I feel bad for Baz Bamigboye, the Daily Mail’s showbiz guru.
He loved Loved Never Dies and feels as disappointed and betrayed as a scorned lover (see 30 July: Baz falls out of love with Love).
We’ve been following the highs and lows (mostly lows) and this week’s Daily Mail is yet further tales of LND woe.
It somewhat reminds us of Private Eye’s Glenda Slag column: Love Never Dies, it’s the greatest musical we have ever heard, it deserves to win every award known to showbiz, its love will never die (geddit?!). Love Never Dies, what a pile of poo, the love is dead as a door-nail (geddit?!!).
He wants to love it, and wants to love Andrew Lloyd Webber, but would ruin his significant street cred if he loved the show. A rock and a hard place for poor Baz.
Our favourite line in his gut-wrenching piece relates to the forthcoming changes to the show (see 22 October: Love Never Dies but it does take rests) by theatre impresario Bill Kenwright; “No disrespect to Bill Kenwright, but no A-list director of international repute would touch Love Never Dies after O’Brien’s departure.”
So there!
Baz says that his real beef is with the fact that no good can come out of an artist (Andrew Lloyd Webber) turning themselves into a corporation (Really Useful Group) and that’s what’s done it in for the show. However, said corporation has done pretty well so far, as has that other big beast Cameron Mackintosh Limited, which is as slick a money-making company as you could find. The problems lie deeper but are not beyond rescue. We await the changes to the production with some interest.
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Seen the new version, a vast improvement, takes this show froma collection fo songs and dance routines to a fantastic emotionally engaging tour de force. Blown away.