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Theatre critics around the world all took their turn to take a swing at the Coney Island clowns. To view their unedited reviews, select a production!
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- London Production v1.0 - Press Reviews (Mar-Dec 2010)
- London Production v2.0 - Press Reviews (Dec 2010 - Aug 2011)
- Australian Productions - Press Reviews (May 2011 - Jan 2012)
Updated Jan 18, 2012
Daily Mail
“Love may never die but West End shows will come perilously close to disaster unless they have some oompf and bongo — and preferably a decent tune — in the first 15 minutes.”
Times Online
“...oh, how time and a dismally implausible plot have altered [Phantom] and his life.”
Guardian
“The problems lie within the book, chiefly credited to Lloyd Webber himself and Ben Elton, which lacks the weight to support the imaginative superstructure.”
New York Times
“So now he’s back in the West End with a big, gaudy new show. And he might as well have a “kick me” sign pasted to his backside.”
Evening Standard
“Admirers of Phantom are likely to be disappointed, and there’s not enough here to entice a new generation of fans.”
Metro
“...a sentimental love story in which the psychological darkness of its predecessor has aged into hammy gothic kitsch.”
EW.com
“UK critic Mark Shenton's verdict is out, too---and it's a pan.”
Financial Times
“I can’t see it winning over the “Love Should Die” Facebook group.”
Sunday Times
“None of this villainy was remotely hinted at in Phantom. It’s one of the many excruciating ways in which the original characters have had to be deformed to fit this childish and cheesy melodrama.”
Variety
“At the moment, watching the sequel only makes you appreciate the achievement of the original.”
Theatremania.com
“...turns out to be muddled and baffling, and full of moments of unintentional humor.”
The Scotsman
“...you’ll wish you’d got a ticket for the original Phantom instead.”
Time Out London
“With its sickening swirls of video imagery, pointless plot, and protracted, repetitive songs, 'Love Never Dies', directed by Jack O'Brien, is punishingly wearisome.”
NewStatesman
Reports Mr Y should be renamed Mr YOY (as in 'why oh why did we need to have a sequel?').
West End Whingers
“The Whingers could think of many reasons not to see Love Never Dies, the long-awaited (although by whom is unclear) sequel to The Phantom of the Opera.”
Jewish Chronicle
“Apart from Bob Crowley's design, this sequel to the hit Phantom of the Opera misses on all fronts.”
Variety Magazine
“...The story itself, and thus the show, remains weak...Love Never Dies has the tired feel of an attempt merely to continue the story.”
Daily Mail
“...Exhale too deeply and it’ll fall over...this one’s got no real oomph to get it going. It also has little at stake to sustain it until well into the second half...”
Evening Standard
“...it is still repetitious, lacks real suspense and suffers from the fact that several key characters feel one-dimensional...with all the revisions that have been made Love Never Dies, though elegant, doesn’t feel sufficiently dynamic.”
A Younger Theatre
“With an obvious plot, little dramatic tension, and an ending that lacks any real emotion, Love Never Dies sadly does die for me and so has a part of my appreciation of what a new musical should bring to the West End.”
Time Out London
“The new mask does little to hide the ugliness beneath; the problems are integral... The lyrics...are terrible and the story (a hotchpotch from Webber, Ben Elton, Slater and Frederick Forsyth) simply silly.”
The Australian
“...the story is as rickety and jerry-rigged as a Coney Island roller coaster...”
The Age
“The songs aren't as memorable ...and there's only so much you can do with recycled goods.”
Crikey
“banal lyrics...the implausible plot...You can’t build a show on one great song. Or the memories of an old fantastical piece of musical theatre”
Time Out Sydney
“[Andrew Lloyd Webber] step away from your piano, hang up your crown and quietly exit stage left. Don’t let the door hit you on your way out.”
Theatre People Australia
“There is only a single subplot to speak of, and it’s one which rarely threatens to become engaging.”
Daily Telegraph
“While a steady string of showstoppers helped catapult the original [Phantom] into the musical theatre stratosphere, Phantom Part II boasts a far less remarkable score.”
Stage Noise
“It’s all terrific, aside from the book, lyrics, and music, all of which are mediocre at best and risible the rest of the time.”
Sydney Morning Herald
“The Phan-boys will never come around to loving it...”
“...The story’s climax stutters...”
