Love Never Dies, or Paint Never Dries as some blogs are claiming, treks 10 years on from the original story.
Lloyd Webber has claimed it is his best work since Phantom, and although some critics agree, there are others that are not so convinced.
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A brief roundup of critics:-
There are no more than a couple of songs that promise to live in the memory, the duets don't soar, and the ending is insipid. Admirers of Phantom are likely to be disappointed, and there's not enough here to entice a new generation of fans.
Henry Hitchings, Evening Standard (2 stars)
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What is in no doubt is the technical excellence of Jack O’Brien’s seamlessly fluent, sumptuous (and sometimes subtle) production, or the splendour of the orchestra which pours forth Lloyd Webber’s dark-hued, yearning melodies as if its life depended on them.
Paul Taylor, Independent (5 Stars)
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What I have no doubt about whatever is that this is Lloyd Webber's finest show since the original Phantom, with a score blessed with superbly haunting melodies and a yearning romanticism that sent shivers racing down my spine.
Charles Spencer, Daily Telegraph (4 stars)
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It may be clever but it has little to do with dramatic art and cannot compensate for the lack of solid storytelling. A hit? Not quite.
Quentin Letts, Daily Mail
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The title song has pretty clunky lyrics, insisting as it variously does that love is all, endures, never fails, remains, drives you to despair ‘yet forces you to feel more joy than you can bear’.
Benedict Nightingale, The Times (2 stars)
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There is much to enjoy in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new musical. The problems lie within the book, chiefly credited to Lloyd Webber himself and Ben Elton, which lacks the weight to support the imaginative superstructure.
Michael Billington, The Guardian (3 stars)
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No Matter what the critics say, it seems Love Never Dies will be around for some time to come, as ticket sales at the Adelphi Theatre are soaring.
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