Ball to star in ALW’s new reimagined ASPECTS OF LOVE

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 10/4/22 at 10:13pm

Three decades ago Michael Ball (Les Miserables) had teeny-bopper groupies waiting for him at the stage door — in London and on Broadway — thanks to a heartthrob role in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Aspects of Love. It didn’t hurt that Ball got to belt out “Love Changes Everything,” which was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic.

Ball will star in a new production of the musical, and will sing that song again.

Aspects of Love is set to open in May at London’s Lyric Theatre, owned by Nimax Theatres, a company controlled by Nica Burns and producer Max Weitzenhoffer. Burns will produce.

Ball is the first to acknowledge that he no longer can play the youthful Alex Dillingham, the part he created in the original production in 1989 at the Prince of Wales Theatre. During a recent reception at that very same theater, Ball told Deadline that while he won’t take on Alex again, he will play the part of George, his aristocratic uncle.

The men both have affairs with Parisian actress Rose Vibert, and there are further episodes of troubled desires and tangled emotions, hence its title.

”I’m playing George, and I’m going to sing ‘Love Changes Everything,’” Ball told us.

How so? 

”It’s going to be a completely reimagined show,” he said. “You won’t recognize it.”

Lloyd Webber might write a new song for the reimagined production.

Jonathan Kent, who directed Imelda Staunton (The Crown) and Ball in an award-winning production of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, will direct the new Aspects of Love.

Producer Burns will arrange for Kent, Ball, Lloyd Webber and the show’s songwriters Don Black and Charles Hart to gather for a workshop in London before the end of the year. Under Kent’s direction, it will explore how to reassess  Aspects of Love, including how to structure the piece so that Ball, as George, can perform “Love Changes Everything.”

Lloyd Webber wrote the musical’s original book, adapted from David Garnett’s 1955 novella. Ball and Kent are keen to strip it of its more saccharin moments that were fine 30 years ago but would sink it now.

https://deadline.com/2022/10/michael-ball-aspects-of-love-reimagined-andrew-lloyd-webber-musical-love-changes-everything-1235134884/

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 10/4/22 at 10:16pm

I’m VERY excited to finally see a production of this show. 

[BoringBoredBoard40]

Posted: 10/4/22 at 10:24pm

I am exhausted by the name Andrew Lloyd Webber this week...and it is only Tuesday lol

[Wick3]

Posted: 10/4/22 at 10:57pm

Jordan Catalano said: "I’m VERY excited to finally see a production of this show."

Same here! It's been a while since I watched him sing this on youtube but I still get chills. I know I know that he's playing a different role in this upcoming production but I'm still excited! Will definitely be seeing it when I go to London next spring!

 

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 10/4/22 at 11:12pm

Reassigning “Love Changes Everything” to George sounds like a bit of a challenge, but the song as originally placed just randomly opens the show before we really know much about the Alex character anyway, so a proper opening number could potentially help. “Love Changes Everything” could be better suited as an eleven o’clock number.

[jo]

Posted: 10/5/22 at 1:11am

I was lucky to have seen the show in London and on Broadway. 

 I also saw a pared-down version, but the musical score was intact.

At the Tony awards where the show was one of Best Musical nominees, there was an extraordinary recreation of the show highlights using Love Changes Everything to narrate the storyline.

 

[Fan123]

Posted: 10/5/22 at 3:42am

In mildly related news, Michael Ball's debut novel 'The Empire' is being released soon, if anyone is interested.

https://www.bonnierbooks.co.uk/news/michael-ball-makes-his-debut-with-zaffre/

[dramamama611]

Posted: 10/5/22 at 5:31am

This is the only ALW show I've ever enjoyed. And I loved it. Not sure how I feel about a re-imagining so complete  I won't recognize it, but certainly curious!

[pmensky]

Posted: 10/5/22 at 7:38am

This show is one of my favorites. I fell in love with the original cast recording when it came out and was lucky to see the original Broadway cast. The score is so lush and romantic. It’s one of those shows I’ll always associate with my mid-teenage years. Hearing that Michael Ball will play George is thrilling. I hope they don’t screw it up.

[John Adams]

Posted: 10/5/22 at 7:54am

BoringBoredBoard40 said: "I am exhausted by the name Andrew Lloyd Webber this week...and it is only Tuesday lol"

I've never really been a fan of his, although I did enjoy Evita and Phantom. Now that Phantom is finally closing, he seems a little desperate to hold his presence on Broadway and the West End.

I don't think 'Bad Cinderella' will run for long. What I've heard of the score (especially its title song) seems regurgitated, monotonous, and just plain dull. I feel like 'Aspects...' might be an attempt at a backup plan to prolong his presence.

RE: ”It’s going to be a completely reimagined show,” [Ball] said. “You won’t recognize it.” Lloyd Webber might write a new song for the reimagined production. ...Seems like hyperbole for the sake of marketing.

What's being "reimagined"? Production design? Book structure? Why would anyone not want to recognize the original? Would theater-goers stay away if Ball did not sing, "Love Changes Everything"? It feels (right now) like that decision was made to lure an audience rather than enhance the story/production.

...and Lloyd-Webber might write a new song for the show? Depending on what factor(s)? May is only 9 months away. I would think that by now, Lloyd-Webber should have a firmer grasp on whether/not the show would benefit from an additional song. 

[kdogg36]

Posted: 10/5/22 at 11:15am

I hope there's a cast recording! After all these years, I think it's very odd that (unless I've missed something) there's still only the one English-language recording, when a show like By Jeeves has several.

[David10086]

Posted: 10/5/22 at 12:52pm

This was my introduction to Broadway musicals - my first ever, in the Spring of 1990. It still ranks with one of the worst shows I have ever seen - boring, sleep-inducing, dull. (Though it did make me a fan of Ball's in the 90s). My friend and I should have known something was wrong when excellent tickets to this show were discounted just months after opening. 

Thank Heavens, the next show I saw (a year later) was "Gypsy" with Tyne Daly. I realized THAT is what a Broadway musical is all about - and continued to go to the theater since. 

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 10/5/22 at 1:06pm

CATSNYrevival said: "Reassigning “Love Changes Everything” to George sounds like a bit of a challenge, but the song as originally placed just randomly opens the show before we really know much about the Alex character anyway, so a proper opening number could potentially help. “Love Changes Everything” could be better suited as an eleven o’clock number."

Heck, you don't really need to change that much. Just remove the flashback aspect out of the title number and have George sing the opening while he's painting or something and then go right into the Master Builder moment as written.

[saxpower]

Posted: 10/5/22 at 1:28pm

Apparently in productions done since the original London/Broadway run various changes have been made (though I haven't seen any specifics menioned) and ALW has looked at all of them and come up with what he considers the best overall version.  The show does need some changes in structure ... as another poster noted, we don't know the ways in which love has "change[d] everything" for Alex (and Giuletta's line about it all being in the past suggests she knows Alex better than she does- she just met him at end of the show (since this will be back on stage, I'll avoid the spoiler of the specific event where they meet)).

If I recall correctly, part of the problem on Broadway was the sets outsized the story- this is not a spectacle, this is a story of relationships between primarily five people.  A more intimate feel is called for.  I also have a memory hearing the first replacement for "Rose" (before they brough Sarah Brightman in) was not up to the role. 

I saw the "chamber version" on tour and enjoyed it.  Its long enough ago I don't remember specifics, but I owned the Cast Recording before I saw the show and don't remember noticing any major changes, with the exception of giving "Anything But Lonely" a "big ending" (like was done with "Tell Meon a Sunday"

I'll keep an open mind.  The show has a lovely score and the basic story works well as a musical.  Hopefully ALW has learned where the show went wrong and will try to fix it.  (And they can't, at this point, say he'll  write a new song- it may be decided the restructured show doesn't require one.  My guess is the plan is to have a new song for Alex to replace "Love Changes Everything"

As to all the ALW news- he planned to bring Cinderella to Broadway well before the announcement of Phantom's closing.   He has had a show running on Broadway since the opening of Evita in 1979.  I think anyone in that position who had a show closing, but another starting performances, would arrange things so there was no gap between them.  How long Bad Cinderella can keep that going is another question (I plan on trying to see it [I'm 2 hours from NYC so it takes some planning to see shows] and liked the recording.  Time will tell (a) how any changes made improve the show and (b) the extent to which COVID may have affected the London production.   As to his streak... there's always the "reimagined" Phantom. 

[joevitus]

Posted: 10/5/22 at 2:50pm

Don't get why my message disappeared.

I love this show. Love the score. I think there are issues with the book. None of the characters is really likable, and making George an art-forger (he isn't in the novella) sends the wrong message. His philosophy animates the meaning of the show--making him a forger sends the message he's a fake, not to be trusted. 

But I love, love, love this score. One of Lloyd Webber's all-time best, IMO. Along with Superstar and Evita, it's the score of his I return to most often. I never hear anyone mention it, so I want to point out what a lovely foxtrot "I Want to Be the First Man You Remember" is.

I'm really hoping this gets a recording. And, yes, I'm all in favor of revisions. 

[pmensky]

Posted: 10/5/22 at 3:24pm

joevitus said: "Don't get why my message disappeared.

I love this show. Love the score. I think there are issues with the book. None of the characters is really likable, and making George an art-forger (he isn't in the novella) sends the wrong message. His philosophy animates the meaning of the show--making him a forger sends the message he's a fake, not to be trusted.

I never got the impression that George’s forgeries were anything more than a silly hobby and that hanging the art around the villa was him just being cheeky, not deceitful. When Rose spots what she thinks is a famous painting, Alex points out that it’s a copy and says the one she’s thinking of hangs in the Louvre. He certainly couldn’t be making forgeries to sell. He’d have to have some pretty stupid buyers if they’d believe they were getting the real thing. I think he’s a legitimate artist who also makes money from his vineyard.

 

[joevitus]

Posted: 10/5/22 at 4:22pm

pmensky said: "joevitus said: "Don't get why my message disappeared.

I love this show. Love the score. I think there are issues with the book. None of the characters is really likable, and making George an art-forger (he isn't in the novella) sends the wrong message. His philosophy animates the meaning of the show--making him a forger sends the message he's a fake, not to be trusted.

I never got the impression that George’s forgeries were anything more than a silly hobby and that hanging the art around the villa was him just being cheeky, not deceitful. When Rose spots what she thinks is a famous painting, Alex points out that it’s a copy and says the one she’s thinking of hangs in the Louvre. He certainly couldn’t be making forgeries to sell. He’d have to have some pretty stupid buyers if they’d believe they were getting the real thing. I think he’s a legitimate artist who also makes money from his vineyard.

"

I like that interpretation. You're right that it's unlikely he was passing them off as originals. I still find it tonally off (maybe because I've interpreted it one way all these years), but I really like your take on it.

[chernjam]

Posted: 10/11/22 at 3:25pm

Aspects of Love was the first Broadway musical I ever saw when I was in High School. POTO was sold out for a year or two in advance so we opted to see the new one by the same guy only hearing 30 seconds of "Love changes everything" on TV ads. Never imagined how that afternoon, those 2 + hours would bring ALW/ musical theater into my life as it has. This score remains a personal favorite - (Sunset probably takes the top spot for me, but Aspects does have the nostalgia points, so...)

Anyway I saw the original Broadway once and the US Tour (of the Canadian version) once. I've missed any of the previous UK revivals since they didn't seem worth the trip. I'm not sure why - if it was an actor/musician thing or what about them didn't really get my interest piqued. I agree with Kdogg, its frustrating that there's only been one full recording of this score.

The original - while the sets were blamed in the end for being overblown - really were kind of magical to experience. When the mountain-scape was revealed and the flowing from one locale to the other was pretty impressive. But the tour proved that the show could stand on the score and acting - with it being a very simple staging of curtains and lighting doing most of the work.

Of course, the big difficulty is the story. Which in hindsight has only gotten more awkward over the years for me. In a lot of ways I see the criticism that its hard to find any of the characters likable and as much as they keep singing about "love" its really far from that when all they seem to do is use each other for their own pleasures. As a fan of the score, I'm extremely curious and interested in a new production and what exactly they're "re-imagining" and am kind of split as to whether it has a shot at being successful as a revival.

[djjd007]

Posted: 10/13/22 at 10:18pm

Frankly, the incestuous relationship with a significant age gap between Alex and Jenny is uncomfortable to watch, even if Alex is cast young. And the other relationships are pretty messed up too. I have read the novella and understand the practice of salacious stories in that genre. But putting that on stage in this day and age is going to be a tough sell (I mean, how can one pull off the Rose/Alex gun scene?). The sad part is the show contains some of Webber’s best music and most fully realized and complicated characters.

In the end, all I want is for them to permanently remove Everybody Loves A Hero and Journey of a Lifetime!!!

[jo]

Posted: 10/13/22 at 11:49pm

Press kit for the Broadway staging --

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=seeing+is+believing+michael+ball+ann+crumb+youtube&docid=608020382953714476&mid=55AAC8BAC8EF1E7779B655AAC8BAC8EF1E7779B6&view=detail&FORM=VIRE

 

 

 

Updated On: 10/13/22 at 11:49 PM

[kdogg36]

Posted: 10/14/22 at 11:50am

djjd007 said: "Frankly, the incestuous relationship with a significant age gap between Alex and Jenny is uncomfortable to watch, even if Alex is cast young."

I'm not sure I agree that it's a relationship, in the intended sense. As I recall, there's an infatuation on the part of Jenny which Alex mishandles, but does not indulge. 

"In the end, all I want is for them to permanently remove Everybody Loves A Hero and Journey of a Lifetime!!!"

I'm absolutely fine with this!

 

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 2/3/23 at 8:14am

Video: https://twitter.com/shauntossell/status/1621496664623136768?s=46&t=D-WpfZoEydzRlijsM02WXQ

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 2/3/23 at 11:03am

The Boygo casting is so confusing. After seeing him in “Moulin Rouge” I would have put good money on him never getting another leading role again. 

[Lot666]

Posted: 2/3/23 at 11:08am

I thought it was a gorgeous performance all around.

Updated On: 2/3/23 at 11:08 AM

[gymman]

Posted: 2/3/23 at 11:42am

The worst single evening in the theater in more than 50 years of Broadway!