Love Never Dies (Australia version) review

Last year, the Australian version of “Love Never Dies” came to DVD and cinemas. It has the same title and most of the same songs as the original London cast, but with some changes such as the lyrics, the set, the costumes and of course, the cast.

The story of “Love Never Dies” takes place 10 years after “The Phantom of the Opera” and takes place in America in a park called Coney Island, where the Phantom, who goes by Mr. Y, is running his own park called Phantasma. Christine is married to Raoul and they have a son named Gustave, who has a mysterious parentage.

The cast had Ben Lewis as the Phantom, Anna O’Byrne as Christine and Simon Gleeson as Raoul. While the set was better than the London set, Lewis and O’Byrne were not. Ben Lewis‘ voice was too deep and his eyes were always wide and creepy, he was scary and the Phantom is supposed to have somewhat calmed down by this play. He also did not sing “The Beauty Underneath” like a rock song, but rather sang it just to sing it. Anna O’Byrne has a beautiful voice, but her acting was not the best. As Christine, she acted like she was still afraid of the Phantom, though Christine is actually still in love with him.  Christine is wearing a peacock dress in the song “Love Never Dies” which made no sense. The ending was disappointing because there was no blood when Christine got shot, and the Phantom’s deformity is not shown anytime throughout the entire play.

I for the most part agree with the “Phantom Reviewer” in his part one review and somewhat in his part two review. I do not like the trashing of the song “Love Never Dies” or a few others, but I do agree like most “Phans” that the story line is somewhat out there, but I like it. I also agree with what was said about using Ramin Karimloo and Sierra Boggess instead.

Glee Season 5 Premiere

The “Glee” season 5 premiere aired on Fox on Sept. 26. The cast performed songs by the Beatles, and it was the first of a two-part premiere episode. Glee fans, known as “Gleeks,” who watched the premiere have opinions on the episode. However, this season itself will be different without Cory Monteith, who died this summer and had been a regular on the show since its first season portraying the character Finn.

Mourning Cory

“I personally think they should have started the season off with the dedication to Finn.” Meagan Shotwell, a “Glee” fan from Fort Sumner, New M., said that the premiere was good, but wanted a different focus.

Shotwell said that if the season had started off with the tribute to Finn, then people who have never watched the show, or heard of Monteith’s death, would know of the character.

“It would have been a good goodbye slash info thing on his death.”

Shotwell also thought that if the tribute episode would have been better for the fans that have been watching the show since its first season so that it would have been an easier goodbye.

“We have been waiting for closure for a while and the wait is just getting harder for some,” Shotwell said regarding the tribute episode.

She then said that in two weeks, for the tribute episode, “Gleeks” will finally have that closure.

“It will be a goodbye to Finn as a character and Cory as a person.”

A Great Premiere Episode

Sierra Volz, a “Glee” fan from Branson, Mo., said that she personally loved the episode.

“I loved the morals throughout the entire episode. It was very inspiring,” she said.

Volz said the reason that it was so inspiring is because the character named Rachel Berry was a little more humble after her performance, and she did not jump at her chance to let the producers and directors choose her for their Broadway show “Funny Girl” right then. The show also continued to show its respect for the homosexual community in the episode, with Blaine’s proposal to Kurt.

Volz is also happy with the new couple on the show, Artie and Kitty.

“It really shows that no matter where you may be on the social ladder, genuine people will always disregard that,” she said.

Volz added that she can see the characters developing more, and is also anxious to see how they depict Finn’s departure.

“I think that it will have a huge effect on all of them, but especially Rachel. I’m sure that there will also be many other events throughout the season to develop each character,” she said.

Regarding the departure of Finn, Volz believes that it will have an effect on every character, because he was a huge part in most of the character’s lives, and at least a small part in other character’s lives.

“Depending on how they depict his departure, I think it will change a lot of their views on life in general. I also believe the season will have a ‘Do it for Finn’ kind of vibe,” she said.

New Characters are not the Best

Alyscia Morante, a “Glee” fan from Irving, Texas, thought the premiere episode was OK. She said that she did not feel like the plot line has gotten any better. She did like, however, that Rachel cannot get everything that she wants, and that the number that they did in the diner was pretty cool. She also liked how Kurt’s dad dealt with everything regarding Kurt and Blaine’s engagement.

“I love how supportive he is,” she said.

Concerning the plot, Morante said that she did not like a lot of the things that have happened after the main characters from seasons one through three went to go and move on with their lives. She said she did not like how the plot went with the new characters that were introduced last season. While she said she liked the new characters, she just had to get used to them.

“I thought Ryder’s dyslexia was an interesting turn. I feel like they kind of just used the same story line and changed bits and pieces here and there,” she said.

Phantom of the Opera 25th anniversary review

With the “Phantom of the Opera” recently celebrating its 27^th anniversary on West End October 9, let us take a flashback to the 25^th anniversary that was performed live two years ago.  The 25^th anniversary is on DVD in London, the United States, Japan and is now on Netflix as well.

The 25^th anniversary features the Phantom sequel “Love Never Dies” co-stars Ramin Karimloo and Sierra Boggess, along with Hadley Fraser, portraying the three main characters. This was not Karimloo and Boggess’ first time on the Phantom stage, Karimloo was a famous Phantom since he took on the role in 2008 on West End at age 28. Boggess was the first Christine in the Las Vegas production, “Phantom-The Las Vegas Spectacular” in 2006, where “Phantom of the Opera” creator, Andrew Lloyd Webber, first noticed her. The entire cast did a great job performing, and the acting and singing is amazing.

The anniversary performance took place at the Royal Albert Hall in London and was seen worldwide with the use of recording cameras, it was also Karimloo’s last performance as The Phantom. The 25^th anniversary performance had an encore performance after the play with Colm Wilkinson, John Owen-Jones, Anthony Warlow, Peter Joback and Ramin Karimloo singing “The Music of the Night” and special guest star Sarah Brightman (Original West End and Broadway and Christine) singing “The Phantom of the Opera.” Original West End and Broadway Phantom, Michael Crawford, also made a guest appearance, but did not sing. It is a great performance and highly recommended for any “Phan” to have and add to their Phantom collection.

I agree with this reviewer, “The Phantom Reviewer” for the most part. The part that I did not agree with was the harsh criticism of Sarah Brightman’s encore performance, where they talked about her “flying away” and “big eyes” (her acting techniques). I do agree with what they said about Hadley Fraser portraying Raoul, and the character Christine having to hold him back at the end of the “Final Lair” scene. I do not particularly like the little fangirling moments focused on Ramin Karimloo, I’m a fangirl too, but when I watch this DVD I keep it as professional as possible.