Love Never Dies - Adelphi Theatre
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
ANDREW Lloyd Webber has announced dates and principal casting for his long-awaited new musical, which he insists is not simply a sequel to The Phantom of the Opera but “a completely stand alone piece.”
Entitled Love Never Dies, it opens at the Adelphi Theatre on March 9, 2010 (previews from February 20) with Ramin Karimloo as The Phantom and Sierra Boggess as Christine.
Productions are also planned for New York in November 2010 and Australia in 2011.
Ten years after he mysteriously disappeared from his lair beneath the Paris Opera House, The Phantom is haunting the fairgrounds of New York’s Coney Island. However, he still cannot forget his one true love, the singer Christine Daaé, and sets out to prove by whatever means that – Love Never Dies.
Karimloo, who is currently playing The Phantom in the original production at Her Majesty’s Theatre, has also appeared on stage as Enjolras in Les Miserables (Queen’s Theatre); Chris in the touring production of Miss Saigon; and the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance (Theatre Royal, Bath).
He has also played Raoul in the West End production of The Phantom of the Opera and Christine’s father in Joel Schumacher’s screen adaptation.
Boggess, who originated the lead role of Ariel in the Broadway production of The Little Mermaid, was chosen by Lloyd Webber and Hal Prince to play Christine in a spectacular Las Vegas production of The Phantom of the Opera. However, she will be making her West End debut in Love Never Dies.
Directed by Tony Award-winning Jack O’Brien (Hairspray, The Coast of Utopia), Love Never Dies has lyrics by Glenn Slater (The Little Mermaid, Sister Act) and choreography by Jerry Mitchell (Hairspray, Legally Blonde, The Full Monty).
Although further casting has yet to be announced, the Love Never Dies album was completed in September and will be released on March 10, 2010, the day after the world premiere in London.