Love Never Dies celebrates 300 shows in Australia

Love Never Dies - Anna O'Byrne and Simon Gleeson
Love Never Dies - Anna O'Byrne and Simon Gleeson

The cast and crew of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s latest musical triumph Love Never Dies have celebrated 300 shows in Australia.

Love Never Dies premiered at Melbourne’s Regent Theatre on May 18, 2011 after significant reworking from the original London production, and last night marked the 300th performance.

An Australian creative team, led by director Simon Phillips and Helpmann Award winning set/costume designer Gabriela Tylesova delivered a re-imagined, re-structured and redesigned production which Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber has placed among the best productions of his material he has seen.

“This is only the second production of Love Never Dies ever to be staged in the world”, Producer Tim McFarlane of the Really Useful Company said in 2011, “and Andrew has ranked it among the top three productions of his work that he has ever seen. It stands with Evita and the first ever production of Phantom of the Opera.” 

Lloyd Webber had so much faith in this production, he teamed with NBC Universal to film the Australian cast’s performance at the Regent Theatre in mid-September 2011. Having been released in on DVD and Blu-Ray Australia and in over 900 cinema showings across America, the film is set to make household names of Green Room Award Nominee Anna O’Byrne and Helpmann Award Nominee Ben Lewis in the roles of Christine and Phantom.

Currently, Love Never Dies is playing at the Capitol Theatre, Sydney, where it will remain until April 1 this year.

While there is no Australian tour planned at this stage, it is understood that the show will eventually make its way to the Broadway stage, but the estimated timeline for this transfer is unknown.

Cast includes Ben Lewis, Anna O’Byrne, Sharon Millerchip, Simon Gleeson, Maria Mercedes, Dean Vince, Emma J. Hawkins and Paul Tabone.

Also featuring Andrew Broadbent, Renee Burleigh, Colin Dean, Andrew Dunne, Giordano Gangl, Erin Hasan, Matt Holly, Ben Hudson, Erin James, Adele Johnston, Claire Lyon, Kristy Mackenzie, Hayley Martin, Matthew McFarlane, Jessica Mechielsen, Meredith O’Reilly, Adam Rennie, Lisa Reynolds, Pharic Scott, Kathryn Sgroi, Ellen Simpson, Tod Strike, Brendan Yeates.

Sharing the role of Gustave for the Sydney season are Ky Baldwin, George Cartwright, Tyron Geany and Beau Woodbridge.

 

Erin James

Erin James is AussieTheatre.com's former Editor in Chief and a performer on both stage and screen. Credits include My Fair Lady, South Pacific and The King and I (Opera Australia), Love Never Dies and Cats (Really Useful Group), Blood Brothers (Enda Markey Presents), A Place To Call Home (Foxtel/Channel 7) and the feature film The Little Death (written and directed by Josh Lawson).

Erin James

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