It has been a big few weeks for The Phantom of the Opera as it marked an incredible 40 years since it opened in London with a grand celebration at His Majesty’s Theatre and a glittering guest list of Christines and Phantoms of the past. Last month, the celebrations continued with the return of Love Never Dies, the show’s sequel that takes place ten years after the Phantom disappeared from the Paris Opera House.
He has escaped to a new life in New York but misses Christine Daaé — the young soprano that was his muse and his love. In an attempt to win Christine back, he lures her and her family — her husband Raoul and her ten-year-old son Gustave — to America to sing for him one last time. The family think they have been invited by Oscar Hammerstein for Christine to make her American debut and to make some money to pay off Raoul’s gambling debts. The romantic hero of the original show now shows a very different side. So the question again arises: who will Christine choose and what are the consequences of that decision?
Love Never Dies has had a troubled history. Unfortunately, I think the reason it hasn’t stood the test of time in the same way as Phantom, which is still thriving after four decades in the West End and enjoyed a 35-year run on Broadway, is its lacklustre book.
The original 2010 production opened at the Adelphi Theatre to mostly negative reviews and later underwent extensive re-writes ahead of an Australian production which closed with significant ticket discounts. There was a planned simultaneous Broadway and West End run that was cancelled and it was last seen in London in 2023, similarly to October’s production ‘in concert’ with a handful of performances.
With music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Glenn Slater (with additional lyrics by Charles Hart), this ‘concert’ performance was far from concert level, with staging, choreography and fantastic masks and costumes from Rebecca Browe. The full choir and orchestra on stage really did justice to the magnitude of a Phantom-esque score. The orchestra was particularly lovely to see considering ‘Phantom’’s own orchestra went from being the largest on the West End to being cut in half when it reopened after Covid in 2021.
Conductor Simon Lee, who was also at the 40th anniversary gala, was so passionate that in the entr’acte before the start of the second act, he sent his baton flying into the wings and had to have it returned before the show continued. That same energy was matched by everyone who took to the stage.
While I have my reservations about the book itself — and there are many — I cannot fault any of the performances. As a lifelong Phantom fan, I cannot wait for Jamie Muscato to be old enough to play him in a long-lasting run — and from his Stars in Their Eyes performance at the age of 15, I know he feels the same way.
He opened the show with what is by far the strongest song in the setlist, ‘Till I Hear You Sing’, which feels closest to the original Phantom and was a phenomenal showcase of the beautiful richness and power of Muscato’s voice. He has played strong leading men before as Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby and JD in Heathers, but I think this was up there with the best performances he has ever given, and if the long stretch of applause at the song’s conclusion is anything to go by, I wasn’t the only one who thought so.
Celinde Schoenmaker returns to the role of Christine after the 2023 London concert and a time in the original show, including during the 30th anniversary. She is one of the finest Christines I’ve ever seen and her performance of the titular song was particularly wonderful to watch, even as she navigated a bizarre storyline.
There were gasps and giggles from the audience as her two love interests appeared in the boxes on either side of the stage while she sang ‘Love Never Dies’. The staging was visually striking once things settled, but the audience reaction slightly undercut one of the show’s pivotal moments. They perhaps should have left Box 5 empty for the Phantom.
Mazz Murray is indomitable as Madame Giry and George Blagden brought a depth to Raoul we don’t usually get to see. His duet with Muscato, ‘Devil Takes the Hindmost’, was another highlight. The cast had just nine days of rehearsal (and Muscato started rehearsing the West End transfer of ‘One Day’ from Edinburgh on the same day), so what they managed to achieve, particularly with it being far from a bare-bones concert production, is very impressive.
Unfortunately, aside from a few strong songs, a lot of the show falls flat, which is no fault of any of the performers or this particular production; it’s just a very confused book that feels discordant to the world of ‘Phantom’ that we know. While Lord Lloyd Webber has previously said he doesn’t view the show as a sequel, it is, but it doesn’t feel consistent with the original plot.
There were some fun dance sequences with the Phantom’s band of funfair Phantasma performers, but they’re almost not weird enough to justify being so far from the opulence of the Masquerade all the way across the sea on Coney Island. ‘Bathing Beauty’ feels particularly out of place as Meg (Courtney Stapleton) does a series of on-stage quick changes while the ensemble twirls parasols around her, and the rock-influenced organ riffs of the titular ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ have been taken to the extreme here, with dramatic rock moments appearing quite randomly throughout the show.
There are shining moments where refrains from Phantom peek through and we get glimpses of the wonder of the original show, but I spent most of the show waiting for the chance to hear Muscato and Schoenmaker sing, and when they did it was truly magical — but because of them as performers, not because of the material.
Love Never Dies: In Concert played at the London Palladium from 16th–18th October 2026.
