Broadcast on ITV1 on December 14th at 7:30 pm The 2011 Royal Variety Show took places at the Lowry Theatre Salford Keys early December in the presence of HRH Princess Anne. West End Stars performing included Adam Cooper and the cast of Singin’ in the Rain which had rave reviews at the Chichester Festival Thetre earlier this year and is due to open in London’s West End at the Palace Theatre in February. Four West End leading men who did not appear in the ITV1 billing also made an appearance:  Ramin Karimloo who has just taken over the role of Jean Valjean from Alfie Boe in Les Miserables:John Owen-Jones who is currently the Phantom of the Opera and is shortly leaving the show to play the role on a national tour which starts next year: Simon Bowman who has played Jean Valjean and the Phantom and Earl Carpenter who has been playing the role of Khasoggi in We Will Rock You and is currently in  rehearsals to take over the role of Phantom from Owen-Jones and also play it in the latter half of the tour. They were joined by Nicole Scherzinger who was spotted having dinner with Lord Lloyd Webber before the show.  She was introduced by the Lord as “performing alongside the cast of Phantom of the Opera”.  She is known to be a Phantom fan and has made a recording of “Love Never Dies”.  She said: “It was an honour to be in his company. To be asked to sing Phantom Of The Opera is amazing. I’m so excited to be performing again.”

The Phantom of the Opera 25th Anniversary DVD http://www.loveneverdiesphantom.co.uk/ramin-karimloo/the-phantom-of-the-opera-25th-anniversary-dvd

Out Now: The Phantom of the Opera 25th Anniversary DVD The DVD of the recording of the concert for the Phantom of The Opera 25th anniversary at the Royal Albert Hall is out worldwide, starring Ramin Karimloo from London’s Love Never Dies, plus a cast of around 150 including orchestra.

Phantom Of The Opera Theatre Breaks http://usefulwiki.com/londontheatre/phantomoftheopera-classicnightout.html

Our two originating actors for Love Never Dies, Ramin Karimloo and Sierra Boggess starred in the Phantom of The Opera 25th anniversary show at the Albert Hall this month. The performances took place at the Royal Albert Hall London on October 1st and 2nd 2011 with Ramin Karimloo playing the Phantom and Sierra Boggess as Christine. The pair, who performed together in the Adelphi Theatre’s Phantom sequel Love Never Dies, performed one show on October 1st and a further two shows on October 2nd. Karimloo and Boggess were joined on stage by Barry James as Monsieur Firmin, Liz Robertson as Madame Giry, Gareth Snook as Monsieur André and Wynne Evans as Piangi as well as special guests and a 200-person-strong supporting cast and orchestra. Producer Cameron Mackintosh said: “It is amazing to think that the extraordinary success of The Phantom of the Opera is about to celebrate 25 years. The success of the show has become the stuff of theatrical legend so Andrew and I felt we needed to create a really special performance to celebrate the 25th anniversary. One of the great strengths of The Phantom of the Opera is that being set in an opera house, its production is totally theatrical. So we felt that there could be no better 19th Century theatrical auditorium in London for this occasion than the Royal Albert Hall.”

Royal Albert Hall

2012 Theatre Breaks 2012 is a special year for the United Kingdom and theatre breaks, not just because of the London 2012 Olympic Games, but also because it’s the The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee year as well. That means a lot of extra activity and tourism in central London which will have an effect on the West End venues and on Theatre Breaks bookings.  Over twenty shows  have responded by extending booking dates early so that you can book early, right now, for all the popular musicals and plays right through into the 2012 celebration year, which may help a lot of people to combine tourism trips and spectating with theatre breaks in London. First the two main events of the year: The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee

To mark 60 years of the Queen’s reign the Diamond Jubilee will take place in 2012. The celebrations will centre around an extended weekend in 2012 on 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th June 2012.

  The Department for Culture, Media and Sports is responsible for coordinating the Government’s role for Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Buckingham Palace will be coordinating the Queen’s programme for the Diamond Jubilee, including the arrangements for the central Jubilee weekend in the first week of June 2012. For further information about the Diamond Jubilee and the events taking place during 2012, please visit direct.gov.uk/diamondjubilee The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games Olympic Games 27 July-12 Aug 2012 The London 2012 Olympic Games will feature 26 sports, which break down into 39 disciplines. Paralympic Games 29 Aug-9 Sept 2012 There are 20 sports in the Paralympic programme for the London 2012 Games. Paralympic Cycling breaks down into two disciplines: Road and Track. Cultural Olympiad The London 2012 Cultural Olympiad is the largest cultural celebration in the history of the modern Olympic and Paralympic Movements. London 2012 Festival The London 2012 Festival is the finale of the four-year Cultural Olympiad, taking place from 21 June to 9 September 2012. Complementing the sport events at the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Festival will be the biggest party the UK has ever seen, with a huge range of events from leading artists from all over the world. Theatre Breaks

To be honest, nobody really knows exactly what effect all of this is going to have on London theatre breaks during the 2012 celebration year. Obviously there is going to be a high demand for hotel accommodation and London is going to be prominent in the world’s attention.  People who are in London anyway may well wish to visit the West End theatres as part of the whole London experience, and there are certainly plenty of great shows on offer this year. Meanwhile the traditional theatre going public may decide to avoid certain dates in order not to get caught up in the crowds and busier traffic. In order to make the most of the 2012 opportunity presented though, the London theatres as a whole have announced extensions to the booking dates for more than 20 popular shows well in advance, so that those with Olympics tickets or other intentions can book theatre breaks as part of their overall London trip  of a lifetime. The shows which have extended so far are as follows: Some of the shows announcing 2012 booking dates extensions are the following West End musicals and plays: We Will Rock You Wicked The Wizard of Oz Billy Elliot the Musical Blood Brothers Dreamboats and Petticoats Jersey Boys The Phantom of the Opera Mamma Mia! Legally Blonde the Musical Ghost The Musical  Les Misérables Shrek The Musical Disney’s The Lion King Million Dollar Quartet  The Mousetrap The 39 Steps Stomp Thriller Live War Horse The Woman in Black Rock of Ages  Matilda The Musical

Today July 27th being the start of the one year countdown to the London 2012 Olympic Games in Stratford, East London as part of the countdown launch, a large number of West End theatres have announced new extensions to the period for which the most popular shows can be booked. This is to allow London Theatre breaks to be booked well in advance for the period of the Olympics, and indeed the Olympic year 2012 as a whole, during which there are all sorts of special events laid on. Some of the shows announcing 2012 booking dates extensions are the following West End musicals and plays: We Will Rock You Wicked The Wizard of Oz Billy Elliot the Musical Blood Brothers Dreamboats and Petticoats Jersey Boys The Phantom of the Opera Mamma Mia! Legally Blonde the Musical Ghost The Musical  Les Misérables Shrek The Musical Disney’s The Lion King Million Dollar Quartet  The Mousetrap The 39 Steps Stomp Thriller Live War Horse The Woman in Black Rock of Ages  Matilda The Musical

Over on the Theatre Breaks Wiki, the list of current musicals for theatre breaks in London has been brought bang up to date. So here they are for you:   Current Musicals for Theatre Breaks in London

B

Betty Blue Eyes Billy Elliot Blood Brothers

C

Chicago

D

Dreamboats And Petticoats

G

Ghost The Musical

L

Legally Blonde Lend Me A Tenor Les Miserables

L cont.

Love Never Dies

M

Mamma Mia

P

Phantom of the Opera Priscilla Queen of the Desert

R

Rock Of Ages

S

Shrek The Musical South Pacific Stomp

T cont.

The Jersey Boys The Lion King The Million Dollar Quartet The Wizard of Oz Thriller Live

W

We Will Rock You Wicked

The producers have just announced that the musical Rebecca which is based on the classic novel by Daphne Du Maurier novel will open on Broadway next year on April 22nd  2012 at a Shubert Organisation theatre, yet to be announced. Previews will begin on Tuesday, March 27 2012. Sierra Boggess (currently starring in Master Class on Broadway and soon to appear in the Phantom of The Opera 25th Anniversary Concerts at the Royal Albert Hall) is in negotiations to play the role of Maxim de Winter’s new wife “I.” Rebecca has original book and lyrics by Michael Kunze, music by Sylvester Levay, English book adaptation by Christopher Hampton (Sunset Boulevard), English lyrics by Hampton and Kunze and direction by Michael Blakemore (Kiss Me, Kate; City of Angeles; Noises Off) and Francesca Zambello (Little Mermaid). Multiple Tony-nominated director/choreographer Graciela Daniele is in talks to do the musical staging for the show.

According to a report by Variety magazine, Cameron Mackintosh is launching a tour of The Phantom of the Opera in 2012, with the tour director for Les Miserables directing the production. Mackintosh told Daily Variety the Andrew Lloyd Webber blockbuster will be produced in an all-new version. Directed by Laurence Connor, it will feature new sets and costumes by Paul Brown and lighting by three-time Olivier Award winner Paule Constable. Mackintosh said the production will open at a regional UK house. The tour of Phantom is something that has been mooted in the West End for some time. It is the 25th Anniversary of Phantom in October this year with rumours of a special concert at the Royal Albert Hall. So a tour next year would make sense. Also Ramin Karimloo who has just extended his contract to play the Phantom in Love Never Dies has been tweeting that he has an exciting project lined up for next year  

After a great opening in London, an acclaimed first year and a partial redesign and rewrite, Love Never Dies takes its first step away from the Adelphi Theatre soon as the Australian production opens in Melbourne in June 2011. Love Never Dies Australian Cast Love Never Dies Australia Cast The Australian Christine is to be played by a previous Christine from The Phantom Of The Opera. Anna O’Byrne has already played the part to great acclaim in an Australian tour of The Phantom of the Opera. Anna is an award-winning classically trained singer, and has performed as Polly Peachum in The Threepenny Opera and appeared in works by Mozart, Puccini and Ibert for The Victorian Opera, Victorian College of the Arts and Victorian Youth Opera. The Phantom  in the new Australian production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies is being played by Ben Lewis. Ben’s previous stage credits include the original Australian cast of Priscilla Queen of the Desert – The Musical, Sir Galahad in the original Australian cast of Monty Python’s Spamalot, two-seasons as Count Carl-Magnus in Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, Urinetown with Sydney Theatre Company and Polites in The Odyssey for Black Swan and the Malthouse. Performances begin in Melbourne on May 29th 2011 at the Regent Theatre. Tags: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Anna O'Byrne, Australia, Ben Lewis, Christine, Love Never Dies, Melbourne, musical, Phantom of the Opera, the phantom of the opera This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011 at 5:30 am and is filed under Love Never Dies, Phantom of the Opera. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. via loveneverdiesphantom.co.uk Posted via email from Love Never Dies

After a great opening in London, an acclaimed first year and a partial redesign and rewrite, Love Never Dies takes its first step away from the Adelphi Theatre soon as the Australian production opens in Melbourne in June 2011. Love Never Dies Australian Cast Love Never Dies Australia Cast The Australian Christine is to be played by a previous Christine from The Phantom Of The Opera. Anna O’Byrne has already played the part to great acclaim in an Australian tour of The Phantom of the Opera. Anna is an award-winning classically trained singer, and has performed as Polly Peachum in The Threepenny Opera and appeared in works by Mozart, Puccini and Ibert for The Victorian Opera, Victorian College of the Arts and Victorian Youth Opera. The Phantom  in the new Australian production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies is being played by Ben Lewis. Ben’s previous stage credits include the original Australian cast of Priscilla Queen of the Desert – The Musical, Sir Galahad in the original Australian cast of Monty Python’s Spamalot, two-seasons as Count Carl-Magnus in Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, Urinetown with Sydney Theatre Company and Polites in The Odyssey for Black Swan and the Malthouse.

Performances begin in Melbourne on May 29th 2011 at the Regent Theatre.

Ramin Karimloo (the Phantom) and Sierra Boggess (Christine) will be starring in a concert on Friday Night is Music Night broadcast on Friday 17th December on BBC Radio 2 from 8:00pm-10:00pm. If you miss it on the night and you are a UK resident don;t worry because you will be able to log in to the BBC Radio “Listen again” service, the iPLayer – a link to the exact show will be provided here later. Ramin and Sierra from Love Never Dies sing a selection of music about the masked men of stage and screen with a programme that includes songs from Robin Hood, William Tell, The Masked Ball, Batman and Spiderman. Andrew Lloyd Webber gets to introduce the pieces from his own shows including The Phantom of the Opera and Love Never Dies with Ramin and Sierra accompanied by the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Simon Lee.

Love Never Dies By the time many people read this the free tickets competition will be over, so I’ll write about why I think you might like to consider Love Never Dies theatre breaks anyway. I guess you may have already seen The Phantom of The Opera ? The most successful piece of live entertainment ever, it’s been on long enough. Or maybe your parents enjoyed it thirty years ago when Michael Crawford played the Phantom. Well Love Never Dies is a continuation of the story, but with completely new twists. The scene is set ten years after the incident at the Paris Opera House, and the Phantom is now presiding over a huge entertainment complex at Coney Island, New York. He manages to manipulate Christine and Raoul into sailing across the Atlantic and into his lair. But there’s much more than that…

Some of the music in Love Never Dies comes from the operetta genre, some from light entertainment and some even from a rock background. This is the fusion which Andrew Lloyd Webber does so well. The staging, sets and costumes are magnificent, so you really do see a big musical theatre event up there on the big stage. This is certainly not one of your small cast and minimalist aesthetics plays, like many even in the West End, not that there’s anything wrong with that. Ramin Karimloo and Sierra Boggess are both star quality singers in the lead roles and it’s nice to hear the full orchestra getting a proper work out. Did I mention the free tickets? Love Never Dies Tickets Competition One pair of top price tickets have been donated. That’s worth around £180 normally. Now, you’d need to be able to get to the London Adelphi Theatre for tomorrow night, Saturday 9th October 2010. So if you are in London anyway, and can clear out all of your prior engagements to be free then you’d do well to nip over and quickly enter the simple competition on the Love Never Dies blog. The odds are not against you! Here’s the link again… http://www.loveneverdiesphantom.co.uk Love Never Dies Theatre Breaks If you don’t have easy access to the capital then buying London theatre breaks packages with the tickets and convenient hotel room plus optional discount rail travel is nearly always the best way to go.

Other London Theatre Breaks to see West End Musicals

Theatre Breaks The Wizard of Oz The Phantom Of The Opera Les Miserables Ghost

Thanks for subscribing to Andy Roberts blogLove Never Dies London Theatre Breaks

Related posts:7 Best London Theatre Breaks Theatre breaks in London Theatre Breaks

If you are very quick and can make it to London’s West End for Saturday 9th October 2010 you could very well win two free tickets to see Love Never Dies at the Adelphi. There’s a quick fire competition over on the Love Never Dies blog to win two top price tickets and all you have to do is leave a comment. Love Never Dies continues the story of the Phantom of The Opera with Raoul, Christine and the Phantom ten years later set in Coney Island, New York around 1910. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s big musical has been running in London since February 2010 and is due to open in Australia and Toronto soon, then eventually Broadway, New York. Easily one of the best big musicals in London, Love Never Dies is a feast for eyes and the ears from the start and keeps your interest right the way through with some very clever changes of tone and scene. To win two tickets urgently, you’ll need to go over to the Love Never Dies blog right away and leave a comment saying why you’d like to see the show on Saturday. Here’s the link again: http://loveneverdiesphantom.co.uk Good luck!

Love Never Dies Tickets Competition was originally posted at London Theatre Breaks blog

London Theatre Breaks The current Musicals for theatre breaks in London We have collated some useful facts, tips and information about London theatre breaks, starting with the most popular current West End musicals:

Avenue Q Billy Elliot Blood Brothers Chicago

Dirty Dancing Dreamboats And Petticoats Flashdance Grease

The Jersey Boys Love Never Dies Legally Blonde Les Miserables

The Lion King Mamma Mia Oliver Phantom of the Opera

Priscilla Queen of the Desert Sister Act Stomp Sweet Charity

Thriller Live We Will Rock You Wicked

And these are the biggest current plays for London Theatre breaks

The 39 Steps Birdsong The Country Girl Deathtrap

Ghost Stories The Mousetrap Onassis

War Horse When We Are Married Yes Prime Minister

Coney Island, New York is the setting for Love Never Dies The Coney Island chapter We started the tour exactly where the second chapter of The Wonder City begins, and Justin filled us in: The Coney Island you see now is physically very different from the one our main characters were looking at back then. A lot has changed, whether by the wrecking ball or fire. Coney Island today has been whittled down from America’s playland (think the Disney World of the 19th and early 20th centuries) to its lowest common denominator: a beach and a carnival spirit that still refuses to die. Justin interlaced the sites, stories, and history of Coney Island with plot details of The Wonder City alongside a packet of charming draft illustrations by Courtney.  September 24 2010 | Comments (View) via blog.kickstarter.com Coney Island as it was in the time that Love Never Die is set in. A lot has changed in New York island since then. Posted via email from Love Never Dies

New Year Theatre Breaks 2010 New Years Eve Theatre Breaks - Big Ben New Year theatre breaks are a great way to bring in the new decade. As it falls on a Friday night this year lots of shows have performances on New Year’s Eve and London is, of course, a fantastic place to be on such an important night. I’ll go through each of the shows, suggest some central hotels, cover some of the great things on in the city centre after the shows close, and suggest some things to do on New Year’s Day. Shows for New Year Theatre Breaks All the following shows have  performances  on New Year’s Eve 2010 . As of today these all still have some tickets, many only as part of theatre break packages. They are going fast so if you want a New Year’s Eve Theatre Break act now. Check Availability for Your New Year Theatre Break Musicals: Billy Elliot Blood Brothers Chicago Dirty Dancing Jersey Boys Legally Blonde Les Miserables Mamma Mia Matilda, A Musical Oliver! (Matinee only) Priscilla Queen of the Desert The Lion King The Phantom of the Opera Thriller Live We Will Rock You Wicked Plays: Deathtrap The 39 Steps When We Are Married Woman in Black Yes, Prime Minister Check Availability for Your New Year Theatre Break Hotels for New Year’s Eve Theatre Breaks You really want to be central to make the most of being in the capital at New Year.  I’ve seen quite a few locally organised breaks advertised where they whisk you back to an out of town hotel for a celebration after the show. This is fine but it does mean you miss out on the fun and excitement of Big Ben’s chimes and the magnificent fireworks displays. To me this is part of why you’ve come to the capital. To miss out on it stuck out of the city, no matter how nice your hotel, would be a shame. I’ll explain more about the fireworks and the New Year’s Day Parade later in the post. Ideally you want your hotel to be in the central area, say not more than 1 mile from the theatre. Sounds expensive? Actually surprisingly not too bad. I looked at good tickets for Phantom of the Opera and 2 nights and found I could get a 3* very central hotel for £250ish per person.  This isn’t much different to a normal weekend rate. New Year Theatre Breaks by Rail Advice – Come By Rail if You Possible Can This is one weekend you do not want to have a car in central London. Really, it’s better to come by rail usually anyway but New Year sees vast numbers of road closures and a car is really going to cramp your style. The theatre breaks agencies usually allow you to include your train tickets and can save you up to 40% on the normal price. After the Show – the fireworks. You won’t get out of the theatre in time to grab a prime position for the displays. They will all be filled by about 10pm. However, no need to despair. Wrap up warm and get yourself to a spot where you can see the London Eye and you will be able to see a really spectacular show. The chimes of Big Ben are broadcast down the length of the river and then the display starts. If you prefer you can head for Trafalgar  Square. There are no events planned but there is a huge screen which will relay the countdown and chimes and then show the fireworks. Just try to keep out of the fountain! No, really, it’s a really bad idea. Once it’s over you can smugly watch everyone head for the overcrowded tube as you stroll back to your cosy central hotel. By the way alcohol is not prohibited in the centre of London on New Year’s Eve so if you did happen to have a hip flask with you it might be a very nice way to bring in the New Year! New Year’s Day Parade After a full English breakfast, ( see hip flask above!) and a gentle potter round the hotel it’s time to head off for the parade. This has become a really fun event. It starts at 12 and goes on till 3. This year is the 25th anniversary of the parade and it looks set to be an extra special one. There are numerous marching bands, floats and performances. You can get a taster of it from this video: Click here to view the embedded video. Ideally why not book tickets for one of the grandstands. They are not too expensive with even the V.I.P. one at Whitehall only costing £20 each. These give you the best view of the parade. Check Availability for Your New Year Theatre Break New Year Theatre Breaks was originally posted at London Theatre Breaks blog

Andrew Lloyd Webber will be a guest on the Michael Ball Show on Friday September 10th. Michael Ball will be hosting an exclusive interview with Webber about Love Never Dies as well as his production of The Wizard of Oz.

Ramin Karimloo accompanying ALW, plays the role of The Phantom in the Adelphi Theatre production of Love  Never Dies. The episode can be seen live on ITV1 on Friday September 10th at 3pm in the afternoon, or later on the ITV Player at : http://www.itv.com/itvplayer/video/?Filter=the michael ball show Michael Ball and Andrew Lloyd Webber have worked together many time in the past, for example when Michael played Raoul in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London, and Alex in Aspects of Love at the Prince of Wales Theatre, London and on Broadway. Michael Ball DVDs

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Ramin Karimloo will be a guests on the Michael Ball Show on Saturday September 10th.

Michael Ball will be hosting an exclusive interview with Webber about Love Never Dies as well as his production of The Wizard of Oz. Ramin Karimloo of course plays the role of The Phantom in the Adelphi Theatre production of Love Never Dies. The episode can be seen live on ITV1 on Friday September 10th at 3pm in the afternoon, or later on the ITV Player at : http://www.itv.com/itvplayer/video/?Filter=the michael ball show Michael Ball and Andrew Lloyd Webber have worked together many time in the past, for example when Michael played Raoul in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London, and Alex in Aspects of Love at the Prince of Wales Theatre, London and on Broadway. Michael Ball DVDs