London Adelphi Theatre Love Never Dies

By Abi Westcott

The principal characters of The Phantom of the Opera continue their stories in Andrew Lloyd Webber's LOVE NEVER DIES, currently playing at The Adelphi Theatre London. From the Gothic surrounds of the Paris Opera House to the dazzling heights of New York's Coney Island - the Phantom returns. Andrew Lloyd Webber's spectacular new musical reunites the masked Phantom with his only true love and musical protege, the stunning beauty Christine Daae. Love Never Dies is a roller coaster ride of intrigue, obsession and romance - where little is as it first appears.

With Madame Giry's help the Phantom escaped the Paris mobs to build a glittering new empire in the new world. For ten long years the Phantom has hidden himself amongst the freaks and sideshows nursing his broken heart and yearning for his true love to return.

Now, blinded by money and the bright lights of Coney - Christine, with Raoul and their son Gustave, is lured to America to perform one final time. But Christine soon discovers the true identity of the mysterious impresario who has tempted her across the Atlantic. As old wounds are reopened and forgotten memories unlocked - The Phantom sets out to prove that, indeed, Love Never Dies.

The Adelphi Theatre was founded in 1806 by merchant John Scott and his daughter Jane. The original name was Sans areil (French for 'unique' or 'without comparison') Jane was a performer, playwright and British theatre manager at the time. They formed a theatrical company and by 1809 the theatre was licensed for musical entertainments, pantomime, and Burletta (is a musical term generally denoting a short comic Italian (and later English) opera. She wrote more than fifty stage pieces in various genres: melodramas, pantomimes, farces, comic operettas, historical dramas, and adaptations. Jane Scott retired to Surrey in 1819, marrying John Davies Middleton (1790-1867). On 18th October, 1819 the theatre reopened under its present name, which was adopted from the Adelphi Buildings opposite.

In its early years, the theatre was known for melodrama, called Adelphi Screamers. Many of Charles Dickens stories were adapted for the stage here, including John Baldwin Buckstone's The Christening, a comic burletta, which opened on 13th October, 1834, based on the story The Bloomsbury Christening. This is thought to be the first Dickens adaption performed. Subsequent classics included; The Pickwick Papers, Nicholas Nickleby and The Old Curiosity Shop.

Because of considerable improvements to the building needed, the outdated theatre was demolished, and on 26th December 1858 The New Adelphi was opened. The new theatre could seat 1,500 men and women, with standing space for an additional five hundred. The inner had been illuminated by way of a Stroud's Patent Sun Lamp, a remarkable assortment of gas mantles passed through a chandelier of cut-glass.

During the middle 1800s, John Lawrence Toole proved his reputation for comedies at the Adelphi. Additionally during the mid-1800s, the Adelphi held many French operettas which includes La belle Hln. In 1867, the Adelphi hosted the first public performance of Arthur Sullivan's first opera, Cox and Box. William Terriss, an actor who performed frequently at the Adelphi ended up being stabbed to death on 16th December, 1897 as recorded on a plaque upon the wall by the stage door. Richard Archer Prince (also called William Archer Flint) a bit-part actor perpetrated the murder. It's alleged that Terriss' ghost haunts the theatre. Terriss' daughter was Ellaline Terriss, a famous actress, as well as her husband, actor-manager Seymour Hicks managed the Adelphi for many years at the end of the 19th century.

The theatre re-opened on 11th September, 1901 as the Century Theatre, although the name reverted to the Adlephi in 1904. This theatre was built by Frank Kirk to the design of Ernest Runtz. George Edwardes, the dean of London musical theatre, took over the management of the theatre in 1908. In the early part of the 20th century, the Adelphi was home to a number of musical comedies. The present Adelphi opened on 3rd December, 1930 being re-designed in the Art Deco style by Ernest Schaufelberg. It was named the 'Royal Adelphi Theatre' and re-opened with the hit musical Ever Green, by Hart and Rogers. In 1940 the theatre's name reverted to The Adelphi. The theatre continued to host comedy and musicals.

A proposed redevelopment of Covent Garden by the GLC (Greater London Council) in 1968 saw the theatre under threat, along with the Vaudeville, Garrick, Lyceum and Duchess theatre. An energetic campaign by Equity the Musicians' Union and theatre owners under the auspices of the Save London Theatres Campaign thankfully led to the scheme being abandoned. In 1993, Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group bought the theatre and completely refurbished it before to the launching of his adaptation of Sunset Boulevard.

In November 1997, the Adelphi became home to the London production of the musical Chicago which was the venue's longest ever running production during its eight-and-a-half year run, which also made it the longest running American musical in West End history. In April 2006, Chicago transferred to the Cambridge Theatre. Since then, the theatre has hosted Evita, Pet Sounds and Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, with the lead part (Lee Mead) being cast by the BBC's show Any Dream Will Do. Love Never Dies opened in March 2010.

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