New York Times
April 6, 2010
Patrick Healy
Link to actual article


Broadway Opening for ‘Love Never Dies’ Is Delayed Until 2011

The Broadway production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new musical, “Love Never Dies,” a sequel to his “Phantom of the Opera,” will be delayed several months until spring 2011 as Mr. Lloyd Webber deals with “post-operative problems” from treatment for prostate cancer, according to a statement on Tuesday from the show’s Broadway producers. While Mr. Lloyd Webber’s cancer has been “eradicated,” the statement said, his doctors have asked him to avoid long airplane flights, which apparently have aggravated his condition, according to the statement. The producers did not provide details about the health of Mr. Lloyd Webber, 62, though they said he was well enough to continue appearing on a new BBC television series about his search for an actress to play Dorothy in a new production of “The Wizard of Oz.” Asked why Mr. Lloyd Webber did not postpone the television show and instead base himself in New York to work on the musical, executives involved in the Broadway production said he had a commitment to the BBC show. Mr. Lloyd Webber was not available for a telephone interview, a spokesman for the Broadway production said, though he said in a statement that he was “extremely frustrated” by the limitations on his travel. Two Broadway theater executives who met with Mr. Lloyd Webber in London in March, when “Love Never Dies” opened there, said that he reported feeling well and did not complain of post-treatment problems. “Love Never Dies” drew mixed reviews from critics in London, including a tough critique from The New York Times’s chief theater critic, Ben Brantley, prompting speculation that the Broadway run would be delayed so Mr. Lloyd Webber could overhaul it. The musical had been scheduled to open in November at the Neil Simon Theater.
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