Phantom of the Opera Phan???

I will admit, I am a HUGE Phantom Phan. I have snow globes, figurines, sweatshirts, tee shirts, playbills and a Broadway and London theater poster collection that is worth a pretty penny (including one from opening night with Sarah Britman & Michael Crawford and the highly collectible Twin Towers one but my collection is still not complete). I have seen Phantom every time it has come to New Orleans. If I could afford it I would go see it on Broadway in NYC and in London.
I had heard that Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber was working on a sequel. I had heard about it for years. I never really thought he would actually do it but I was wrong. He did and it premiers this year in London and New York.
I have read all of the books, all of the sequels that authors have come up with. I read The Phantom of Manhattan (that is referenced in the following video) and to tell you honestly, none did the story justice. To me, The Phantom is not a monster. He is a man who is in love with a woman he can not have. His nature is from learned behavior, from being disfigured, and from not knowing any better. He has a gift, a gift of song, a beautiful man deep down inside who just can not show his feelings in a correct way.
Love Never Dies is the sequel to The Phantom of the Opera and right now I am pretty damn upset about it. I know it will be a long time before I can ever see it, as it does not premiere on Broadway in New York until November 11, 2010 and will be premiering in London on March 9, 2010. I will give it the benefit of the doubt and see it before I really really give my opinion but right now I am just an upset Phan. Why mess with something that was so perfect. Yes, the ending was a cliffhanger but it let you, the audience, decide what happens next.
Ok, enough bitching!
Watch and see for yourself! Here is an interview with Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and if you want to see the first score released for Love Never Dies then visit the production's website www.loveneverdies.com


What do you think?