I was surfing Yahoo Answers mere minutes ago when I stumbled upon a question:
Phantom of the Opera - Sequel?
It was recently confirmed by Andrew Lloyd Weber that a sequel to Phantom of the Opera (stage) will be opening at the end of 2009. It's called "Phantom: Love Never Dies". What do you think ?
Oh God...........I think my brain stopped working for a second.
Andrew Lloyd Weber, are you out of your freaking mind?!?! You want to make a sequel to the most successful Broadway musical in a world where statistics clearly show sequels are always epic failures (excluding series that were intended to have sequels, like Lord of the Rings). But now ALW wants to make a sequel to a musical...what? It's a musical, haven't you learned from High School Musical 2?!
And to make it worse, ALW is basing this musical on yet another novel. Now, thanks to my Phantom of the Opera obsessed days about five years ago, I know there are numerous novels based on ALW and Gaston's (original author) Phantom of the Opera. But ALW just had to choose the worst one of them all, "The Phantom of Manhattan." With a boring storyline, unrecognizable characters, and epic fail ending it is the worst book I have ever read. It takes place in New York on Coney Island which immediately makes me think of hot dogs.
Phantom and hot dogs don't mix.
Yeah, I know Coney Island was actually the rich part of NYC, but that's besides the point.
How can you make a hit musical based on a novel whose only connections to the original novel are the names and occupations of the characters?! And on YouTube, there's a video of those cast as Christine and Phantom singing; I've heard better but I think there are more problems than the cast:
"The principal characters of The Phantom of the Opera continue their stories in a breathtaking new musical... Andrew Lloyd Webber's LOVE NEVER DIES.
It is 1907. Ten years after the mysterious disappearance of The Phantom from the Paris Opera House, Christine Daae accepts an offer to come to America and perform at the fabulous new playground for the rich - Coney Island.
Arriving in New York with her husband Raoul and their son Gustave, Christine soon discovers the identity of the anonymous impresario who has lured her from France to sing.
Graced with stunning designs, passionate lyrics and a magnificent score, this brand-new musical is a rollercoaster ride of obsession and intrigue...in which music and memory can play cruel tricks... and The Phantom sets out to prove that, indeed, LOVE NEVER DIES."
Yes, the Phantom will stalk Christine to prove that, indeed, LOVE NEVER DIES DAMNIT!!! Because hey, that plot worked out for ALW in the original Phantom, maybe it will work for his sequel as well. I give a 15% success rate, 85% of leaving ALW in ruin. And feel free to taunt me if this turns out to be another hit, I shall be taunting myself as well.