Love Never Dies (musical)

Love Never Dies (musical)

Love Never Dies is a romantic musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Glenn Slater with additional lyrics by Charles Hart, and book by Lloyd Webber and Ben Elton, with additional material by Slater and Frederick Forsyth. It is a sequel to Lloyd Webber's long-running musical The Phantom of the Opera. The musical is set in 1907, which Lloyd Webber states is, "ten years roughly after the end of the original Phantom," although the events of the original actually took place in 1881. Christine Daaé is invited to perform at Phantasma, a new attraction in Coney Island, by an anonymous impresario and, with her husband Raoul and son Gustave in tow, journeys to Brooklyn, unaware that it is the Phantom who has arranged her appearance in the popular beach resort.

Although Lloyd Webber began working on Love Never Dies in 1990, it was not until 2007 that he began writing the music. The musical opened at the Adelphi Theatre in the West End on 9 March 2010 with previews from 22 February 2010. It was originally directed by Jack O'Brien and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, however the show closed for four days in November 2010 for substantial re-writes, which were overseen by Lloyd Webber, and it opened with new direction from Bill Kenwright. Set and costume designs were by Bob Crowley. The original London production received mostly negative reviews, however, the subsequent Australian production featuring an entirely new design team and heavy revisions was generally better received. The planned Broadway production, which was to have opened simultaneously with the West End run, was delayed and then indefinitely postponed.