Ironic: Catching Neil Simon Theatre 'Cause It Could
As if it weren't bad enough that
Love Never Dies director
Jack O'Brien and choreographer
Jerry Mitchell already jumped ship for what they certainly must hope is smoother sailing with their other more promising project -- you guessed it
-- Catch Me If You Can -- the irony of the
Marc Shaiman/
Scott Wittman/
Terrence McNally musical capturing
Love Never Dies' place at the Simon Theatre must add insult to injury for Sir ALW. One can only imagine the intrigue that's taken place behind the scenes. (
UPDATE: Producers for Love Never Dies announced on October 1, 2010, that the show would not be mounted on Broadway during the 2010-11 Theatrical Season.)
For composers Shaiman and Witttman, this will mark a homecoming of sorts as their only other full-fledged Broadway musical -- the Tony Award-winning
Hairspray -- occupied the Neil Simon for six and a half enormously successful years. If
Catch Me If You Can catches on with critics and audiences, it'll become the first regular show to have succeeded since their earlier work closed at the beginning of last year.
While casting has yet to be announced, such acclaimed Broadway draws as
Norbert Leo Butz,
Aaron Tveit,
Tom Wopat and
Kerry Butler starred in the
out-of-town tryout in Seattle last summer. I know I'm not alone in hoping each of these talented actors can be caught yet again to reprise their roles on the Main Stem.
Previews for
Catch Me If You Can are scheduled to begin March 7, 2010, and open April 10.
As for Andrew Lloyd Webber? Well, perhaps he'll think twice about never saying never when naming a musical.
This is
Steve On Broadway (SOB).
In keeping with the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations that unfairly discriminate against bloggers, who are now required by law to disclose when they have received anything of value they might write about, please note that I have received nothing of value in exchange for this post.Labels: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Broadway, Catch Me If You Can, First Word On New Show, Jack O'Brien, Jerry Mitchell, Love Never Dies, Marc Shaiman, Musical, Scott Wittman, Terrence McNally
Has "Love" Actually Died?
UPDATED OCTOBER 1, 2010
Arguably one of Broadway's most anticipated new shows may have already withered before ever making it to the United States.
Make no mistake.
Love Never Dies --
Andrew Lloyd Webber's $15 million sequel to
The Phantom Of The Opera that transports the action from Paris' Opera House to New York's Coney Island -- is still playing at London's Adelphi Theatre. But now reports are suggesting that the show won't make it to Broadway this season, if ever.
Update: Love Never Dies producers announced on October 1, 2010, that the production would not be on Broadway during the 2010-11 Theatrical Season.
The musical sequel opened to largely negative reviews in London earlier this year. After seeing the show for myself in May,
I concluded that it needed an immense amount of work if it was ever going to last even a fraction of the twenty-plus years that
Phantom has been around. And indeed, it's been my understanding the performance West End audiences are seeing today is different than the one I saw just months ago.
But apparently that's not enough.
Previews were slated to begin for an open-ended run in April 2011, but all of that has now been called into question since director
Jack O'Brien and choreographer
Jerry Mitchell have
reportedly bailed so they may concentrate on a more sure-fire hit:
Catch Me If You Can.
The
New York Post's Michael Riedel
goes one step farther to say that although his sources have said the show is postponed "indefinitely," he says, "The $15 million London production, which was directed by Broadway vets Jack O'Brien and Jerry Mitchell, will not be seen in New York. Ever."
Thus, I have pulled
Love Never Dies from my
confirmed list of shows scheduled for the 2010-11 Theatrical Season and have placed it on my "
Definitely Maybe" list. Until we hear for certain that Andrew Lloyd Webber's sequel is truly a non-starter for this season, it will languish like several other improbable shows on that list.
P.S. I must place a large
SPOILER ALERT on the second comment below. If you don't want to know the plot, read no further.
This is
Steve On Broadway (SOB).
In keeping with the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations that unfairly discriminate against bloggers, who are now required by law to disclose when they have received anything of value they might write about, please note that I have received nothing of value in exchange for this post.Labels: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Broadway, Jack O'Brien, Jerry Mitchell, London, Love Never Dies, Postponement, The Phantom Of The Opera
Lo
ve Never Dies (The SOB Review) – Adelphi Theatre, London, United Kingdom
*1/2 (out of ****) Eternal optimists often say, “Never say never.”
Legions of optimistic
Phantom Of The Opera fans aside,
Andrew Lloyd Webber would have been well-served not only to say “no,” but “never again” after his
cat reportedly destroyed his first draft of his score for this deadly dull sequel with not much to love, including its ridiculous opera meets vaudeville vibe. While the
show has been dubbed "Paint Never Dries," I dare say I've had more fun watching paint dry -- and it's faster, too.
That
Love Never Dies is merely a shameless rip-off of the original becomes painfully clear after Christine (
Sierra Boggess) arrives at New York’s Coney Island to perform a new aria she and Raoul (
Joseph Millson) discover has been written by her rejected and disfigured suitor (
Ramin Karimloo) from the Paris Opera House. When the words, “We’re just in this for the money” is spoken, the jig is up for all involved.
To
Love Never Dies’ credit, both Karimloo and Boggess are in exceptional voice. And there’s a visually arresting projection design from
Jon Driscoll. But with the exception of a first act tune “Beauty Underneath” in which director
Jack O’Brien must have decided that the time had come to show at least a little money up on the stage,
Love Never Dies comes up short in terms of spectacle for which the first show is known.
Instead, this sequel is mostly overwrought that's overdone. (Also overdone the night I attended was the incessant fog machine, which obscured all action on the stage for at least three or four minutes of the climax, making the unintended disembodied voices seem like the true phantoms. It left me thinking "Fog Never Dies.")
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
In keeping with the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations that unfairly discriminate against bloggers, who are now required by law to disclose when they have received anything of value they might write about, please note that I have received nothing of value in exchange for this post.Labels: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Jack O'Brien, Jon Driscoll, Joseph Millson, Love Never Dies, Musical, Ramin Karimloo, Sequel, Sierra Boggess, The Phantom Of The Opera, The SOB Review
SOB's West End DebutEarlier today, shortly after I landed at London's Heathrow Airport, I made my way almost directly to the West End's
Gielgud Theatre so I could see the Broadway transfer of
Hair, which just opened.
Jetlag aside (I had virtually no sleep on the flight over), this was truly a
Hair-raising experience, partly because most of the original Broadway cast transferred. But what truly made my experience complete was the chance to join the cast on stage for the rousing finale of "Let The Sun Shine In." Nothing like making my West End debut.
It gave me the needed jolt of adrenaline to make it through most of the rest of the day without even so much as one cup of coffee. As for my caffeine fix, I finally got it with Andrew of
The West End Whingers immediately prior to taking in
Love Never Dies tonight. Was
that ever wise.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
In keeping with the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations that unfairly discriminate against bloggers, who are now required by law to disclose when they have received anything of value they might write about, please note that I have received nothing of value in exchange for this post.Labels: Broadway, Hair, London, Love Never Dies, Musical, Transfer, West End
Ironic: Catching Neil Simon Theatre 'Cause It Could 
