Saturday, February 12, 2011
Love Never Dies nominated for 7 Olivier awards
thestar.com: "Love Never Dies, Andrew Lloyd Webber's sequel to the hit musical Phantom of the Opera, has won the most nominations at London's Laurence Olivier Awards.
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Just from looking at the best musical nominees, it seems like LND could potentially win, which is so strange given the mixed reviews it received in West End. But when it's competing with shows like Legally Blonde (which wasn't even nominated for the Best Musical Tony), Fela, and Love Story (which received lukewarm reviews, and based off of the cast recording, it sounds horribly bland) I can't be surprised if LND does indeed win. It definitely seems like it was a slow year for new musicals in the West End... Fortunately, this season on Broadway has fared better with quite a range of shows from The Scottsboro Boys, Woman on the Verge, BBAJ, The Book of Mormon, and Catch Me If You Can. I'm quite excited to see all of the upcoming shows opening in spring!
Love Never Dies has quite a spectacle value to it, but I didn't think that it was very innovative; I agree with Hiro that it may have had such success with nominations due to a relatively dry season. I am surprised that it received a nomination for set design, because much of the set was projection-driven, with scrims annoyingly dropping mid-number, and the rest of the set was a simplified overuse of forced perspective that wasn't very interesting, particularly when compared to the grandeur of the original.
I'm still trying to decide HOW you write a sequel to Phantom of the Opera? Does the Phantom write a rock opera this time? Despite the accolades, I have a hard time believing there can be very much substance to this show as it all just smacks of a cash-in.
Still, at least this article wasn't about Spider-Man...
I agree with Jacob; how was this sequel even done? The actual premise of the show is quite humorous, but it is wonderful that it had such great success. I agree with Hiro, and perhaps if Love Never Dies came out at a different time and did compete with other shows such as those that come out this spring, it would not be in the running. None the less, it has been successful with its nominations and, although it was nominated for some categories that some people do not think they were worthy of, as demonstrated by Daniel, its success cannot be argued with. I suppose that it is unfortunate that a show that is looked at as full of spectacle with very little substance was nominated so many times, but since the categories are so individualized and stand apart from the show as a whole, it makes sense that a set design can be spectacular even if the show was not.
I'm tempted to think that Love Never Dies was nominated just because it is the sequel to Phantom which is one of the longest running and most popular shows ever. Although I do agree that the plot sounds a little ridiculous and sounds like was taken off of fanfiction I think the show would at least be entertaining in some sense.
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