Andrew Lloyd Webber's Love Never Dies [Blu-ray]

I didnt understand the play when i was younger. Once i watched the movie and did my research from the first movie i was thrilled there was a sequal. Some of the songs seem to last forever. But over all i enjoyed this movie. I listen to it going to work. My van has a dvd player. The price is affordable. I recommend you watch the first movie. It is worth the money as well.

Music and production is amazing!

First a couple of notes to those who have never seen this production on DVD. The characters do not all have moles on their foreheads, but microphones. If seen live, I don't think the microphones could have been seen at all. I just ignore them just like I ignore the concert style mics used in the Royal Albert Hall, 25th Anniversary production. Also, there are many discrepancies in time line and in character and even in plot from the live production and the movie. I am as willing to suspend disbelief for this production just as I did for the book, the old movies and Andrew Lloyd Webber's fantastic play.It is not quite as good as the original Phantom. The music is as beautiful, but the lyrics are not as good as the the original Lloyd Webber Phantom. Every once in a while, the lyrics jar a bit.***Spoiler below***However, I have read the lyrics to the original Love Never Dies, and this is a great improvement and not just in lyrics. From what I can tell from reading those lyrics, the original play had a catastrophically bad ending. Thank goodness the folks in Australia did quite a bit of "cleaning up." I am not happy with the current ending, but at least I can use my imagination and change it.Mr. Lewis who plays the Phantom is a bit melodramatic in his acting, more like the acting in an opera which, like everything else, is subordinate to the voice of the singer.All of the above being said, this is a wonderful musical and a wonderful production. I wish I could have seen it in Australia to get a much better vision of the working of the sets which I found very impressive. The singing was magnificent and the music was as good as any by LLoyd Webber (and certainly better than JC Superstar). Mr. Lewis has a wonderful baritone which I have always preferred to tenor anyway. Ms O'Bryne has a beautiful voice also. Her makeup is a bit heavy, but probably not for a theater and she is as beautiful as the Phantom thinks she is. Maria Mercedes has a wonderful (if short) solo which shows she can belt them out as well as any Broadway legend.I was not happy with it when I first saw it, but since then it has become an addiction and I watch it almost every day - and it gets better each time I watch it. Ben Lewis is very good looking as the Phantom (with his mask on) and not as bad as the orignal Phantom, but worse than Gerard Butler in the movie, with it off. You have to be able to stop the DVD at just the right spot to see him.Whatever it's flaws this Andrew Lloyd Webber step child is a beautiful work with soaring music and singing. It also has a very sexy duo between the Phantom and Christine that is more explicit than Past the Point of No Return.Anyway, I now love it as much as the original Phantom which I have in three versions: the movie, the Royal Albert Hall 25th anniversary production and the original cast album. But this Phantom is a very calculating and dangerous man, but still more worthy of Christine than the other two. He is less hot headed and a little more sane than the previous Phantoms.

Years ago, when rumors surfaced that Andrew Lloyd Webber was working on a sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, I was both excited and appalled: Excited because I'm a huge fan of the original show and would love to see and hear more material on the subject - and appalled because I couldn't imagine the possibility of a well-conceived idea for a sequel. To move forward with a sequel - at least in my mind - there has to be more to the original story, and it has to be an intriguing story. A good story.Whether you believe the story of Love Never Dies is a good one or not, I think it's at least. . . interesting. The Phantom of the Opera was certainly interesting. It's basically a "beauty and the beast" type of story told using spectacular scenery and lush, melodramatic music. Andrew Lloyd Webber struck gold in more ways than one with that show. Love Never Dies has the exact same formula except that there's a twist in the story, albeit a far-fetched one. Just because some may perceive a story line to be implausible doesn't mean it's a bad idea. I mean how likely is it that a horribly disfigured man came to be such a genius, such a musician, such an architect, such a magician? Is it feasible that he'd live years and years across an underground lake underneath the Paris Opera House and haunt the place without ever being caught? If you loved the original story, then I'm assuming you buy in to these ideas. Why not? After all, it's fiction. Right?The continuing story that the Phantom escaped from Paris and discovers the fortune and anonymity he enjoys at Coney Island is completely plausible to me. Same goes for the reason that lures Christine to New York 10 years later. What has happened with Christine and Raoul's relationship in the interim isn't all that far-fetched either. The twist in the story involving the only new primary character of Gustave is a bit hard to swallow but definitely not impossible. If you understand that conception took place just before the Phantom left Paris (and not sometime during the original story, which I find ludicrous that some reviews seem to think that that's when it occurred), then you have to know that the story line is possible. I don't understand how some people can watch and listen to "Beneath a Moonless Sky" and not understand this. I totally understand why a person might be skeptical about the likelihood of the circumstances, but again it's fiction. Right?For the very reason that many people say the show doesn't work or for which the story is so often criticized, I believe the show wouldn't work without it. The above-mentioned twist is what makes the story interesting. I think it's the hook that makes the viewer want to see how the story is going to play out. Add in the battle of the Phantom and Raoul vying to win Christine one last time, and the story becomes perhaps even more intriguing than the original story. I'll admit I had trouble buying the whole story, but I found myself genuinely interested in seeing it all unfold, even if parts are completely predictable. Realizing that the new story is pure fantasy, just like the original story, I enjoyed it a lot.I don't blame Andrew Lloyd Webber one bit for attempting what he's done here. I absolutely don't believe that he has done what others have suggested - that he simply saw an opportunity to make some cash. He attempted to strike gold again but not necessarily for fortune. Rather, to be inspired to write new music for a subject that's near and dear to him. Sure, he may have borrowed a melody or two he had previously written for something else to incorporate into the new score, but there is plenty of really terrific original stuff here. Combine all of it with just the right amount of familiar tunes from The Phantom of the Opera, and the score to Love Never Dies is one of Webber's best ever.The production values are second to none. From the actors on stage and the musicians in the orchestra pit to the crew handling the sets, costumes and lighting, all are tremendous. The picture and sound quality on the Blu-Ray are stellar. I think Love Never Dies is a great show, and the disk is worth every penny to have as part of my collection. The only reason I didn't give it a 5-star rating is because the show was filmed and put together on disk more like a movie than a live stage show. I would have preferred to hear all of the audience reactions and to see all of the scene transitions. You do hear some audience reactions, maybe only three or four times throughout the entire show. When I see a show in person, I enjoy witnessing and imagining all of the technical and creative details that must go into changing from one scene to another and making everything flow seamlessly. You get very little taste of that on the filmed version of this show. It's obvious in many places that the producers cut out audience applause and footage during transitions from scene to scene. Still, it's a beautifully shot and edited show. The only reason I could fathom for the decision to produce the DVD in this way is that it made me, at least, want to see the show live (if it ever comes to the U.S.) more than I might have wanted to see it had the DVD given me more of a feeling of actually seeing it live. If the show ever does tour the U.S. or perhaps go to Broadway, I will likely make every effort to see it.

Excelente

本当にこの作品は好き嫌いが分かれるようです。しかし自分としてはロイド・ウェバーの作品が、また見れたということのほうが大きいです。怪人というより普通のおっさんになってしまったファントムだがこれはこれでいい。おっさんだから未練タラタラのほうが合うwwファントムより値打ちを下げてしまったのがギニー親子。何ですかあれは、あきれてものが言えませんね。ま、こんな安っぽいメロドラマですがさすがにロイド・ウェバードラマチックな音楽聞かせてくれます。前作「オペラ座の怪人」よりも、全体的にこじんまりした作りですが流れるような美しい旋律は物語の安っぽさを下げないようちゃんと支えています。メルボルンでの公演を収めたハイビジョンビデオですが色彩も綺麗で、古き良き時代のアメリカのショーを少しオーバーですが再現してます。部屋を暗くして音量は中くらいでのんびり見てください。多くを期待しなければ何度も見れますよ。ビスタサイズのほうがよかったのですが、シネスコ画面です。

Hatte zuerst die CD mit Karimloo/Borgess gehört und die Musik von A.L. Webber ist - wie immer - wunderschön und durchaus passend. Steltle mir vor, ein Film mit Joel Schumacher als Regisseur und den selben Darstellern wie im Phantom-Film wäre mit dieser Musik wieder wunderschön. Auch Conney Island wäre eine schöne Kulisse, man könnte da viel machen.Am Anfang musste ich mich umstellen, von der Perfektion des Films "The Phantom of The Opera" mit den Orignial-Stimmen, die ja unterlegt wurden, zur Bühnenshow, die ja im Original gesungen wurde. Doch jetzt mag ich diese Version sehr. Sie ist mit sehr viel Gefühl gespielt und gesungen, hat spontane Dramatik, ist bunt und schön. Manche Textstellen wurden leicht abgeändert und geküzt, das ist ja aus Zeitgründen nicht anders zu machen. Doch die geänderten Texte sind schön und eingängig und sehr romantisch. Auch habe ich das Gefühl, daß da viel Gefühl im Spiel ist. Die Darsteller kommen sehr viel netter herüber, als in der gesungenen Version. Auch wenn ich R. Karimloo auf der CD sehr genieße! Roul ist vor allem ein Schatz! Ben Lewis gefällt mir als Phantom wirklich sehr gut, er ist groß und gutaussehend. Doch! Ich muß zugeben, habe erst Zugang zu dem Musical aus Melbourne nach ein paar Mal Anschauen gefunden und genieße sie jetzt sehr. Habe - nachdem ich gestern nochmals "The Phantom of The Opera" angesehen hatte - den Eindruck, daß die Bühnenshow mehr spontanes Gefühl rüberbringt, öfter eine Gänsehaut beim Gucken. Ein paar Mal ansehen und ich bin überzeugt, man wird die Fassung mögen!Ich hoffe trotzdem sehr, daß A.L. Webber und J. Schumacher gesund und fit genug bleiben, um aus "Love never dies" einen schönen Film zu machen, mit den Darstellern von PdO. Die hätten ja inzwischen das richtige Alter und es wäre interessant zu sehen, wie die an das Sequel herangehen. Es wird ja inzwischen aus allem ein Musicalfilm gemacht, warum also nicht aus "Love Never Dies"? Ich denke, das wäre - Dank der schönen Melodien von A. L. Webber - ein richtiger Genuß!Der "Phantom of the Opera"-Film in der englischen Originalfassung (wegen den Songs, ist aber alles sehr gut zu verstehen, es wird ein schönes Englisch gesprochen und gesungen!) gehört zu meinen absoluten Lieblingsfilmen. Nach einer anstrengenden Woche, oder einem unangenehmen Tag gönne ich mir den Film immer wieder mit einem Gläschen Wein dazu. Wunderschön und opulent!

I am a fan of Lord Webber's music. Unfortunately, living in India does not give a lot of opportunities to see these on stage in a theatre. Though Lord Webber has been known to like Indian music, culture and food his shows aren't available for us to see here. Therefore we have to depend on recorded material to see the shows. In the course of time we have got Cats and a collection of numbers on video CD, Joseph, Jesus Christ superstar and birthday concerts on DVD, Phantom and Evita as movies on DVD and now Love never dies on Blue Ray. I hope Really useful group produces all their works on blue ray for those of us in countries where watching a live performance is a distant dream.

Come mai l'autore Andrew Lloyd Webber ha scelto Ben Lewis e non Ramin Karimloo ---pur molto bravo---come Fantasma dell'Opera in questa versione? La risposta è nella prima scena in cui canta la famosa 'Til I hear you sing': Lewis ha una bellissima voce, molto virile, la sua interpretazione veicola in modo perfetto l'ossessione e l'amore per la sua musica e per Christine. Inoltre il pubblico che ha comprato e amato la versione con Gerald Butler ritroverà in questo interprete la sottile sensualità del personaggio (Lewis è molto prestante). Ramin Karimloo canta stupendamente, ma mi chiedo come possa risultare minaccioso---come spesso è il Fantasma---piccolo di statura com'e. Anche l'occhio vuole la sua parte e credo che Lloyd Webber abbia pensato la stessa cosa.Le scenografie sono superlative, magiche. E' un sequel che mantiene la qualità della parte precedente. Consigliatissimo!