There was a small technical hitch after the first number, and then director Jack O’Brien took to the stage to assure the audience “that’s not it… !” and ”that has NEVER happened before” before he asked for a little patience as the crew worked behind the curtain to fix the issue.  After only a few minutes the show was ready to restart (it had all gone so swimmingly in the afternoon’s dress rehearsal too!).

With the show back in full swing the audience reaction was, on the whole, positive with many people rising to their feet to give the cast a standing ovation at the end.  Not bad at all for a first preview!  We obviously don’t want to give anything away but we did ask a few audience members for their initial reactions during the interval and at the end of the show, see the clip below.

After the final curtain we asked the two leads for their views.  Ramin Karimloo, who plays the Phantom, was ecstatic about performing in front of an audience at last.  “We were so ready for that”, he grinned, “you can work through the scenes systematically, but there is nothing like getting the sense of pace you gain from audience reactions.”  He added that “it was great to get a few laughs too”.  With typical gallantry he referred to his leading lady’s performance (ignoring the fact that his rendition of ‘Til I Hear You Sing’ in the first act had also provoked a rapturous reception) “Did you hear the reaction Sierra got for her aria (Love Never Dies)?  God, it was amazing, they couldn’t get enough…insatiable!”.

And indeed she did both look and sound fabulous.  Sierra herself was unable to stop grinning widely… “Wow, I am in the West End!” reality was hitting clearly hitting home.  I asked how she was feeling, having missed the first dress rehearsal on Saturday. “I feel great, it was so weird, it literally came from nowhere and just knocked me out, I suddenly developed a temperature of 103″, but clearly Sierra is right back on top form having been given a thorough check up from the doctor “he was stunned by how quickly I had recovered, the fever disappeared as quickly as it arrived, he had never seen anything like it!”

If you are lucky enough to be one of the first to see the new show, share your review with us here!

We have delved into our archives – in actual fact only a couple of weeks ago but so much has happened along the Love Never Dies production process that it seems like AGES – to bring you a clip of the landmark day when Ramin Karimloo, our Phantom, met his make up, wig and mask for the first time.  We were there to capture the moment on our trusty Flip camera to try and give you a little teaser into what the Phantom now looks like.

So let’s go back to the end of January as the cast near the end of their stint in the rehearsal space and prepare to move into the Adelphi… and in another West End theatre a specialist team gather to create the Phantom’s look…

In our previous Disfiguring the Phantom blog post you will have seen the first stage in the process to create the make up and prosthetics which will transform Ramin into the Phantom.

This week saw the culmination of all the effort by Neill Girton, who made the prosthetics,  Naomi Donne, who has created the make up, Campbell Young, the Wigs Supervisor for the show and Ivo Coveney who has created the Phantom’s iconic mask.  For the first time all the team gathered in a dressing room at The Palace Theatre with Ramin, to apply their handiwork for the first time.  Neill prepared Ramin and began applying the prosthetics.  For Love Never Dies the prosthetics will be made in silicone rather than the foam used for The Phantom of the Opera.  This material – although slightly heavier than foam – allows the actor much more freedom for facial expression and also looks much more “skin like” in texture.

As Neill worked he gave a running commentary on the process so that Sandra O’Brien (Biddie) who will be Wigs Mistress on Love Never Dies and Debbie Goodship (Lolly) her Deputy, could take notes and photographs.   The process at this early stage takes well over an hour, but Biddie and Lolly are confident that over time they will be able to complete the make up in around 45 minutes.  Before Naomi took over to put the finishing touches to the make up, Campbell stepped in to apply the wig and complete the transformation.  Then Ramin was helped into his costume and led to the stage so the final look could be tested under the lighting.  Oh… and sitting in the auditorium to witness this was Andrew Lloyd Webber, Director Jack O’Brien and key members of the creative and production team

Obviously it was a time of great excitement for all, as the months of hard work became a reality.  It is safe to say that everyone involved was thrilled by the result.

Check out our exclusive video clip for a little teaser of the make up process and a few words from Naomi and Campbell…

Our exclusive video footage shows the three in rehearsal along with the show’s Musical Supervisor Simon Lee as they prepared for their performance.

You can watch Sierra’s full performance on our YouTube channel:  http://www.youtube.com/phantomloveneverdies.

Meanwhile, Andrew writes about the song in the CD booklet:

“When at last I had a story, I made a decision. It would be daft not to occasionally have a flavour of the original show. But only very occasionally. I decided that none of the main melodies of The Phantom of the Opera would appear in Love Never Dies. After all the story is set roughly ten years on and, with one short exception, I have stuck firmly to my rule.

However there is one of the new melodies whose history I should explain before someone else does. It is ‘Love Never Dies’ itself. This was the only tune I wrote at the time when I first thought of continuing the Phantom and Christine’s story.

It was recorded by Kiri Te Kanawa under the title ‘The Heart is Slow to Learn’. Even though I had given up on the new Phantom, some second sense told me not to release the Kiri Te Kanawa recording, although it did subsequently appear on a limited edition compilation.

But with the Phantom sequel definitely abandoned in my mind, I used the chorus of the melody in The Beautiful Game, the musical I wrote with Ben Elton. Frankly I felt it stuck out like a sore thumb from the rest of the score, and it was eventually cut and replaced by ‘The Boys in the Photograph’, now the title of the show when it is revived. However the dramatic situation in the story of Love Never Dies is exactly the same as the one that I had originally composed the melody for and I was always proud of the moment. Once I had the new plot, I restored it to what I hope is its rightful home.”

It was a very significant day for a certain US choreographer who has reached the end of a very memorable week!

Aside from a chat with the birthday boy himself, we also managed to catch up with Pip Jordan (Dance captain), our “chubby funster” blogger Adam Pearce, who is reunited with his former Joseph colleague Jonathan Stewart, Ramin Karimloo (The Phantom), and rounded the clip off with a few succinct words from our director Jack O’Brien.

Yesterday we were lucky enough to pay a visit to the theatre as one of the largest key pieces of the amazing Love Never Dies set was assembled by Steve and his team.

Following a brief Health and Safety presentation and wearing our hard hats (very important when you’ve got dozens of guys hanging cables and carrying heavy bits of scenery up and down ladders right above your head), we snuck onto the stage. Covered as it was with boxes and wires and bits and pieces, it was still possible to see what a spectacle this set is going to be. The team have started with one of the largest pieces – without giving too much away (sorry!) let’s just say it’s pretty tall, it’s pretty huge and it looks pretty heavy. This specific piece will take up almost the whole of the back of the stage and it goes up quite high too – but as Steve pointed out, getting a piece of this size into a theatre like the Adelphi is quite a feat.

“Everything had to be made to fit that door,” Steve told us, indicating the very average-sized door at the back of the stage. He explained that the piece his team were assembling onstage was originally made in 14 sections, in order to get it all through the door. “Sets used to primarily be much more flexible backcloths and fabric, which is why that door is so small!” Steve said.

Visiting the theatre in the morning, the piece was in its 14 sections and spread across the stage. When we returned at 5pm it was to see the full piece in its glory in place at the back of the stage, hanging from the wires which will be used to fly it up into the rafters. This is where it will be stored during the scenes when it is not required.

Steve estimates it will take another 2-and-a-half weeks to get the full set in and assembled – so the team will be keeping their hard hats on for a little while longer!

As Adam reports below, it was the first time all those who will be working together (and many who have already been working on the show for a considerable time) got together in the rehearsal spaces in London.

The word on most people’s lips was “exciting” and there was a real buzz of electricity in the room as we all “Meeted and Greeted” each other and put names to faces for the first time. Jack O’Brien welcomed everyone and, after sharing his horoscope prediction for the coming month, suggested everyone look around the room and appreciate the fantastic array of talent that had been gathered together for the occasion.  There was then the short welcome from Andrew which Adam describes above.  Jack (despite a very husky sore throat) then took centre stage again and talked about the  phenomenonal impact of the original production of  The Phantom of the Opera. He emphasised how important it was to remember the unprecedented success of this show meant that to many people the story no longer belonged to Andrew as the composer, but that so many hundreds of thousands of people had invested so much emotion into the show that they felt Phantom in some way belonged to them.  It was essential to all these people that  Love Never Dies honoured this investment and that everyone should recognise that this piece would be the object of great scrutiny worldwide.

Jack told all those present that this was potentially the start of something truly great and that all those taking part should have fun and thoroughly enjoy the experience.  Finally, niceties over, he then made it clear that anyone who was not participating in the first full rehearsal that morning should “get the hell out of here!”…

Before we complied with Jack’s instruction we managed to seize a couple of moments to chat to our leading lady, Sierra Boggess, who had arrived in the UK on New Year’s Eve.  She has spent the last week in a flurry of “gorgeous” costume fittings.  Sierra wasn’t giving too much away but did say that her (already enviously slim) frame would be squeezed into “lots of corsets!”.  She has also faced the trauma of having her full head encased in plaster (mysterious, huh?) having undergone the same experience as Ramin Karimloo in our previous “Disfiguring the Phantom” blog entry.

Ramin also talked about his costume fittings.  He joked that the costumes are so amazing he asked if they could make two of each of them so he could get to keep one for himself!  Ramin himself is eager to begin the rehearsal process.  Although he has thoroughly appreciated a couple of months break from performing as The Phantom, having finished his run in the original production on November 7th, he can’t wait to continue the Phantom story and build on the character he knows so well.

Away from the “glamour” of the rehearsal rooms, at the Adelphi Theatre the set is being loaded in and constructed.  Steve Rebbeck, the Production Manager, had taken a couple of hours out of his gruelling technical production timetable to attend the Meet and Greet and confirmed that all is on schedule and that a key piece of set was being put together the following day (more from the Adelphi soon).

Despite the recent spell of adverse weather across the UK everyone who had been invited had managed to make the event, but there was one casualty.  Scott Penrose, the consultant who is creating the stunning Coney Island illusions for Love Never Dies confided that he was supposed to be delivering a load of props to the rehearsal room that day but had had to abandon his car on the journey in… so if anyone comes across a carload of very bizarre items which look like they belong in a freak show do let us know!

Before leaving we also took the opportunity to recruit a couple of additional potential “bloggers” who will be doing their utmost throughout the rehearsal period to keep us informed of what is happening in the build up to the big day.  More about them very soon…

As the show gears up for previews, those of you who are in the UK  might want to keep an eye out for the Love Never Dies artwork which will be cropping up in newspaper adverts and on posters around the West End.

For us, we’re continuing to work on the full Love Never Dies website (among other things!) which will, as previously blogged, feature an interactive ‘Coney Island Experience’ section which takes web visitors through the Coney Island funfair to the Phantom’s new home. The latest visuals from our design team are looking great – they have a real old fairground feel, so expect an amazing trip through Coney Island circa the early 1900’s. All you’ll need is some cotton candy or a bag of popcorn to accompany you for a complete fairground experience.

For the team working on the website it’s a big job to build this, but it’s definitely one that will be worth the wait as they continue to put the finishing touches to the Coney Island Experience and the rest of the website. Keep checking www.loveneverdies.com for the great unveiling in the new year! And you will (hopefully) be pleased to know that this blog will continue to  feature on the enhanced website when it launches – so as they might have said in Coney – roll up, roll up…

We have obtained footage from the album recording studio and workshop sessions, through to the launch of the show at Her Majesty’s Theatre. We have spoken to all the key people involved in the creative process and have obtained a valuable insight into the commitment and passion that every member of the creative team have put into creating one of the most widely anticipated pieces of musical theatre.  We have also interviewed those who will be bringing the show to life onstage including Ramin and Sierra, and other cast members who we can’t tell you about just yet! 

A couple of weeks ago we sat down and started going through the many, many hours of footage we have amassed over the last 6 months and began editing some film together to produce a record of the early stages of this historic production.  The resulting film will contain material about Coney Island, where Love Never Dies is set, bear witness to what goes on behind the scenes as the album is recorded, and we’ll also hear more about the characters from the original Phantom and what has happened to them in the intervening 10 years, how they have changed and a look at their new lives in the bright electric world of New York’s Coney Island, a place that couldn’t be further removed from the candlelit setting of 19th century Paris.

We are putting the finishing touches to the edit as we speak and the film will be included on the Love Never Dies deluxe album package set for release next year.