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Bronson Norris Murphy Takes Over as The Phantom in LOVE NEVER DIES Tour

Andrew Lloyd Webber's Love Never Dies, the spellbinding sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, continues its North American tour (currently at South Carolina's Peace Center), and BroadwayWorld has just learned that Bronson Norris Murphy as officially taken over the role of The Phantom.

BWW Review: Paramount Presents LOVE NEVER DIES - Oh, Please Let It

I'll admit that I've never been what you would call a fan of 'Phantom of the Opera'. I appreciate it for what it is, and I find it tolerable with some interesting melodies but largely it's all flash and no substance. But now comes the (gulp) sequel to 'Phantom', 'Love Never Dies' currently playing at the Paramount, and this overblown pile of musical theater Ambien not only stretches out the story to a ridiculous effect but also by doing so exposes the original to what it really is, a desperate need for therapy and a restraining order.

BWW Review: The Phantom Stages A Comeback in LOVE NEVER DIES at Segerstrom Center

There are many, very obvious spectacular things that stand out while watching LOVE NEVER DIES, Andrew Lloyd Webber's infamously, uh, troubled 2010 musical follow-up to his long-running global hit THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, now continuing its two-week engagement at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa through May 5, 2018. While, sure, the show is stunning in its visual artistry and musical performances, the rest is repetitively frustrating. Unless you're a huge PHANTOM fan already or are perhaps maybe morbidly curious as to what the fuss is all about---LOVE NEVER DIES, sadly, doesn't offer much else to audiences beyond its superficial surface beauty.

BWW Review: The Controversy Regarding LOVE NEVER DIES

Let's make one thing perfectly clear from the start. If you are expecting a sequel to Phantom of the Opera in Love Never Dies, you may be let down. This new show that is making its American premiere in the tour across North America, after a dismal opening in London in 2010, has been rewritten and reworked many times over, and is based on Frederick Forsyth's The Phantom of Manhattan, not on Gaston Leroux's Le Phantome de l'Opera upon which the first Phantom was based. Even Lloyd Webber stated emphatically that it is not a sequel, but a different story with the same characters. If you open your imagination and find it in your heart to believe that the Phantom and Christine consummated their love for one another by having sex and producing a son, you will enjoy much of the show. If not, and you want this production to follow the original from 1986, it will most likely not suit you.

Tickets on Sale Wednesday for LOVE NEVER DIES

Hennepin Theatre Trust announced Andrew Lloyd Webber's LOVE NEVER DIES, the spellbinding sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, makes its Minneapolis premiere as part of the 2017-2018 Bank of America Broadway on Hennepin season June 26-July 1, 2018 at the historic Orpheum Theatre (910 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis).

Cast Announced for San Diego Premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber's LOVE NEVER DIES

Direct from the highly successful production of Love Never Dies in Hamburg, Germany, Gardar Thor Cortes will portray the man behind the mask, 'The Phantom,' with Meghan Picerno as 'Christine Daae,' Karen Mason as 'Madame Giry,' Sean Thompson as 'Raoul,' Mary Michael Patterson as 'Meg Giry,' and Casey Lyons and Jake Heston Miller sharing the role of 'Gustave.' The trio of Phantom's henchmen include Katrina Kemp as 'Fleck,' Richard Koons as 'Squelch,' Stephen Petrovich as 'Gangle,' Gardar Thor Cortes is appearing with the permission of Actors' Equity Association.  The Producers gratefully acknowledge Actors' Equity Association for its assistance of this production.

BWW Review: LOVE NEVER DIES: Nevertheless, He Persisted

The North American tour of LOVE NEVER DIES brings the musical to the United States for the first time since its 2010 London premiere, and is playing at the Boston Opera House through February 11th as part of the 2017-2018 Lexus Broadway in Boston Season.

LOVE NEVER DIES to Soar into San Jose

Love Never Dies will make its San Jose premiere at the Center for the Performing Arts (255 s. Almaden Blvd.) from March 13 18, 2018 as part of a North American tour. Single tickets ($48 $128) are on-sale now online at www.ticketmaster.com, in-person at the City National Civic Box Office (150 W. San Carlos St., San Jose), or by calling 800-982-ARTS (2787). Ticket prices are subject to change without notice.

BWW Review: Learn to See 'The Beauty Underneath' in LOVE NEVER DIES at the Benedum

Ten years after the epic conclusion of The Phantom of the Opera, we find ourselves on the shores of the Atlantic- an ocean away from the Paris Opera House where years prior Christine, Raoul, and the Phantom would meet for an explosive encounter in the lair. Christine and Raoul would flee together, leaving the Phantom to the mercy of the encroaching mob. It is the most recognizable love triangle in musical theatre- one that ends in the questionable disappearance of the Phantom. But Andrew Lloyd Weber could not let the Phantom's love and story end there; thus gives us the basis for the sequel Love Never Dies.

BWW Review: Despite Outstanding Talent, LOVE NEVER DIES Proves Merely a Ghost of Lloyd Webber's PHANTOM

On paper, LOVE NEVER DIES should have everything going for it. With PHANTOM'S bedrock story and unforgettable music as its foundation, this tour adds to its credit a truly phenomenal cast, top-notch stagecraft and costuming, and Lloyd Webber's fine new score. Yet even these strengths fail to keep LOVE NEVER DIES from buckling under the weight of a deeply flawed narrative.

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