Phantom 2: Love Never Dies briefly ignited some hope from me when it was revealed that Webber would no longer be following the plot of the novel The Phantom of Manhattan, even though the show would still be set in Brooklyn. (The novel, by Frederick Forsythe, is meant as a sequel to the musical and completely changes the ending of the original novel). But I followed Broadway enough to know a few things: Lightning rarely strikes twice (which is a reason why I don't think Cats would ever enjoy a successful revival), sequels never do well (see Annie Warbucks, Bring Back Birdie and The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public to name a few), and Andrew Lloyd Webber hasn't been as big a name on Broadway as years past. Woman in White didn't even last till the Tonys and Bombay Dreams struggled for the few years it was open. (Note: Webber produced Bombay Dreams, which was composed by A.R. Rahman, nominated for Slumdog Millionaire).
The actual plot, though, of Phantom 2: Love Never Dies has been shrouded a bit. Nothing I had ever read went beyond the Phantom running into Christine some years after the ending the original story in Brooklyn. Playbill.com ran an article today where it was suggested that Sierra Boggess (The Little Mermaid) was tapped to play Christine in the sequel. It gave the summary as such: "In Love Never Dies, the disfigured Phantom — who released his beloved soprano and her love, Raoul, at the end of The Phantom of the Opera, and then disappeared in a flash — has been relocated from the Paris Opera to Brooklyn's Coney Island. Christine apparently has a son, and is unhappily married to a now dissipated Raoul."
I don't know about this story line. To me, it sounds more like something found on fanfiction.net written by someone more familiar with the musical/movie than the novel. It is common in the fandom to malign Raoul. I'll admit I am just as guilty when I was a young fanfiction writer and writing Phantom phics. It seems that with the release of the musical and subsequently the movie, people have forgotten who the hero of The Phantom of the Opera really is. It isn't Erik, the masked titled figure, but Raoul--the brave vicomte who fights for the love of his life. Erik is the villian. He's not some gothic version of Wuthering Height's Heathcliff. He's a man who is a genius and a sociopath. He built a torture chamber for sport and doesn't understand how to love without obsession, murder and ultimatums. Why can't Christine and Raoul be happy, fanfiction writers? Webber?
Well, I guess I'll wait to see how the music turns out. And I'll probably go see it, just to see it. These days on Broadway, beggars can't be choosers.
No comments:
Post a Comment