Seize the Stars

Here we go, the plot of Love Never Dies. I would call it an analysis, but at this point it's more a catalogue of it's crimes! ( Read it and weep! Contains spoilers, obviously! )

I could probably write a whole book on what's wrong with this plot, and another book on how to try and fix it (futile as that would surely be!) but somehow, despite everything, I'm probably as attracted as I am horrified by this show. It doesn't work storywise, but the score is so richly emotional and beautiful, even the recitative is melodious and never just filler. This work in no way lives up the magical, fantastic spirit of the original (I don't want these characters taken down off their pedastals, thank you, I like them there!) but in tiny moments, in beautiful songs, you do occasionally catch little glimpses of the characters you love, and getting to go there again, however imperfectly, is pretty cool. Do I wish it was better? Yes. Do I wish it had never been written? Actually, no. Yes, I would rather have this score in a good show, but at the end of the day, I'd rather have it here than not at all. It may be ugly, but the music is beautiful, and you can't help but love that about it, which in a way is strangely fitting for a show about the Phantom, because you could say the same for him.

Well, here goes my attempt to sort out my thoughts on Love Never Dies into a somewhat neat and intelligible review! (Haha- we'll see if that actually happens!)

So, firstly, having sat with it for a couple of weeks, my overall feelings toward LND are somewhat different than they were upon my initial listening. Since then I've been re-playing my favorite songs almost non-stop, and I can actually say that it's a truly beautiful score that I honestly love. The initial shock of the more preposterous plot points and out-of-character characters made me rather resistant to loving any part of it, but I think I'm finally at that point where I can be whole-hearted in my embrace of it's good parts, even if I still hate other parts of it. Having seen the Australian production helps a little too, since some of the tweaks softened it's fail to less epic proportions!

( The differences between the London and Melbourne productions )

( But I still prefer the London leads, and can't help raving about them! )

...To be contined in the next post! Yes, I have VERY mixed feelings and a VERY complex love/hate relationship with this show, and I'm gonna need another day and some more time to get it all out coherently!