LOVE NEVER DIES REVIEW
Love Never Dies is 'Lloyd Webber's best work since Phantom'
The opening of Love Never Dies at the Adelphi Theatre was one of the most eagerly-awaited events in the West End of recent years - and many reviewers felt it more than lived up to their expectations.
Andrew Lloyd Webber has long been regarded as the man with the Midas touch when it comes to West End musicals and his new shows always attract plenty of interest.
However, the build-up to Love Never Dies was on a different level, as it is the sequel to Lord Lloyd Webber's most successful ever work - The Phantom of the Opera..
Phantom has been seen by more than 100 million people around the world since its launch in 1986, so Love Never Dies has a lot to live up to.
In an attempt to match expectations, Lord Lloyd Webber worked with Tony Award winner Glenn Slater and Ben Elton, the man behind We Will Rock You, on the production.
The result - a musical in which the Phantom has relocated from Paris to Coney Island, New York - is spectacular, according to the Telegraph's Charles Spencer.
"This is Lloyd Webber's finest show since the original Phantom, with a score blessed with superbly haunting melodies and a yearning romanticism that sent shivers racing down my spine," said the reviewer.
Love Never Dies sees Christine Daae invited to perform at the Coney Island theme park by a mysterious impresario, who is, of course, the Phantom. It is later revealed that the Phantom is the father of Christine's son and the drama unfolds from there.
Mr Spencer suggested it is returning to these familiar characters that has inspired Lord Lloyd Webber to produce his best work of recent years, even claiming there may be a little of the composer in the Phantom.
The Telegraph's theatre correspondent is not the only reviewer to have been enthralled by Love Never Dies.
Paul Taylor of the Independent handed the musical a five-star rating and gave special praise to its "technical excellence", while Michael Coveney of WhatsOnStage also awarded full marks to a production he described as "outstanding and heart-stopping".