The YouTube channel The Shows Must Go On continues to air free full-length recordings of Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals, with Love Never Dies, the sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, available April 24 at 2 PM ET for 48 hours on YouTube or in the video above.
The musical follows the streaming of The Phantom of Opera April 17–19, which raised over $400,000 for The Actors Fund and other charities. Donations are encouraged to support industry professionals impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2012 Australian production starred Ben Lewis as The Phantom, Anna O'Byrne as Christine Daaé, and Simon Gleeson as Raoul, directed by Simon Phillips, with set and costume designs by Gabriela Tylesova and choreography by Graeme Murphy. Glenn Slater wrote the lyrics for Love Never Dies, with a book by Lloyd Webber, Ben Elton, and Slater. Phantom lyricist Charles Hart is also credited with additional lyrics.
The musical continues the story of The Phantom of the Opera 10 years later in New York City, where the Phantom has escaped to a new life in the strange carnival world of Coney Island. Now one of the world’s finest sopranos, Christine is struggling in an ailing marriage to Raoul. She accepts an invitation to travel to New York and perform at a renowned opera house. In a final bid to win back her love, the Phantom lures Christine, her husband, and their young son from Manhattan to a new world in Brooklyn.
The Shows Must Go On has already aired The Phantom of the Opera, starring Ramin Karimloo and Sierra Boggess, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, starring Donny Osmond, and the 2012 U.K. arena tour production of Jesus Christ Superstar, with proceeds going to The Actors Fund, Acting for Others, Broadway Cares, Actors Benevolent Fund, and more.
Robert Torti and company in the original Broadway production of Starlight Express.
Alan Campbell and Glenn Close in Sunset Boulevard (Broadway, 1994)
