After hearing from James, Jeanette becomes the second person to share her fan blog with us… If you would like to submit a fan blog (whether or not you attended the press launch!) email online_team@reallyuseful.co.uk with the subject heading ‘Love Never Dies fan blog.’ Please note that blogs will be edited by the editorial team for length and content and we unfortunately cannot guarantee that all submissions will be used.

Jeanette’s blog:

I was also lucky enough to be at the Love Never Dies Press Launch last October, and along with James, I met lots of lovely Phantom fans who like me, were all so excited at being there.  There was a real electricity in the air inside the auditorium of Her Majesty’s Theatre that morning, an almost tangible feel of something truly great about to happenl!  It was fascinating to listen to the outline of the beginning of the story as told by the Maestro, Andrew Lloyd Webber.

I loved The Coney Island Waltz… how it started as a lilting little melody and built up to a wonderful crescendo of instrumental beauty, under the magical hands of conductor Simon Lee.  When Ramin led Sierra to the onstage throne I thought she looked so beautiful and serene as she sat and watched him sing ‘Til I Hear You Sing’, a stunningly lovely song which Ramin sang so passionately.  He received a tremendous ovation and rightly so, as he really did put his heart into the song.  I am counting the days to 20 February so we can hear it for the first time in the show itself!

I just know that Love Never Dies is going to fulfil all our hopes and dreams of another fantastic musical about our favourite character, the Phantom.  From the little snippets of news that are coming our way every day now are slowly building up to the whole magical concept.

I love musical theatre generally, but the Phantom is my darling… I’ve seen him hundreds of times over the past 20 years or so (335 at the last count!)

The Phantom of the Opera and Love Never Dies…. London’s theatreland is going to be an absolute paradise for musical theatre fans… and certainly for us dedicated Phantom phans!

In our first fan blog, Phantom fan James gives us his take on the Love Never Dies press launch…

From the outside:

8th October 2009

I am one of the many fans eagerly awaiting the start of Love Never Dies and I was lucky enough to be chosen to see the Press Launch. I have also booked to see the first preview in February so am keeping a blog of what I have seen and my thoughts.

I arrived on the launch day nice and early carrying my Original Phantom Cast LP as it still looks so perfect and atmospheric. It also helps to show that I really am a fan! I signed for my special “Phan Pass” which let everyone one know that I am genuinely connected to the event (but I was a little worried that someone would say that it was all a mistake and take it off me.)

We were then all interviewed on camera about our Phantom experiences. We all see people being interviewed so often, but it feels very different when you are on the other end of the camera lens. I tried to fashion a few interesting words out and not sound like an idiot. I spotted a group of others who were also wearing something around their necks and correctly guess they are fans too. They were all very excited too. We swapped stories and hopes for the day ahead. I felt very connected to them even though we’d only seen each other for a few minutes.

We were lead into some of the best stalls seats in the auditorium. It felt really odd to be there at that time of day rather than in the evening. There was a real tension and expectation as the lights went down and we watched the video footage of the current Phantom, listing all the highlights and awards the show has achieved so far. It set the mood and reminded us of how high the stakes are for this show. Andrew came out and took us through the background to the piece and the story. The Conley Island influence and waltz seems a logical leap to make and captured everyone’s attention. The new song sounded really powerful and fresh, it worked really well on a stage.

All too soon it was over, and the stage cleared. There were reporters asking what we thought, so we all got broken up and for the second time that day we faced the microphones, including recording our thoughts to camera against a backdrop of the freshly revealed artwork of Love Never Dies.

After exiting the theatre, I met up again with a small group of my fellow fans I’d seen earlier in the day. We left the theatre wondering what we should do next as it seemed wrong to just go straight home. After a bit of chatting we decided to go to the Adelphi Theatre as that’s where things will be happening this year. Of course when we went, one by one we decided to book for the first preview in February as we don’t want the experience to end here…

Thanks to James for his blog. If you would like to submit a fan blog, email online_team@reallyuseful.co.uk with the subject heading ‘Love Never Dies fan blog.’ Please note that blogs will be edited by the editorial team for length and content and we unfortunately cannot guarantee that all submissions will be used.

Welcome to the Love Never Dies production blog. Throughout the production period I’ll be keeping you up-to-date with all aspects of this eagerly anticipated show through the subjective eyes (or rapid fingers) of The Really Useful Theatre’s Production Department. What is happening when, who is doing what and just how everything is going. Follow us on an adrenaline packed rollercoaster of a ride as we lift the lid on what it takes to stage what we hope will become one of the biggest musicals of all time.

The production department here at Really Useful is responsible for pretty much everything show related – from planning and producing all new domestic and international productions to the day-to-day management, casting, marketing and maintaining the high standards of Andrew’s shows in the UK, Europe, North, South and Central America. From The Phantom of the Opera in Buenos Aires to Cats on the road. There are eight of us in total, consisting of:

Head of Production
Assistant to Head of Production
General Manager
Production Supervisor
2x Production Assistant
Sales & Marketing Manager
Advertising Manager & Marketing Co-Coordinator

After months of planning we finally launched Love Never Dies in front of the world’s media at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London on October 8th. The reaction (and subsequent media coverage) was phenomenal. The day itself started before sunrise as our technical staff loaded in all the necessary equipment to the theatre and last-minute rehearsals and final preparations were made prior to the house opening at 10am. Then followed a deluge of media, theatre and celebrity types (plus 30 lucky Phantom ‘Phans’) to watch Andrew unveil the continuation of The Phantom of the Opera. Make sure you watch the full coverage of the launch itself, here on the Love Never Dies website…

Rehearsals will commence on January 4th leading up to our first preview on February 20th – with opening night scheduled for March 9th. Between now and then there is a huge amount for the production department to do in order to ensure we meet our February 20th first preview deadline.

Casting for the young actors who will play the role of Gustave is under way in the conservatory below our offices as I write. And they sound great! Due to the complex regulations regarding children working in entertainment the plan is to cast no fewer than 6 young actors who will rotate in the role. Our musical supervisor, Simon Lee, is currently putting the young hopefuls through their paces before they’re put in front of our creative team who will ultimately decide which boys will make it to the Adelphi stage.

Keep checking the Love Never Dies website for further updates over the coming weeks…

Thursday 8th October. 10am. It’s D-day. We’re outside Her Majesty’s Theatre in London’s West End (home, of course, to the Phantom in his current lair) milling about with hundreds of other people as fellow members of staff direct the press and theatre industry alumni inside the building where the Love Never Dies press launch is about to get started.

But we in the Digital department have a very special job to do today: we’re looking out for the lucky 30 Phantom of the Opera fans (aka the Phans) who won tickets to the launch through the Love Never Dies website. As they arrive – from across the UK and even the US – we hand them their special laminated ‘Phan’ badge and get a few comments on camera: the general consensus is – everyone’s excited!

And the excitement in the stalls is even greater. As everyone takes their seats – we’re near the front with our 30 phans! – and the curtain rises, the noise of hundreds of journalists and theatre-lovers chatterig in eager anticipation quietens down immediately, and as the familiar Phantom refrain starts we all sit back in our seats to watch the show unfold.

And what a show Love Never Dies is going to be. After an introductory film which outlines the phenomenal success of The Phantom – in case none of us had been paying attention – I’m sure we all wondered, “how can they follow that?” But we needn’t have worried. As Andrew said when he took to the stage, this is a show that has been several years in the making, with even original Phantom set designer Maria Bjornson intrigued as to what happened to Christine, The Phantom and Raoul next. Love Never Dies takes them forward ten years on from the action of Phantom, and across the Atlantic to Coney Island. The ‘Coney Island Waltz,’ which was performed in public for the first time, is a stirring piece of music that evokes the wonders of Coney Island in the early 1900s – a time when Coney was, as Andrew said, “like the eighth wonder of the world.” The video which was shown as the music swelled really gave a flavour for this as well.

And then Ramin Karimloo took to the stage… currently playing The Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera, he was announced as the man to take the role forward in Love Never Dies, along with Sierra Boggess as his Christine. With Sierra having originated the role of Christine in Phantom: The Las Vegas Spectacular, it will be really interesting to see these two take on the chracters in Love Never Dies – and they both looked great! As Ramin led Sierra – in a gorgeous golden gown – onstage, the audience were all completely silent as we waited for THE song to start. ‘Till I Hear You Sing’ is a truly gorgeous song, heartbreaking and breathtaking with beauriful lyrics – when Ramin sang “I’ll always feel no more than halfway real…” there was almost a tear in my eye!!

What a great morning… the phans loved it, we loved it, and now the anticipation for March 2010 is even greater than ever! Tickets are now onsale, race you to the box office!

Today marks the final day of our Phantom fan competition – for the last week we’ve been inundated with entries from Phantom fans professing their love for the show, all for the chance to win a ticket to the Love Never Dies press launch next Thursday (8th). Can’t believe what an amazing response we’ve had… there are some real die-hard Phans out there! But the winners have now been identified so it’s ring-around time. Feel like Santa Claus spreading the Christmas cheer as we work our way through the Phan list, inviting people to come next Thursday and telling them what to expect. The launch is going to be fantastic!