Love Never Dies Libretto.pdf

ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER

music by ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER

lyrics by GLENN SLATER

book by ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER & BEN ELTON

with GLENN SLATER & FREDERICDK FORSYTH

WORLD PREMIERE 09-03-10 ADELPHI THEATRE LONDON

RECORDED DRAFT

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ACT ONE

Prologue

(The sound of seagulls cawing forlornly as the tide rolls relentlessly in. Lights

slowly rise to reveal the boardwalk at Coney Island, in winter.

Againt a dull grey sky, we see the abandoned frames of Coney’s famous

atractions: A skeletal roller coaster… A frost-covered Ferris Wheel… A

decrepit steeplechase track. They rise behind a weatered wooden fence pasted

with old and tattered show posters, advertising the now-forgotten performers

who once delighted millions.

A woman enters, wrapped in a ragged coat. She is not old, but has clearly been

ill-used by time. She stops to gaze at the posters.)

MADAME GIRY “Phantasma. City of Wonders… Mr Y. Presents… Marvels, astonishments…

Human prodigies. The Ooh La La Girl, five performances daily… Christine

Daaé, the soprano of the century” Gone. All gone.

(As she trails off, a voice addresses her.)

FLECK

Yes…there’s nothing left. Nothing but ghosts. But I knew you’d come

back… Madame Giry.

(As the voice speaks, its source unfolds itsels from the seaside debris: Another

woman, ageless and odd, with a pale face, sunken eyes, and a bizarre manner.)

MADAME GIRY You…still here.

FLECK

Of course we’re still here. The freaks, the monstrous, the bizarre… Where

else could we exist but here? And after the tragedy… After the master

disappeared with the child… After the fire that consumed everything…

MADAME GIRY His dream. Our dream…

FLECK Remember how it was? Remember? (Crooning, half-mad)

Coney Isle…

Glistening and glimmering!

Rising bright,

drenched with light…

(As she sings, ghostly fireworks explode overhead)

See it smile,

beckoning and shimmering!

All agleam…

Like a dream..!

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FLECK & MADAME GIRY Every fantasy set free!

Sodom rising by the sea!

(The dilapidated seaside world begins to transform before our eyes, bursting

into light and color.)

MADAME GIRY Coney Isle!

Miracle on miracle!

Speed and sound

all around.

Mile by mile,

loud and lewd and lyrical.

Thrill on thrill,

never still.

All america was there.

Beggar next to billionaire!

In they came,

chasing sensation and romance…

Eyes aflame,

desperate for pleasures yet unknown.

Night and day,

pouring in by the hundreds of thousands!

Swept away,

as their ev’ry desire was made real!

(The sound of the sea remains for a few moments, then the Coney Island Waltz

slowly starts up.

A vision of the past manifests itself – Coney Island in its heyday. At the height

of the reverie…)

FLECK That’s the place that you ruined, you fool!

MADAME GIRY (Shocked out of her reverie.) Wh…what? What do you mean?

FLECK That’s the world you destroyed with your greed!

MADAME GIRY It wasn’t my fault! I couldn’t have known..!

FLECK Don’t you remember what happened back then,

when we… Even we!... Dared to walk among men

(Whispered, softly, gently)

When even a Phantom could dream his dark dreams once again…

(Suddenly, ragtime Music sweeps up, obliterating the two women from the

future…)

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SCENE 1 – Outside Phantasma.

The boardwalk, Coney Island, circa 1907.

(The grounds of an ornate amusement park, thronged with delighted holiday

makers.)

BYSTANDER 1 Hurry up!

BYSTANDER 2 You won’t believe it!

BYSTANDER 3 Take a look what’s over here!

BYSTANDER 4 Who imagined just how big the place would be?

BYSTANDERS 2 & 3 The man called Mr Y put it up in just a year.

ALL BYSTANDERS It’s a little slice of Heaven by the sea!

(More onlookers enter, gazing around in amazement.)

ONLOOKER 1 Look, there’s restaurants!

ONLOOKER 2 A midway!

ONLOOKER 3 A gigantic concert hall!

BYSTANDER 1 The biggest funhouse ever seen!

ONLOOKER 4 A volcano that erupts each day at three!

BYSTANDER 2 Wonders brought from ‘round the world!

ONLOOKERS 1 & 2 The season’s just begun,

but Mr Y has got it all!

BYSTANDER 1 Crystal fountains!

BYSTANDER 2 Grand pavillions!

BYSTANDER 3 & 4 Hell, it musta cost him millions!

BYSTANDERS/ONLOOKERS It’s a little slice of Heaven by the sea!

(The crowd gets bigger, and more festive.)

ONLOOKER 1 Over here!

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CROWD (ALL) The sights! The sounds! The lights! The smells!

The wonder wheels! The carousels!

The gardens and arcades,

the marble colonnades!

CROWD 1 The rides!

CROWD 2 (Echoing.) The rides!

CROWD 1 The shows!

CROWD 2 (Echoing.) The shows!

CROWD 1 & 2 The games of chance!

CROWD 1 The rush!

CROWD 2 (Echoing.) The rush!

CROWD 1 The whirl!

CROWD 2 (Echoing.) The whirl!

CROWD 1 The sheer romance!

CROWD 2 The sheer romance!

BYSTANDER 1 And the rumours…

BYSTANDER 2 What about ‘em?

BYSTANDER 3 & 4 Things so odd you daren’t doubt ‘em…

ONLOOKER 1 Freaks and monsters…

ONLOOKER 2 Aberrations…

ONLOOKERS 3 & 4 Weird mechanical creations…

PASSERBY 1 And the Genius who designed it wears a mask!

CROWD (Whispers.) A mask? A mask?

PASSERBY 2 But what’s behind it?

BYSTANDERS What’s behind it?

SPECTATORS What’s behind it?

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