Hot on the heels of garnering 7 major nominations for the 2011 Laurence Oliver Awards, with two wins at the 2011 Whatsonstage.com awards, and following the show's recent redirection and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical "LOVE NEVER DIES" today announced new casting.

Andrew Lloyd Webber's Love Never Dies, the sequel to Phantom of the Opera - has again extended its booking period through 14, January 2012 today, after the show led the musical nominations for the 2011 Olivier Awards.

The continuation of Broadway's longest-running musical The Phantom of the Opera, Love Never Dies will open in May 2011 at the Regent Theatre. It's now been announced that starring as The Phantom and Christine will be Ben Lewis as the Phantom and Anna O'Byrne as Christine. Nearly 900 entertainers are said to have had auditioned for the parts.

The continuation of Broadway's longest-running musical The Phantom of the Opera, Love Never Dies will open in May 2011 at the Regent Theatre. It's now been announced that The Phantom and Christine will be revealed in Melbourne next week, in a special announcement that will also feature the pair singing two songs from the show ('Til I Hear You Sing and Love Never Dies) along with a full orchestra. Nearly 900 entertainers are said to have had auditioned for the parts.

The continuation of Broadway's longest-running musical The Phantom of the Opera, Love Never Dies will open in May 2011 at the Regent Theatre in London. The Australian production will not be a carbon copy of the London production, and instead will have new design and a new director. Simon Phillips (Priscilla Queen of the Desert) will direct, with Gabriela Tylesova behind the design. Guy Simpson, who worked with the Australian production of Phantom, will serve as music supervisor, and Graeme Murphy will choreograph.

The Love Never Dies cast and crew would like to take this opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year - and, of course, they're about to do it in true Coney Island style… We are pleased to present to you - the Love Never Dies 12 Days of Christmas:

Love Never Dies Wardrobe Mistress Sandy Smith-Wilson gives us an insight into the fabulous costumes worn in the show, including how Christine's Gustav Klimt-inspired and Swarovski crystal-encrusted 'Opera Dress' was created and how the elaborate jewellery was put together by Set and Costume Designer Bob Crowley.

We've seen the Wigs Room and glimpsed the Wardrobe Department, and this time Love Never Dies‘ Sandra O'Brien shows us the makeup, prosthetics and some more of the costumes used to create the Love Never Dies look on a walk around the Adelphi Theatre. We also take a sneaky nose around in Sierra Boggess and Ramin Karimloo's dressing rooms - and get an exclusive peek at a banjo playing Phantom - before heading underneath the Adelphi stage for a look at the quick-change areas...

Another sneaky peek behind the scenes as this time, Love Never Dies' Wardrobe Mistress Sandy Smith-Wilson talks us through the laundering, fixing, maintenance and day-to-day running of a West End theatre's Wardrobe Department - from costume changes to occasional malfunctions!

Interviewed this week on Michael Ball's UK television show, Andrew Lloyd Webber himself has confirmed that LOVE NEVER DIES will next be hitting Australia and Toronto (which he said will be the pre-Broadway production) with different teams in place in each city. No specific dates, timelines or names for casting or creative have been revealed.

Michael Riedel adds some additional details in today's New York Post including that they now plan to bring the production first to Toronto (directed by Craig Revel Horwood) and Australia with the best production to then head to Broadway.

According to the New York Times, Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Love Never Dies' might not be making an apearance in Broadway's Spring 2011 season after all. Though a spokesperson for the Phantom sequel claims that the show is still set to play at the Neil Simon Theatre with a date to be announced for the Spring, the paper reports that director Jack O'Brian and choreographer Jerry Mitchell have left the production to focus on 'Catch Me if You Can'.

As the original team of six boys take their final bows at the Adelphi, we meet the new kids on the block who are stepping into their shoes (the eagle eyed among you will notice that we are one Gustave down as Tom is currently on holiday…)

In our latest video, cast member Jonathan Stewart takes us backstage to watch members of the LOVE NEVER DIES ensemble in action as they gear up for another show with their daily 'circus warm-up.' We just don't know where they get the energy from...

The Asian edition of the LOVE NEVER DIES album reached number one in China this week, Andrew Lloyd Webber announced on andrewlloydwebber.com. The album includes Chinese soprano Liping Zhang's Mandarin version of the title song.

In the third, and final, instalment of our dressing room interview with Summer - who plays Meg Giry - she tells us where her future plans lie, who her career role model is and talks of the pressures of coming from a show biz family…

In the second part of our video interview with Summer Strallen, who plays Meg in the show, she tells us how the keeps the role fresh - and how she winds down after a show, especially one as emotional as Love Never Dies…

LOVE NEVER DIES star Sierra Boggess sang 'Love Never Dies' from the sequel to THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA on the BBC's Over The Rainbow Reality TV show on May 16, 2010.

In the first of a two-part interview with Jo Miles - who, as Stage Manager for Love Never Dies, knows everything there is to know about the show - she talked us through what an 'average' day is like onstage and which actor she'd most like to see in a musical…

In our latest blog, we head back to Ramin's dressing room to catch up on how he feels about the character of the Phantom, his pet peeves, and how he keeps the role fresh.

The New York Times has confirmed that LOVE NEVER DIES will now aim for a spring opening on Broadway due to Andrew Lloyd Webber's health problems. LOVE NEVER DIES was scheduled to open on Broadway on November 11, 2010. Reportedly, Webber is experiencing 'post-operative problems' from his recent treatment for prostate cancer, a rep for the production told the New York Times today. As BroadwayWorld previously reported, speculation of a delay began weeks ago following the tally of mixed reviews for the production, which opened at the Adelphi Theatre in the West End on March 9.

Word is coming out this morning that the LOVE NEVER DIES opening on Broadway, which was scheduled for November 11, 2010 might be pushed into January/February or even to Spring in New York.

LOVE NEVER DIES opened 9 March in London at the Adelphi Theatre and here's some new 'front of house' photos that just went up at the Adelphi from BWW's James Sims who's in London this week!

BroadwayWorld.com is happy to present the brand new music video for a unique Katherine Jenkins & Andrew Lloyd Webber collaboration - the song Love Never Dies.

LOVE NEVER DIES opened 9 March in London at the Adelphi Theatre and here's some footage from the opening night gala!