Watch part one of the circus warm-up here.

Watch part one of our interview with Summer here.

Watch the first part of our interview with Jo here.

See more from Jo here.

Here our bloggers Adam Pearce (Squelch) and Niamh Perry (Fleck) tell us what’s been going on in the past few weeks, and introduce their very special upcoming video blog feature…

Ramin is no stranger to the role, having played the lead in the original London production for two years prior to reprising the character in Love Never Dies. In this exclusive video Ramin talks of the challenges of the role, the show itself, the music and how the character has changed in the intervening years.

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…