After opening to mixed reviews in London last winter, Love Never Dies will bow in Melbourne with a new creative team and altered dramatic structure. Fixes to the book, which were implemented in the West End production last fall, will be reflected in the Australian production. Phantom lyricist Charles Hart is also credited with additional lyrics for the latest incarnation of the sequel.
Priscilla Queen of the Desert director Simon Phillips will direct Love Never Dies, which will have choreography by renowned choreographer and former Sydney Dance Company artistic director Graeme Murphy.
As previously reported, Gabriela Tylesova will render new set and costume designs for Love Never Dies. The production will have lighting by Nick Schlieper (War of the Roses, Priscilla Queen of the Desert), with original London sound designer Mick Potter and orchestrator David Cullen also on board. Guy Simpson (The Phantom of the Opera) will serve as musical supervisor.
The Melbourne production is currently booking through July 24.
"I’ve already begun developing a design with Gabriela Tylesova, hoping to do with the razzamatazz of Coney Island what Maria Bjornson’s iconic Phantom designs did with the opulence of the Paris Opera, and I can’t wait to start the search for the formidable talents required to do justice to the score!," Philips said in a previous statement. The original London production of Love Never Dies, currently playing the Adelphi Theatre, was directed by Tony Award winner Jack O'Brien and has choreography by Tony winner Jerry Mitchell. Bob Crowley rendered the original West End production designs.
Love Never Dies has a score by Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Glenn Slater (Sister Act, The Little Mermaid). The book is by Lloyd Webber, Ben Elton and Slater. O'Brien was previously credited as having made contributions to the book. Both he and Mitchell have departed the project and are at work on their new Broadway musical Catch Me If You Can.
Australia has always been part of the international plan for Love Never Dies, which premiered in London in winter 2010. However, critics were cool on the lushly scored musical that follows the Phantom and Christine to Coney Island ten years after the original production ends its tale. The musical was to premiere on Broadway in November 2010 but has since delayed its arrival.
Casting for the Australian premiere of Love Never Dies began in November.
