…BUT WAIT…he now has no flowers to been seen. It seems like they’ve taken out every gentlemanly gesture that the Phantom is so famed for. Cut to the rather Scooby Doo-esque running scene and we enter the final part of the production.

Now I have to say…I believe that if they mixed together the two endings, they would have the perfect combination. Things go down as normal, Christine’s fate is still sealed by the horrid face-palm moment of the Phantom sticking her right in it by telling a gun-wielding Meg “we can’t all be like Christine.” Then it goes completely how I imagined it should have from the beginning. Gustave runs to his mother, asks where his father is and Christine begins to explains to Gustave that his real father is there but the Phantom pleads with her not to tell; reminding her of their deal, to which she replies “you’re all he has left now.” This new section was just perfect, it captured the relationship and the feelings shared by the pair completely. Gustave runs from the stage and the couple are left alone. The normal song is sung and Christine dies…However, this time, the scream expected from the first time I saw this production finally happened. I had always expected the Phantom to let out an Obi-Wan Kenobi style “NO!” but he never did before; this time, it was so powerful…so much so that I must say Obi-Wan was knocked out of the park by Ramin. Gustave returns…with Raoul in hand. This was the change I always felt should have been implemented. I felt Raoul should have come back and when he did, the whole scene became suddenly much more poignant. He makes his way to Christine’s body and leans down to kiss her forehead gently but not before sharing some intensely emotional eye contact with Ramin. The Phantom begins to walk away as Gustave leaves Raoul’s side and takes his hand instead. They hug, just like before and the curtain comes down on both pairs.

I think it could have only been made better if they had kept the mask removing moment from the original ending alongside Raoul leaning over Christine’s body.

Overall, I have to say, it was impressive vocally but it seems like the production should have only just opened, like these changes should be the original version and the old new version should be what it turns into. Just my opinion but it’s quite a confusing muddle of parts now. Final verdict I think has to be…7.5/10

After the show

So, as promised, I waited at the Stage Door for Ramin after the show. Meeting some more people there was great fun. Seeing some other theatre people earlier in the day – namely Danielle Hope (of Over the Rainbow) and the rather less theatre performer Ben Elton – I felt that speaking with Ramin again would be the highlight of the afternoon; which it of course was, don’t get me wrong but standing at the SD of the Adelphi and seeing Josh Groban enter the theatre was rather more surreal.

Ramin came down, as promised and talked to others and signed programmes and had pictures taken before he moved on to the us. I finally mustered up the – it turned out; not needed – courage to ask him to sign my Les Miserables 25th Anniversary Programme, to which he asked why I didn’t ask him before. Turns out he has the programme and the DVD at home but he hasn’t looked through or watched it (respectively). So he began casually flicking through until he found the picture of himself and as I wasn’t looking, signed it as well as the front. I thought that was very sweet of him. Everyone had a great laugh with him as he attempted to put me at ease about my double chin by trying to put one on himself. That experience will stay with me for the rest of my life; just looking up and seeing Ramin Karimloo trying to give himself a double chin…has to go down as one of the most classic moments I have ever had…

Katie x