Review: Love Never Dies

Love Never Dies
The Really Useful Company Asia Pacific
28 May 2011
Regent Theatre
www.ticketmaster.com.au

On opening night, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber took a bow and shared the overflowing audience love with the Australian cast of Love Never Dies.  He told us he was never happy with the London version and said that this could be the best production he's seen of one of his shows.

After the West End version's mixed reviews (read bollocking) and the "postponement" of the Broadway version, all musical theatre eyes turned to Melbourne to see if the sequel to The Phantom of the Opera is really that scary. Regardless of any opinion,  Sir Andrew says it's what he imagined and Graeme Murphy (choreography) should have shown the knight how to do a convincing happy dance.

And so Sir A should be thrilled. Simon Phillips strong direction leads a perfect cast, from the faultless and gorgeous ensemble to Ben Lewis as the Phantom, who I'd love to see play the original. Maria Mercedes (my favourite Frank'N'Furter) brings a creepy darkness to Madame Giry; Sharon Millerchip (who was Meg Giry in the original Australian production of Phantom) lets Meg struggle with bitterness and hope; Simon Gleeson shows the sadness and regret in Raoul; and Anna O'Byrne (who was so wonderful as Polly in Malthouse's Threepenny Opera) makes us believe Christine's regrets.

However, the star of the show is designer Gabriela Tylesova. Her design creates a nostalgic Coney Island with a part-irresistible, part-nightmarish beauty. This spectacular world of pearled colours, sepias and greys is like a hand-coloured seaside postcard, but it's an uncomfortable world where the glorious freaks outnumber the happy visitors. No detail has been spared on the exquisite costumes of hand-sewn lace,  beads and brocade, while the joy and humour of her seaside and dancing-girl costumes fills the stage. And the only thing more gorgeous than the painted tights are the shoes. The sight lines up front mean that a bit too much backstage "mystery" is revealed (which this can and must be fixed), but seeing the shoes and the boots (oh my god, those boots) is worth it. I couldn't decide which pair I loved the most.

Ok, so this production is glorious, so why are there so many euthanasia jokes about Love Never Dies?

Perhaps because a story with no heart doesn't need a Do Not Resusitate order.

It's ten years since the Phantom escaped his lynching in the catacombs of the Paris Opera House and lovers Christine and Raoul were free to get it on in peace. Christine's become famous, they have a ten year old son (who likes music) and they're in debt (not sure why). Meanwhile Madame and Meg Giry followed the Phantom to Coney Island where Meg is still trying to get his attention (and this time she's getting her gear off ). Oh, and Christine really did find the courage to show him he "is not alone" and has been pining for her deformed father-angel.

For those unfamiliar with the Phantom story, I'm not sure what narrative question brings new audiences into this piece, and those who know it will spend time re-assessing their memories of the characters and the story. Dramatically, most of act one is given away in the opening number (where Lewis is amazing), the exposition outweighs the story progression and the highlights of the rest are Meg's stand alone numbers with the ensemble and any time the whole cast is on the stage and the story is having a breather.

I think The Phantom of the Opera is a perfect piece of theatre; musically, emotionally and dramatically. I'm an unashamed fan of Sir Andrew. Cats will always be awesome, I don't know why Aspects of Love was never huge and I have a cassette of Starlight Express and enjoyed every lycra-clad, roller-skating moment of the Melbourne production. There, I've said it.

If someone had played me the music of Love Never Dies, I would have guessed it was a parody of Lloyd Webber. Musically, it's forgettable and dreary and builds to a climax song that relies on the voice of O'Byrne and the outrageously glorious design (even if we all know that the coloured peacocks are boys).

The music is sadly matched by the lyrics that lack any hint of subtext and ("A man as hideous as this is capable of anything") and fail to show anything that isn't bleeding obvious.

But all could be forgiven with a great story. Ben Elton wrote the book. Ben Elton: the alternative-comic hero of the 80s and 90s; the wittiest bloke on the planet; the man who spits out more best sellers than most people read; a dude who understands story. Yes, I am also a fan of Ben Elton and have wiped the recent Channel 9 experience from my memory. I don't know how he wrote this story. There's no tension, no mystery, no compelling dilemmas (dilemma is equal and compelling choices, not a coin toss between which is the least dull), no humour (!) and has a lazy and unfulfilling ending worthy of a day time soap.  However, the cast bring everything they have to make it as emotionally real as possible and I saw a couple of tears shed.

This production is an incredible opportunity to fix Love Never Dies and remind all the disbelievers of just how much Sir Andrew changed and influenced musical theatre.  I tired to "look with my heart and not with my eyes", but the only thing my heart skipped a beat over were the shoes.

This review originally appeared on AussieThearte.com

Spamalot

Spamalot
29 November2007
Her Majesty’s Theatre

If your aunt eats elderberries and you giggle at every shrubbery you see… well you know how much you will love Spamalot. This musical won the Best Musical Tony in 1995 because it’s damn good. The Australian production lives up to all expectations and should be farting in Melbourne’s general direction for a long while.
 
Spamalot was written by Eric Idle and is as good as everything else he wrote for Python. It’s “lovingly ripped off” from the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Idle has left in the best bits, removed the bits that would be boring on stage and got rid of the bits that made us cringe (sorry lads – there’s no spanking – but there is a reference). He’s melded characters to create much more of a journey and story for the knights. For example after Dennis is found by Arthur in the mud, he is convinced to join the quest. “Kneel Galahad” “It’s Dennis”. Idle satirises and references all of Monty Python from Finland to suspenders and a bra, and Patsy gets to sing “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” - without having to be crucified.

If you love Python, you’ll get every joke. But don’t worry if you don’t. The reason Monty Python and the Holy Grail has become one of the most quoted films, is because it’s one of the most original and inspired comedies ever written. “I’m not dead yet” is now a song, but remains one of the best jokes ever written. The French taunting is even funny when performed by drunk engineer undergraduates in the uni bar; so its side splitting when performed by professionals. Jokes like the cute little rabbit and the cow are still absurdly ridiculous, even if their success is based on knowledge of the film.

The stroke of genius was letting Mike Nichols direct. He certainly knows how to direct film and television (The Graduate, The Birdcage, Working Girl, Regarding Henry, Angels in America to name a few). Nichols gift as a director is to totally emerge the viewer into the world and lives of his characters. He takes the very, very funny Idle script and fleshes out the knights, so we come to love them as more than just “the bloke playing Michael Palin”. I suspect it’s Nichols who also brought in the abundance of musical theatre references. In his hands Spamalot has become a lampoon of all musicals - not just a hilarious musical.

Most of the new jokes are based on musicals. Phantom, West Side Story, Fiddler, Funny Girl, Rocky Horror, Boy From Oz, Les Mis (Eponine appears as a French person) are all there. And there’s more than one Aussie reference for our version. “You Won’t Succeed” is written just for Broadway. It’s about not being able to put on a musical without Jews. This kills every performance in Manhattan, but the Australian audience were not as comfortable laughing at the Jew jokes as they were at the French.

The Australian cast are all pretty close to perfect. Lucinda Shaw is the stand out as The Lady of the Lake. It’s a tough role. It was written to include a female in the all male story and much of the musical theatre satire rests with her. Lucinda excels. Her comic timing is only matched by her voice. Mark Conaghan (Prince Herbert), Jason Langley (brave Sir Robin), Ben Lewis (Dennis Galahad) and Derek Metzger (Patsy) are all memorable and have taken the roles beyond the film characters. Stephen Hall is wonderful as Lancelot, but has to stop pretending to be John Cleese. Billie Brown leads the knights as Arthur. Billie doesn’t match the vocal ability of the rest of the cast, which is especially noticeable in the duets, and he hasn’t completely embraced the character yet. Arthur is the serious one. Billie plays it like he’s the one in on the whole joke. We need to laugh more AT Arthur, rather than with him.

Spamalot already has repeat visitors and groupies at the theatre each night. (Idle spotting was very popular this week.) It’s going to settle for a long sold out run. There’s at least one seat that is sold out every performance until February. You’ll have to ask someone who has seen the show, as I don’t dare say anything more in print.

This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.