I was in Row H seat 5 of the Upper Circle last night (22nd February 2010) and the view was great, there is nothing that happens above the stage so the overhang for people downstairs should have been no problem. The leg room was fine for me and I am over six foot. There is nothing major that happens at either corner of the stage so there should be little restriction in the Dress Circle "restricted view" seats.

As for the show, sad to say I found it a rather dull stinker, there is no menace or threat from the Phantom now he lives as a "normal" man amongst people and it is very predictable. They currently reuse "Til I Hear You Sing" and the "Coney Island Waltz" every five minutes and there are quite a few moments of unintentional humour that should have been dramatic (check out the sequence where the Phantom enters the room to see Christine for the first time).

I loved a few elements of the set design that everyone will be talking about but really not that spectacular to look at apart from the digital projection sequences which are amazing.

I am going again on the 8th March in Row C of the Stalls, hope it has improved!!

Lee.
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My daughter and myself went to the Adelphi Theatre, The Strand, London which is close to Charing Cross Station to watch the first preview of 'Love never Dies' on Monday 22nd February 2010 at 19:30. On entering the theatre there was a strong smell of paint; and we made our way up 3 flights of stairs and finally we were seated.

We sat in the upper circle seats number G16 and G17 priced at £47.00 each - which we found a bit on the high side considering where they were. Our view was OK but not recommended if your sight is a little weak, as you can't see the Phantom's makeup. Most people kept still throughout the performance until the end scene when most of the performers were at the very front of the stage and most people lent forward.

At the start there was a technical fault; the director came on stage with his apologies, which made the audience laugh. The stage effects at the beginning were fantastic and quite mind blowing at times. The story line is easy to follow. I feel that you needed to have seen 'Phantom of the Opera' to enjoy this, as you feel it is a follow-on.

The songs were good, and there was also a couple of tunes that are recognisable from 'Phantom of the Opera' e.g 'Masquerade' with different lyrics (which was a nice touch). It felt as if the story line finished too soon as there wasn't really closure.

The cheapest place we found to buy tickets is via the www.reallyuseful.com/tickets.

If (when) I see this production again I will pay more to get seats in the Royal circle row C upwards.

Mrs Frances Thomas,
Dartford,
Kent.
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We had the great fortune to be invited to a trade night for 'Love Never Dies' last night, Monday 22nd of February 2010; which, because the Friday performance was cancelled due to technical problems and the Saturday one was deemed the final rehearsal, turned out to be the first actual performance.

There was tremendous buzz of excitement , anticipation, and expectancy before the show started for this long awaited sequel to the Phantom. We had superb seats D15 and 16 in the Dress Circle - albeit that it was a bit tight on my knees, and the theatre looked great with lovely new pink carpets and upholstery.

There were a few problems with sound particularly at the start when we couldn't hear the voices of the first two characters which no doubt will be dealt with later, this was after all the first night of preview , and the 5-10 minute break after it had only been running about 10 minutes, due to a technical problem, rather broke the developing mood and left us a little tight for catching our train afterwards at 10.40, but at least it did start again albeit an instant replay of some that we had already seen, but at least there was not a repeat of last Friday and the show did continue.

Ramin Karimloo (Phantom) has a superb voice, and so does Sierra Boggess as Christine, albeit that I understand she was not well. The absolute highlight of the show is her singing Love Never Dies.

There are some very clever cinematic and stage affects of Coney Island and the pleasure ground. Just how do those legs walk across the stage? Must be a magicians illusion.

This show should come with a 'Mousetrap' request to the audience not to reveal to anyone how it ends. I certainly will never tell anyone. It would really spoil it to know. Everyone needs to see it for themselves and take a hanky. I hope it does not leak out.

Has there ever been a sequel that equalled the original? There are some great moments but I was left with the thought that 'Phantom of the Opera' will still be running long after 'Love Never Dies' has closed. In the cloakroom queue after I overheard a man say "that won't run 20 years".
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Upper Circle K18: Not a bad seat! Probably the best of the cheaper seats at the back of the upper circle as there is nobody directly in front of you. The only thing bad is that it is a distant view. Still with the binoculars you can get a nice view of the facial expressions, which I used during some of the more intimate moments.

The show itself is very good. The Music, Set, Story, Acting, Orchestrations go together so well and create something very special on the stage.
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I went to see 'Love Never Dies' on Monday 1st March 2010, one of the preview performances. A 'House Full' sign greeted the audience but there was the odd empty seat dotted around the theatre. Myself and a friend had excellent seats in the front row of the Dress Circle, seats A13 and 14. The view was fantastic with no safety bars or lighting rigs to spoil the scene. The seat wasn’t very comfortable, though, and legroom was pretty poor even for someone of my average height.

Despite this being a preview performance the show went without a hitch apart from a door in one of the sets that wouldn’t stop wobbling. Talking of sets, they were spectacular, and taken with the multitude of special effects made it an eye-popping evening. The sound was excellent too, although it was sometimes hard to make out what the actors were saying all the time. Either they were speaking too quietly or the mics weren’t turned up enough.

There were fewer memorable melodies than in the original Phantom, and the score, whilst having some good songs, was what I would describe as "safe" apart from one number towards the end of Act 1 that changed tack completely! No tunes were carried over from Phantom 1 as far as I remember, apart from one or two odd snatches of music.

The acting was spot on and a great cast has been assembled all with good singing voices. A special mention must go to Richard Linnell who played Christine’s son, Gustave, on the night we went. It is quite a big role with a lot of singing to do, but he carried the part perfectly and was warmly applauded at the end.

So whilst Andrew Lloyd Webber’s score is not as energetic or as memorable as in Phantom 1, the scenery, special effects and story more than make up for this.
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