Andrew Lloyd Webber's LOVE NEVER DIES - The Phantom R

I have read many reviews about this show from other patrons, and I'm wondering if they were at the same one I saw? From the opening number (sung here by Bronson Norris Murphy) I was already hooked! The stage scenery was just amazing, the costumes were beautiful and what I remember most was the flashing of the jewelry like diamonds from the stage, I'm pretty sure they probably were. There were a few scenes that I was not crazy about, but all in all...the only thing I really didn't like was...the ending! If I were ALW, (which of course, I'm not), that should have clearly been a HAPPY one! I have some questions I'd like to ask Mr. Webber, but I'm sure he is very busy.

Loved the sequel to phantom of the opera. The Music was amazing.

Christine's singing and The Phantom's raw emotion really made this performance flawless. I had seen the Australian performance on film and this lived up to all my expectations and then some. Hearing Christine sing Love Never Dies in person gave me goosebumps.

Unfortunately for me and my wallet, I despised the story. The Phantom of the Opera is my favorite musical, and this sequel completely ruined the characters for me - most of whom I thought were unrecognizable. However, the performances were excellent, and the actors did an amazing job. One song was oddly misplaced in the story (the guitar-heavy piece in which the Phantom shows Gustav the Coney Island Underworld), but, otherwise, the music was lovely. It was just hard for me to enjoy the show when the plot was completely unappealing.

This was an excellent production. The cast and design was outstanding.

Love Never Dies was incredible. The actors and actresses were amazing, and the set was entrancing. I loved every minute!

Could watch scenes between the Phantom and Christine all day long. Play was good, but not long enough!!!

An amazing evening in the theatre. The principal voices are incredible. The sets, costumes and lighting are visually stunning and better than anything I've seen on Broadway in recent years. Lloyd Weber has written a score that is both eerie sounding one moment and beautiful the next . A strong sequel to THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. The evening flew by and I was never bored for a moment. Highly recommended.

Gustav and Christine were cast well. The boy was charming and endearing and hit all his marks. Christine sounded wonderful and carried the character well. Singing the title song towards the end was a definite highlight. Good job. The Phantom was a close second. The story line was kind of hokey and really only served as a vehicle for song, which is fine. Baltimore Hippodrome is an excellent venue. Only downside was people showing up late, sometimes 30 minutes after the curtain came up. Excellent production with the show making good use of the rotating stage.

Despite the fancy sets and big cast of supporting players, the show fails. There is no reason why we ought care about the Phantom or his girl friend, no charisma between them. The show is not a total loss, but a fair person ought not recommend it.

They had a few problems with actors having to switch and technical difficulties. They handled the issues very professionally.

Cast was fabulous, music was beautiful, production was great!! Only negative was the seating at the Hippodrome - cramped and uncomfortable.

Amazing play! A great continuation of the Phantom of the Opera. The actors were fantastic.

Love Never Dies was an very entertaining with amazing talent! The singing, and acting was fantastic! Went to the 2pm show on 10/7/17 and the understudy Phantom was phenomenal!! Christine and Gustav were spectacular as well! Gustav is so talented at such a young age! Fabulous cast and performers! The use of the circular revolving stage was and set was very creative. Wonderful show! Easy in and out with parking as well!

The manner in which the stage was done and the transitions were done was amazing. The singing was absolutely spectacular. It had many unexpected twists which made the show that much more exciting.

I enjoyed this as much, if not more, than the Phantom of the Opera. Same quality writing and singing.

Mostly, I can recommend this show. My one negative point is that it was very hard to understand the Lyrics from the two principals. I believe it was due to their operatic training, which emphasizes the music notes and not so much the lyrics since operas are in foreign languages which nobody understands anyway. There was no problem understanding the other performers. The production values were outstanding with the projections, etc.

This production had complex, lavish, odd sets and the lighting is generally dark, reflecting the themes of night, mystery and the undercurrent of love and grief. If you love Andrew Lloyd Weber you'll love the music. The Phantom is the charismatic manipulator of Christine and her family, including her son. The acting and singing were Broadway quality. The last scene is a tearjerker.

My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed the show. The Venue is absolutely beautiful. And the staff was exceptional. Definitely recommend.

Anyone who loved the Phantom of the Opera will enjoy Love Never Dies. A play that is a sequel of the Phantom of the Opera. Beaitul songs and music throughout and a better story than Phantom of the Opera. I encourage all to go see this. Love never dies is a beautiful song that the play is appropriately named for and performed by Christine. Powerful performces all around with the Phantom and Christine as highlights.

Treated my girlfriend to this show as a birthday present.I have seen other shows at the Hippodrome and was open to enjoying this musical,....and came in wanting to give it 5 stars.As much as I would like to rate it higher than 3 stars,..I can't. The music,cast,and production was fine,and I can't say that anything about it wasn't professional and that all performers weren't talented,it just didn't move me in any particular way.Full disclosure,...my tickets were slightly obstructed and not full price.When I asked the people next to me what the full price ticket cost I was speechless.The price they told me was absurd.Theater is expensive,...I know that,...however,....in my opinion this outrageous pricing could force many people like myself to go back to supporting local and more intimate theater,.....and that might not be a bad thing.

I saw this last night in Baltimore. I did not realize this going in, but this was still considered the show's preview, so I guess it's fair to expect some glitches. And we had those. After an unusually long intermission, it was announced that the understudy would be taking over the Phantom's role. Then, with two songs left, they stopped the show for about 10 minutes due to a technical problem. I have to give the performers kudos for dealing with these events and carrying on. Those things can be worked out, but the real problem is that it's just not a good story. I know it's supposed to be romantic, but it's just two self-centered men having a tug-of-war over Christine. She is not a particularly interesting or engaging character - she's beautiful and she sings. That's it. The boy who plays her son, Gustave, was quite good and got the loudest applause last night. Cortes played the Phantom for the first act, and I found his movements stiff. The actress playing Meg was very good, and her numbers were the most fun and engaging. Her mother looks like Mrs. Danvers from Rebecca. The staging and costumes were spectacular, so visually it draws you in to the world of Coney Island. The songs, while enjoyable, are not memorable. I'm just not sure why this was needed. The Phantom of the Opera did not need a mediocre sequel.

I loved the show because it was my favorite show ever in the whole wide world and when ever it comes back to Baltimore to the hippodrome I will see it again.

This is a waste of money! The cast is talented and the set is beautiful but the story is the worst! It s like someone took the Phantom of the opera- one of the best musical of all time, and spat on it! Oh wait, the creator of the show did! What a disappointment!!

While I didn t think this production would come close to the original Phantom , I expected more. The staging, costumes and performers were excellent, especially the actors portraying the Phantom, Christine and Gustave. However, the music was quite unmemorable and repetitive. It seemed like an afterthought. Something that was written as a school excercise.

This play was excellent...I was on the edge of my seat!

"Love Never Dies" was terrific! Great music, colorful, good story line, and superb talent. This sequel is as great as the original show. A must see!

Let's get something out of the way: the story line of LND is horrible. There's no way of getting around that. But the visuals and music are lovely and if you can ignore the awful story, you can enjoy the show. I've seen the Australian production which was an update of the unpopular London production. Producers made more changes to the show for the US tour. They should have quit while they were ahead. They tried WAY to hard to shove themes from the original POTO in every freaking scene in Act I. What was previously a well balanced connection became overkill. Some lyrics were changed and the majority of those changes weren't necessary. The cast while talented isn't 100% comfortable yet (granted, I saw a preview performance, so this show still has time to get stronger) My only casting complaint is that Cortes as Phantom while talented has a thick accent that makes his singing difficult to understand. He wasn't the best choice for the US audience. While I'm glad I had the opportunity to enjoy this live, I'll be sticking to my blu ray of the Aussie production.

If you are obsessed with Phantom of The Opera and are afraid this won't meet expectations, you will be missing out on a great show should you choose not to go. This is a beautiful story with beautiful lyrics and it is not just a repeat of the first, even though the underlying theme is the same. It's true, nothing quite beats the original, but this comes a close second. Give it a chance. The actors and vocals are great. Let's put it this way: I cried. How many shows make you feel enough emotion to make you cry? My review is 5 stars for the show but 3-4 stars for the venue. Hippodrome, when you renovated your theater years ago, the engineer that did the seating should be fired. The theater itself is beautiful, but if you are anything over 5'6", your legs won't be comfortable in most seats. They are also not tiered high enough so big heads in front of me are always an issue. The stair rail in the upper level was directly in my field of vision during the show. Luckily, it wasn't sold out, so many of us moved to unused seats after intermission. You also can't see the very top of the stage from there, the curtain or something blocks the view. Bottom line: The stage/seating layout wasn't very smart.....modern theaters take every seat into account for the best viewing experience possible.

Several performers were outstanding, we especially liked Christine and Gustave. The set was also outstanding with excellent scene transitions. At the same time we were really disappointed with the phantom. The voice was unclear and airy so it didn t have the fullness of the original phantoms. Being such a key role really hurt the overall experience. Additionally they spent too much time with music for coney island (which I found a bit annoying) and not enough on the real story line.

THIS IS THE WORST EVER...IT HAD NOTHING REALLY IN COMMON WITH THE GREAT ORIGINAL. WE WALKED OUT AT INTERMISSION. FORGET THIS ONE.

Love Never Dies was an amazing play with beautiful music and voices. The lead actors and boy did an outstanding job. I will definitely go again! Everyone should see it so I hope next time it is here longer.

The show was good. Not as good as the original but my daughter and I really enjoyed it. We sat in box seats this time and couldn't see the phantom in the first Act because the screen was down and sun burst cut outs blocked the view. Aside from that we could see everything.

Riveting prologue performance by The Phantom, Gardar Thor Cortes transports you right into Mister Y's Coney Island world and holds you there throughout. The theme is darker then the original show, but the set, the costumes, the music are all just as wonderful, or even better. Love lives on....

I was a little hesitant to buy tickets for the show since it's considered a continuation to Phantom of the Opera. The songs where wonderful and the cast was amazing. The cast really had chemistry. I even cried at the end, even thought I knew about the ending. I would recommend this show because of it's story which can stand on it's own. I would even buy tickets again if it comes back here to Minnesota.

I've been a fan of Phantom of the Opera for years. When I heard the sequel was coming to town I had to go. I would like to see improvement on online views from seats.

One of the best productions I've ever seen! The props and staging were magnificent, costumes gorgeous, voices and music jaw droppingly amazing and the venue stunning. My daughter and I will be back again in the future. Once the musical started we forgot about the limited leg room. Other than that I don't think there is a bad seat in the house.

The singing was magical and the storyline caught unexpectedly!

We flew all the way from Baltimore to see the show for a third time. Need I say more?

Love Never Dies was good but not edge of your seat great. I've seen Phantom a number of times and always enjoyed it, Love Never Dies started out slower. It was still good but probably will not need to see it again.

The set was creative. The voices we're strong, the chemistry between characters drew us in to the story. I don't know if it was where I was sitting but sometimes the instruments were louder than the voices. :( Loved that there were a couple changes made compared to DVD version. It kept it interesting. How Webber writes music so characters sing competingly their point of view is so amazing. Really loved the show. Such fantastic talent. What a great night out!

I loved it - both of the leads were convincing, i.e., good actors, and had strong, resonant voices. Raul in the Phantom of the Opera was not remarkable there (last year), but he really came alive in this production cast as the Phantom. At times it was spine-chilling. The production itself had no lack of spectacle, dance, and complex sets - it was very lush and full of energy. Sort of a cross between a musical and an opera, this was the best one I've been to. The only caveat is that the words weren't always clear, and since these songs were not familiar, that would have been ideal. Nevertheless, I loved it, and so did the two I was with.

Beautiful sets and singing! Definitely would recommend this amazing love story

This musical exceeded my expectations! Wonderful story, amazing cast, beautiful set designs and costuming! Lyrics and music just beautiful!

Great show, great performances by all! It was great to finally see the show in person.

Enjoyed the opening scene at the Coney Island circus with each unique costume and the beautiful carousel horses, (wish they had come back in the 2nd act.) If you loved Phantom, you will love the sequel too.

The music was crisp and clear. Christine and the phantom had beautiful voices.

Fell flat. It doesn't compare in any way to Phantom of the Opera. The music was not memorable. The actors did the best they could with what they had. Weber should have left this idea in the vault.

Simply Incredibly Awesome!...Pheonominal!.... From the Stage Set to the Costumes to every single Performer,Voices.The 5 of us were totally impressed!! Still can't stop talking about the entire show.Extremely Talented.. Brought me to tears....Would see it again.....

I couldnt understand the phantom when he was singing, like at all!

The show was terrific, music, sets, actors! Enjoyed every minute.

I only saw Phantom for the first time in December, and loved it. So I tried to lower my expectations for this play. Man, was I blown away. The costumes, energy, music, set design - everything was amazing. And the performers were superstars. I would HIGHLY recommend this, and you will not be disappointed!

The music, sets, and performers were amazing! Perfect follow up to one of the best Broadway Musicals!

A must see if you ve seen the original. Different, but good.

I thoroughly enjoyed this sequel to The Phantom of the Opera.

I wasn't sure what to expect going in, especially loving Phantom of the Opera so much. The show, the sets, the costumes are all gorgeous. The music is great too, but again, not that history that one has with Phantom songs. The "equivalent" to Phantom for this one though....I wasn't a fan. The storyline of this sequel.....definitely makes you go WOW. I feel like there is a big backstory that was missed and should have been addressed because while you get what is going on about 10 years later from this show, how they got to this place is a bit crazy and head scratching. Regardless I would recommend.

This show is so good, exceeded all my expectations. It wrapped up the story in ways I didn't expect. I will see it again if given the chance

This was an amazing play the cast had amaing vocies! It really made you feel the music! If you loved the first phantom of the opera you will love phantom of the opera: love never dies! I absolutely loved this show!

The Phantom is one of my favorite musicals, and my favorite musical scores. In my opinion this show not close.

From the set, to the costumes, to the lighting, the setting of the show, Coney Island, was completely brought to life onstage. The set consisted of over 3 places in which we find our characters, each one beautifully sculpted. There were catwalks, merry go rounds, beautiful pianos, a hotel room that spins around into a balcony, and so much more, all of it perfectly suited to portray the world that the genius Phantom had created. And what made the show even more unbelieveable was not only Andrew Lloyd Webber's breathtaking score, but the wonderful cast performing it. The Phantom's alternate, Bronson Norris Murphy filled the entire room with beautiful vibrato and boundless passion. He portrayed the character with ease, and brought me to tears several times. The rest of the cast followed suit, delivering an entrancing performance. Specifically, the alternate Christine played by Rachel Anne Moore sung every note just fleetingly. Her chemistry with Bronson made the show that much more irresistible. And Gustave played by Jake Heston Miller (spoiler alert) had the perfect amount of talent to portray vividly that he was the son of the world renowned soprano, Christine, and the musical genius Phantom himself in the show, hitting each high note beautifully. His abilities at his age were remarkable. Overall, many do not like this show because the plot is full of twists and turns, but if you're a Phantom Phan, you have to see this version of what happens after the Opera House. It will take your breath away. I am so glad I was able to enjoy this masterpiece, and I drove seven hours to do so. It was beyond worth it, I even got a chance to meet the man behind the mask, Bronson Norris Murphy, after the show, and he was beyond kind. The experience was the best I have ever had at any show.

We saw the show in 4/19. The show started of real slow. I didn t like the opening number. The show picked up by 3rd number.

"Love Never Dies", The Phantom Returns brings to life a new take on the history of the Phantom of the Opera. It contains inspiring ballads and a beautiful orchestra that keeps you glued to your seat.

This is Broadway at it's finest. The leads were both fine actors and great singers. Gardar Thor Cortes is a worthy successor to the distinguished Phantoms of the past. Lloyd Webber's music is rich and resonate evoking the original score. The opening scene with the Phantom's dramatic solo at the organ sets the pace of the show and draws the audience in. The second act especially was engaging with momentum building to an impassioned conclusion. If you are a Phantom fan, rush to see this! You'll thank me.

I loved this so much. It's completely different not what you'd expect. Saddest love story ever.

I have been a Phantom fan every since I read the book. I have read every version I could put my hand on. As a treat for my 50th birthday, I saw the Phantom of the Opera performance in Las Vegas. So I was deeply thrilled when I heard there was a sequel to the Phantom called 'Love Never Dies'. I own the DVD performance and it was wonderful! But then, I heard there was a touring performance coming to the nearby city of San Jose! I immediately bought a ticket from Ticketmaster. At the Center for the Performing Arts I was impressed at how beautiful the place is. Very roomy and elegant looking without feeing the need to dress to impress. I had a second row seat where I was privileged to be able to see the orchestra perform their magic. From the beginning of the first act, to the very end, I was mesmerized and drawn into the magical, long ago days of Coney Island and all it's splendor. Coney Island, the Phantoms new domain. The actors were superb and well versed in their ability to adapted to the roll they were playing. everything was breath taking! Time went by too quickly! All in all, it is the best performance I have seen! sorry 'CATS' ! This is one show I wish I could see again! So I give 'Love Never Dies' a multitude of standing ovations and many, many red roses!

What a spectacular performance by the entire cast. I went and saw it twice. Once was just not enough.

Loved the sequel.. in hope that continuation of same goes in forever!!

Love never dies was a wonderful continuation of Phantom of the opera. The sets and music were amazing, and the actors were so very good. Fisher theatre was a wonderful venue for this musical and I would recommend it to everyone!

Loved the story especially the unexpected twist and turns. Just wish we could have heard the theme song from the original play in its entirety some where in the continuing story.

Everyone did a great job and the singing was beautiful.

The whole experience was wonderful. I loved the way the theme music from the first Phantom. A perfect sequel, many twists and turns keep you on the edge of your seat till the end. Bravo to Andrew Lloyd Webber and T hge cast. A beautiful way to spend Sweetest Day.

I don t want to say too much about what I really enjoyed about the content so as not to spoil the experience for those who wish to go, but I will say that this sequel was filled with beauty, excitement, and a plot twist that I didn t see coming. It touched my heart, and was worth the wait....

The music was thoroughly enjoyable.The costumes were colorful and well designed. The set was beautiful. Enjoyed it. Great Show!

It was enjoyable, my wife is the Broadway fanatic. She loved it an would give it 5 stars.

Some say sequels are terrible and never as great as the originals, but not this time! It was just as amazing! Andrew Lloyd Webber did it again!!

I have always loved the original Phantom of the Opera. The sequel definitely lived up my expectations. I would love to see it again.

Loved it! It was beautifully done. Loved seeing the phantom again!

Didn t think Andrew Lloyd Webber could come close to the Original Phantom...but this was pretty close!!! Sets, music, acting...all superb! BRAVO!

Now, in my opinion...there isn t a musical that compares to the original Phantom, but this one sure comes close! I enjoyed it so much! It was a long show but it didn t feel long because I was thoroughly entertained the entire time! I ve been a Phantom fan since I was kid and seeing this musical has me singing it to myself all over again. Go see it...it s so worth it!

It wasn't Phantom of the Opera. But I enjoyed it on it's own merit.

Beautiful music. Powerful story. Amazing cast. A night we will remember forever!

The actors were all great and their voices and acoustics beautiful. The songs were so so and the storyline dark and atrocious. I felt that I was watching American Horror Story circus meshed into an opera ..... with a much worse ending. I did not enjoy the show.

The Phantom of the Opera is a family favorite of ours. We were so excited to see a continuation of the story. Basically every loved character from the original had changed for the worse. There were a few really good songs and their singing abilities were great. But overall, it did not stay true to the characters and it was dark and depressing. Many people left after the first half. The second half was better but not enough to redeem it.

I am going to have to try and forget that I saw this play as it sort of ruins the original for me. The music was good - still some powerful songs. The weird Coney Island carnival scene was corny and over the top, but the whole story line just mutilated the love story of the original. You want to root for the Phantom because of his voice and his background, but bottom line is the Phantom is a murderer. He is the bad guy in the story. Christine had always chosen Raoul. Now you have a bastard love child and Raoul is a drunken jerk.

Great story line. The actors and performers were outstanding. A great surprise at the end.

Absolutely fabulous! I was in a trance. Just Fab!!

The performance was so beautiful. Lovely actors and voices too!! I enjoyed the show very much!

Fantastic show. Although I haven't seen Phantom of the opera, this was just beautiful to see. Thanks.

At the Houston show - the Christine had a set of pipes that brought the house to their feet during her main Aria. SOOOO wonderful. No lie, I shed a tear, it was so beautiful.

My wife and I saw "Love Never Dies" with one of our daughters and granddaughter. It was/is a wonderful production. I would recommend it to anyone who has seen and enjoys "The Phantom of the Opera". Andrew Lloyd Weber at his finest.

Whenever I mentioned to someone that I was going to see the sequel to "Phantom of the Opera" the reply was always "Oh, I didn't know there was a sequal!" There's a reason for that and I discovered it at Shea's Center on June 9, 2018. First, the theater was extremely uncomfortable. Seats were very small and the backs were straight, making sitting there for a few hours a miserable affair. I would NEVER attend this theater again simply because of the seating. Moving onto the musical - I expected much more from Andrew Lloyd Weber. The story was meh, the music was meh; the singer who played Christine was too "screechy" (she'd have been perfect as Carlotta in Phantom). The staging and props were glorious, lighting was wonderful, and the singer who played the Phantom was divine. So all in all it was an "ok" show. Not something I'd write home about and certainly not one I'd wish to see a second time.

The performance was fantastic! The understudy for Christine took over the 2nd half & she was just as wonderful!

It was good, nothing memorable. The bright point was Gustave!

Phantom of the opera was amazing and for those who love phantom, love never dies does not even compare. Tho the talent of the singers was there; the music just wasn't. There were no songs that I would wanna hear over and over. In addition it was odd that it was set in Coney Island. I did enjoy the brief times where music was played from phantom of the opera in this new musical. Plus the boy had a beautiful voice for such a young age. Spoiler alert if you continue reading. To me it was odd that the phantom and Christine had a child bc I don't know when that happened in the musical phantom. At the end of the opera was the only time she romantically kissed him but then she left on a boat with Raul. So idk when they had relations. At the end when you wanted phantom and Christine to be happy in love- Christine is accidentally killed. What was the point fof that!! All fans love Christine and may have been torn which man you wanted her with but you never wanted her to die! Plus it's unknown which father the son will be with now. I just think the potential was there but it fell flat.

The touring production of Love Never Dies was absolutely stunning! I loved every minute of this dark, edgy sequel to the original Phantom of the Opera. The music is BEAUTIFUL, the cast was AMAZING, and the sets are just EXTRAORDINARY!!! Especially Gardar Thor Cortes who was the most perfect Phantom, I think I'm in love! His voice was simply breathtaking, I could listen to him endlessly. This show is deffinitely something to see if you havn't already! Till I hear you sing once moreeee!!!

I know the show did not get great reviews as a whole because it had a lot to live up to being the sequel to such a masterpiece. I think it was a really great show and would recommend it. I think a lot of people may have a hard time getting past the different styles of music

Shea's is amazing. But, Love Never Dies.. was.. awful. The sets and costumes were gorgeous and the actors, singers and dancers were very talented but the plot, the storyline, the songs.. just awful. Unimaginitive.. if you're a fan of the original Phantom of the Opera.. I'd say you will probably hate this follow up..

British critics called it "Paint Never Dries". That should have given us a clue.

We,need more Andrew Lloyd Webber plays, his story lines are amazing.

If you are a Phantom fan and willing to embrace the change you should really enjoy this show. The settings were wonderful. Several of the songs have become part of my Phantom favorites. Does it have the impact of the original - no - but let's be real - how could it.