Love Story

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Introduction to "Love Story"

"Love Story" premiered in London’s West End at the Duchess Theatre on December 6, 2010, following previews from November 27, for a limited 10-week run ending February 26, 2011. With music by Howard Goodall, lyrics by Stephen Clark and Goodall, and a book by Clark, this musical adapts Erich Segal’s 1970 novel and its iconic film. Directed by Rachel Kavanaugh, it starred Emma Williams as Jenny Cavilleri, Michael Xavier as Oliver Barrett IV, and Peter Polycarpou as Phil. Produced by Michael Ball in his West End producing debut, it transferred from a sold-out Chichester Festival Theatre season. A tear-jerking tale of love and loss, its chamber style and Goodall’s score featuring "What Can You Say?" offered a fresh British musical that tugged at heartstrings, earning acclaim despite its brief run.

The Creative Team Behind the Show

Howard Goodall composed the emotive score, with lyrics co-written with Stephen Clark, whose book distilled Segal’s novel into a succinct 90-minute arc. Rachel Kavanaugh’s direction, honed at Birmingham Repertory Theatre, brought intimacy to Peter McKintosh’s minimalist white set three Corinthian pillars evoking both cinema and eternity. Emma Williams, Olivier-nominated for "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," led as Jenny, with Michael Xavier’s Oliver and Peter Polycarpou’s Phil reprising their Chichester roles. Michael Ball, a West End icon, produced alongside Adam Spiegel, with musical staging by Lizzi Gee and a live septet piano and strings underpinning the action. This team melded seasoned talent with a new work, aiming for emotional resonance over blockbuster flash.

A Heartbreaking Tale of Love and Loss

At Jenny’s funeral, mourners reflect ("What Can You Say About a Girl?") on her life with Oliver Barrett IV, a wealthy Harvard jock who falls for Radcliffe’s spirited, poor Italian-American Jenny Cavilleri. Their opposites-attract romance blooms with "Winter’s Night," defying his family’s disapproval leading to disinheritance and her leukemia diagnosis. Jenny sacrifices her music career to support Oliver through law school, only to face a terminal illness. Songs like "The Summer" and "I Still Believe" chart their joy and despair, culminating in her death and Oliver’s grief-stricken farewell to her father Phil an echo of the film’s “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” It’s a compact, sung-through tragedy of fleeting love against societal odds.

Performance and Reception

Opening after Chichester’s raves, "Love Story" drew praise at the Duchess WhatsOnStage lauded Goodall’s “beautiful” music and Kavanaugh’s “austere” staging, though it dipped into “tear-jerking manipulation.” The Telegraph hailed Williams and Xavier’s “superb” sincerity, running 80 performances to a sniffle-filled close. Critics admired its “high-calibre” chamber style, but some felt its brevity sans intermission rushed the pathos. Ball’s producing debut shone, with a cast recording capturing its intimacy, though it didn’t match "Les Misérables"’ bombast. Audiences embraced its heartbreak, filling seats despite a limited run, proving its quiet power in a West End dominated by spectacle, even as it ended sooner than its Chichester buzz suggested it might.

Legacy in West End Theatre

"Love Story" carved a niche as a tender chamber musical, its 80-show West End run a modest triumph after Chichester’s sell-out. It spawned a 2012 U.S. debut at Walnut Street Theatre, a 2013 Edinburgh Fringe stint, and Dutch and Russian tours Amsterdam’s Het Parool praised its “subdued” beauty. Goodall’s score endures via recordings, though it lacks the longevity of Lloyd Webber epics. Ball’s producing leap hinted at future ventures, while Williams and Xavier’s stars rose. A delicate counterpoint to splashy hits, it’s less a West End titan than a poignant whisper revived sporadically, like Bolton Octagon’s 2014 run celebrating love’s brevity with a legacy of quiet tears over roaring applause.