Another sneak peek at the Love Never Dies Ensemble’s circus warm-up, as Jonathan Stewart catches up with fellow cast member Louise Madison and aerial artist Colette Morrow. Don’t look down ladies…
Watch part one of the circus warm-up here.
In our latest video, cast member Jonathan Stewart takes us backstage to watch members of the Love Never Dies Ensemble in action as they gear up for another show with their daily ‘circus warm-up.’ We just don’t know where they get the energy from…
In the second part of our video interview with Summer Strallen, who plays Meg in the show, she tells us how the keeps the role fresh – and how she winds down after a show, especially one as emotional as Love Never Dies…
Watch part one of our interview with Summer here.
Apologies for the lack of blogs recently – it’s been a busy few weeks since opening night! Unbelievably, it’s now over a month since Love Never Dies premiered, and we have got some exciting video clips coming up for you.
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…
To celebrate tonight’s opening at the Adelphi, we bring you an interview with Ramin Karimloo who takes to the stage this evening as The Phantom.
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.
Hello again! So we’re part way through week two of the main rehearsals for Love Never Dies. I’ve been working on the new show for nearly three weeks now and am still not used to the early starts! Things will only get harder though as when we move to the theatre we can expect to be doing 14 hour days to open the show. Showbiz is glamorous isn’t it?!
We ended last week by running the opening 25 minutes of the show which was a great achievement considering the short time we’ve been working. We’re progressing steadily through the first half – working on staging, choreography and vocal elements separately and then joining them together in our main rehearsal studio. Fittings are still taking place for costume, wigs and make-up – who now have their own room (taking our total room count outside the theatre to 6).
As a team, we started looking at how we will achieve the scene changes when we arrive at the Adelphi in 2 weeks. Some of the set elements are quite simply massive, so planning how everything will fit and be used will take a while. As it’s a new show, we’re not even sure how big some things will be as they are still being designed. The coffee runs continue and occasionally include full lunch orders while creative meetings are taking place – fortunately, there’s an M&S close by!
It’s not only the cast who are learning new things while mounting the show. As I’m sure you’re now aware, the show involves circus skills which for many of us are new elements to be putting on stage. Throughout, it is part of the stage management teams’ job to ensure that all of these skills are learnt and executed safely, along with our Circus Skills Consultant Armando. Without giving too much away, there’s been plenty of ensuring that none of the cast unceremoniously crash to the floor.
Our props team have been steadily providing us with either rehearsal props to represent items on stage, or the actual show props which you will all see when we open. They are chasing an ever-moving target though as new props are required (or old ones cut) as each scene is rehearsed. Once in the rehearsal room, we can then get the actors used to using them and work out where each prop will be stored. By the end of the week, the aim is to be able to run the whole of the first half which will very exciting to see and be a part of.
I’ll let you know how we get on in my next blog. Until then, take care (and buy tickets!)
Duncan.
So as we all know rehearsals are well underway for the cast and creative team in the studios – but over at the Adelphi Theatre, a very different kind of preparation is taking place as Production Manager Steve Rebbeck and his team of electricians, technicians, lighting experts and many more are getting on with the complicated job of turning the Adelphi Theatre into a Coney Island fairground…
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!
Adam Pearce’s blog
Well, as Miss Fleck (aka Niamh Perry) has reported, yesterday was the Meet and Greet.
This is where almost every single person involved with the production from around the world all get together in one room and introduce themselves. There were cast, creative, wigs, wardrobe, casting, production, design, chaperones, marketing, digital…the list goes on and on! So, we all sat down with tea, coffee, pastries, biscuits, everything you can imagine. Up steps the Lord to welcome us and he gives us the inside story on how he came up with the idea for the new piece. He had been collaborating with a number of writers, but they just didn’t seem to work. Then he found a great team in – amongst others – Jack O’Brien, Jerry Mitchell, Bob Crowley, Ben Elton and Glenn Slater. Then Jack stood up and said a few words of inspiration. No matter what Jack talks about, you can’t help but be enthralled by his voice. I’m sure if he was even describing on how he opened a packet of crisps, your jaw would drop open and you would end up marvelling at the man!!
So we are making our way round the group, introducing ourselves. The Lord starts, then Jack, and we go round. I’m watching and trying to remember all the names and jobs, low and behold, it has come to my line. This is where I start to panic. I am 5 people away and I have stupidly just taken a giant mouthful of pecan Danish!!! So I’m chewing and chewing… Now 3 away… 2 away… chewing chewing chewing!!! 1 away… I swallow just as I start to stand. Thank goodness!!!…. But then realise I have not put the rest of the Danish down and am now holding it out in full view of everyone (including the Lord) Stupidly, I say ‘Hello, I’m Adam Pearce, and I play Squelch’ and find myself holding the pastry like a glass and am doing a kind of toasting gesture with it!! And to make matters worse, I look around and nobody else is eating, nor even holding any food what so ever!! How embarrassing!! The curse of the ‘chubby funster’!
With week 1 of rehearsals over, the cast have been put through their paces!! For this show, for most of the cast, strength is a big factor. So every morning they have been in 10am -12.30pm doing an intense physical warm up and work out, increasing lower body and upper body strength, core strength and stability, just immense!!! God bless them, and all their blood sweat and tears, but it will hopefully all be worth it!!
We are extremely blessed to have such an amazing group of people here who are going to become family for the next year ahead. Cast, company manager, stage management, music team, creative team, wardrobe, wigs, it’s going to be a great year! Good times!!
Despite the Opening Night of Love Never Diesbeing over four months away, planning is already well underway for what should be one of the biggest nights in the West End next year.
Microsoft Excel whimpers under the weight of the exclusive First Night list. Filling a 1400 seat auditorium with invited guests, allocating seats and distributing tickets and keeping the right people happy is a logistical nightmare – one which we won’t wake up from for many weeks to come! From the First Night list to the First Night party – everything needs to be perfect. It is one of our jobs to organise the logistical and technical aspects of the evening, ensuring that the chilled champagne is flowing, the food is arriving out of the kitchens hot and everyone is having a great evening.
Meanwhile, final preparations are being made for the start of rehearsals in January, rehearsal rooms are being kitted out, actors are being measured for costumes, sets are being constructed, lighting and sound equipment lists are being finalised and the marketing team are preparing for the next wave of advertising and promotional events. The production office is busy interviewing and appointing staff for the various backstage departments – stage management, wardrobe, wigs, sound, automation, stage crew, lighting and follow spots.
Everything is on course for our first preview on February 20th…
Keep checking the website for further updates.
Last Friday we had our final Love Never Dies listening session of the year. As we have done previously (in London, New York and Berlin) we invited around 50 guests to hear the stunning music from the completed album. From a production point of view this isn’t as simple as throwing the CD into a ghetto blaster and sitting back. In order to do justice to the 90+ musicians who play on the album we employ a team of sound engineers and specialists who arrive early in the morning to setup and test the sound systems. The baton is then handed over to our sound and captions operators (who after being held up on the set of X Factor arrived with seven minutes to spare!) who facilitate all elements of the playback and accompanying captions and graphics, which are displayed on an extremely large LCD screen at the front of the boardroom.
About fifteen minutes before the session is due to start the invited guests begin to arrive, share a glass of wine and some nibbles before taking their seats as the lights dim and the Coney Island Waltz strikes up. The session is punctuated by spontaneous applause and the odd sobbing guest. It is truly an emotional rollercoaster! As the lights are whipped back up it is clear that the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive. This particular audience was made up mainly of hardened theatre industry types – and their enthusiasm and rapture was as ardent as the Phantom Phans at our Launch!
In just a few short months you’ll be able to hear it in full for yourself at the Adelphi Theatre, London!
Keep checking the website for further updates…
