Displaying items by tag: Cindy Payne

If you are a passionate fan of the original "Phantom of the Opera" musical, its sequel "Love Never Dies" will surely peak your curiosity and is a 'must see'.

The continuation to one of the greatest love stories of our time takes place in 1907, ten years later after the Paris Opera House fire. The Phantom fled at that time, escaping tragedy, but not before releasing Christine and Raoul, so moved by his love for her. Christine now resurfaces after receiving an invitation to travel from Paris to make her singing debut in New York and the Phantom is determined to win back her love. After so many years have gone by, we finally see a life changing reunion between the Phantom, Christine and other ghosts from the past.

Magnificently directed by Simon Phillips, the stunning musical includes a new set and costume designs by Gabriela Tylesova, choreography by 2011 Astaire Awards winner Graeme Murphy, lighting design by Nick Schlieper and sound design by Mick Potter. Together they produce what can be described no less than an enchanting theatre experience that is as haunting as it is seductive.

A handful of characters return from the first musical, including the Phantom portrayed with fierceness by Cardar Thor Cortes who was born in Iceland and is making his debut in the United States in this performance. Cardar Thor Cortes comes directly off the heels of a successful run of Love Never Dies in Hamburg, Germany. Christine is beautifully acted by Chicago native Meghan Picerno. The music and lyrics created by Andrew-Lloyd-Webber and Glenn Slater seem personally written for these two amazing singers who held the audience in awe.  Other return characters were Raoul (Sean Thompson), Madame Giry (Karen Mason) and Meg Giry (Mary Patterson).

The musical number impress one after another and are in many ways as powerful than those in the original “Phantom”. "Once Upon Another Time" will touch your heart while offering meaning to the story line of this play. Meghan Picerno, (Christine) and Gardar Cortes mesmerize the audience singing beautifully together, their words enhanced by every powerful note. "Love Never Dies", without question reveals Meghan's emotionally charged and extremely talented voice.  

Applause, applause and more applause...

“I have the great joy of being able to say that I think this production is probably the finest one I could ever, ever hope for,” said Andrew Lloyd Webber just minutes after seeing the musical’s first run through.

One of the play’s nice surprises was 13-year-old Casey Lyons native of Lake Forest who was a joy to watch sing and perform. Casey is a natural and has a wonderful gift of song.  

The Coney Island atmosphere freed the stage up to every kind of performer singing and dancing together to present a mystical, delightful and creative wonderland. The fluid stage changes were excellently done and the orchestra gets an A-plus in every way.

Not to give the plot away, I can say the story line is unique, a little unexpected, and keeps you wondering until the very end. "Love Never Dies" is well worth attending.  

“Love Never Dies” has a running time of two hours and twenty-five minutes with one intermission and is being performed at Cadillac Palace Theatre through March 4th. For tickets and/or more show information, visit www.BroadwayInChicago.com.

My guests and I were seated directly in front of the center stage - I could touch it.  I had not taken a ‘sneak peak’ of the acts as to what we might expect. So, with only the anticipation of the unknown, V - The Ultimate Variety Show was completely surprising and entertaining from beginning to end.  The variety of acts went from unusual to jaw dropping.  

The host was Russ Millin, who apart from doing a wonderful job introducing the acts, had one of his own.  I’ll get back to that later!  

With so many acts to digest, I’ll just quickly run down the list of a few that stood out most to me, though there was not a single act that disappointed.

“Turf”, a young male contortionist awed (and shocked us a little) with what seemed like impossible moves, like the illusion of his head not being attached.  You can’t go to dance school to learn this style! 

Iouri and Gabor acrobatic act of strength and balance was totally Las Vegas worthy.  I would venture to say that if you don’t see this act up close and personal, you would not be able to appreciate the extreme talent and precision it takes to present what they did for us.

The Quiddlers had the audience roaring with laughter!  It was a trio of ‘little people’, or rather the illusion of it…. hard to tell.  The coordination that consumed the entire stage with song, dance and comic jesters was a commitment of hard work that really paid off.

Tamara Yerofeeva, Anna is a petite beauty who amazed us with her handling of up to 5 or 6 rings.  She made the impossible happen in more ways than could be expected and was absolutely hypnotic.

The Robot Boys from Denmark were just wonderful to watch.  Their two characters were fluid in robotic movement and acted out a number of scenarios to background rhythms.  

Recycled Percussion who actually have their own Las Vegas act consisted of two very gifted performers.   Starting out with what almost looked like ‘homemade drums’, their act began with low key sounds, escalating to competitive drum fun, and complicated duos.   Don’t want to spoil it for you, so check it out!

The husband and wife team, “The Skating Aratas” presented themselves in what I would have to describe as a thrilling and frightening routine.  Skating on a small, round platform above my own head, I could hardly watch!  With much needed perfection together the husband secured his wife in ways that seemed so daring that it seemed she would go flying into the audience at any moment.

I loved how this production mixed it up with the type of acts we saw, keeping true to its name, V-The Ultimate Variety Show.  With its great combination of humor and a unique blend of talented, sometimes seemingly death-defying acts, this is one of the most entertaining shows I’ve seen in some time. Funniest of all, or at least comparable to the Quiddlers, Russ surprised us with an audience participation routine.  Picking four men (my ‘lucky’ husband was one of them), the followed Russ’ lead on stage, acting out a skit of sorts, creating sidesplitting laughter throughout the audience.   

V-The Ultimate Variety Show is a great night out for those searching for entertainment on The Strip.  The show is reasonably priced and entertains in more ways than one could imagine.  The above mentioned are not just the acts scheduled for the show we attended, many of them have performed in other parts of the world and states, leading them to the ‘center of entertainment’ right here in Las Vegas!

V-The Ultimate Variety Show is being performed twice nightly at The V Theater in Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino. Tickets are general admission at $69.99.