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BWW Blog: David Nando on the German Production of LOVE NEVER DIES

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LOVE NEVER DIES is having its German language premiere at the moment. The semi-staged concert is temporarily taking the place of LEGALLY BLONDE at the Ronacher theater. It is supported by a 70 piece orchestra (the VBW's huge resident group). ELISABETH is still playing, so I am assuming subs are playing in the pit there. The cast was in fine voice and acting spirit. The ensemble had a West End production alum, Kieran Braun, and longtime Vienna Christine of the original (which ran 1988-1993) Colleen Bassett.

I think what I appreciated most about this staging was that it exemplified how much can happen when reliance on the imagination is necessary. This was semi-staged, after all. Likely only a few weeks were given for rehearsal. The orchestra was located upstage, and the actors played accordingly at the front, and sometimes even entered from a staircase built into the usual pit area.
The instrumental "Coney Island Waltz" occurred with the sleekly black tied ensemble imagining the spectacles occurring over the audience, except a wonderful silk acrobatic stunt above the orchestra.

One of the exciting things about the staging was having the opportunity to see Drew Sarich perform. He is an American actor who had a brief, successful sojourn to Broadway close to a decade ago in Lestat and Les Miserables. But that was between his successes on the Berlin and Vienna musical stages. His first role was Disney's title character in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Berlin), and now he is currently playing the title character in Rocky in Hamburg. He is in fine voice here and oozes the quality of a star, which, I believe, is a mixture or excellent technique and an ability to communicate inner complications to an audience.

No stranger to Europe's professional stages, but making her professional Viennese debut, Milica Jovanovic was rather astounding as Christine. She was present, technically sound, and wonderfully agile in her vocal and physical portrayal, both through speech and song. It is worth mentioning that she received a standing ovation after the title song.

I will say that this musical does not speak to me as a theatre-goer. But many say the same thing about the shows I love, "The Phantom of the Opera" being one of them.

This show has, historically, struggled to find footing in the commercial world. In spite of that, more and more tries to get it mounted occur. I suppose many in leadership positions believe in the project. And it has had more success, in Australia, Copenhagen, and now perhaps here, as well. This limited run is, presumably, to try out for a potential future production in a German language city. Time will tell.


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