Random Phantom of the Opera Stuff

Love Never Dies

 For some POTO fans, I know LND is probably a touchy subject. I just want to say there's a good chance this chapter's going to end up turning into a bit of a rant on my part, so I'm sorry in advance for that.

 I have mixed feelings about LND. I love the music, the sets and the costumes are all great. The acting depends on who you have playing the characters. But I think the one thing most people have a problem with is the plotline.

 The plotline of LND is really based on the idea that Christine never really loved Raoul, and loved the Phantom the entire time. Now, I don't actually ship Christine and the Phantom myself, but I think maybe, if things went differently, just maybe there could have been a chance for them. But not the way it was written in this play.

 My biggest problem with the plotline is what was done to Raoul's character. All he really does in the play is get drunk and yell at everyone. Even his solo number 'Why Does She Love Me?' was sung while he was getting drunk in some bar. His one saving grace is that he realizes the mistakes he made, and I think if Christine would have given him the chance, he really would have tried to do better. I know it's ten years later, and a lot can change in ten years, but I think it was done to make the Phantom look better and to justify putting Christine and the Phantom together. I personally think it's an enormous insult to Raoul's character.

 Then there's the matter of the Girys. In POTO, Madame Giry knew the kind of man the Phantom was and what he was capable of, and she knew Christine had to kept from his grasp. In LND, she's all like, "Oh, Christine's just not good enough for him, because she chose the handsome rich guy instead". On top of that, they made Meg Giry some kind of psycho who was upset that the Phantom liked Christine more than her.

 Then there's Christine and the Phantom themselves. According to 'Beneath a Moonless Sky', Christine sought out the Phantom the night before her wedding to Raoul. They slept together, and Christine was ready to ditch Raoul. But the Phantom apparently had some kind of attack of conscience and decided he wasn't good enough for her, so he disappeared into the night. That decision itself doesn't make much sense to me, because I think if Christine decided she wanted to be with the Phantom, he wouldn't just leave her.

 That night also happened to result in their son, Gustave. The Phantom didn't know at first that that was his son, so he used the kid to threaten Christine with by basically telling her "You sing in my theater, or I'll kill your rotten kid". But then he starts to wonder. Gustave is ten years old, plays the piano, and liked all of the Phantom's creepy stuff. Although Christine says that Gustave is the Phantom's son, it still really isn't much to go on. True, Gustave must have been conceived around the time of Christine and Raoul's wedding, but the two of them assumedly had sex around that time too, because Raoul believed Gustave was his. So, since there was no DNA testing at that time, there will always be a very small chance that Raoul was Gustave's father. And that would be an odd plot twist.

 But honestly, you got to feel bad for Christine. Her two love interests are the nice guy that became a drunken gambler, and the crazy guy who kidnapped and tried to force her to marry him. And then at the end of LND, she gets shot by her best friend and dies, leaving her son without a mother, and she leaves the Phantom with Gustave and Raoul to take care of, because I'm sure LND Raoul can be considered an adult.

 I don't know how many people actually know this, but LND was partly based on a book called The Phantom of Manhattan, which was written by Frederick Forsyth, a friend of Andrew Lloyd Webber. I would recommend reading the book if you can get your hands on a copy of it, because it actually wasn't bad. The story was better, and a little more believable. I think if Andrew Lloyd Webber had taken the whole plot of the book and used it for the musical instead of only taking bits of it, LND could have been better.

 Now, let's get into productions of the show. As of now, there have been productions in London, Melbourne, Copenhagen, Tokyo, and Hamburg; a special concert in Vienna in 2013; and a 2017-2018 US tour. I haven't listened to any songs from the Tokyo production or the Vienna concert yet. I heard 'Till I Hear You Sing' and 'Beneath a Moonless Sky' from the US tour, but I didn't like the actress playing Christine. The only actor in the Melbourne cast I liked was Simon Gleeson, and I just didn't like the London cast. So far, the best ones I've heard are the Copenhagen and Hamburg productions, and I would really recommend listening to anything you can find from either one.

 All in all, I would give LND three of out five stars for having great songs, beautiful sets and costumes, and decent acting and singing, but a plotline that I just can't find believable.

 Do comment your own thoughts on LND, whether you like it or not. And if you have any favorite actors from it; my own favorite LND Phantom is Gardar Thor Cortes and my favorite LND Christine is Louise Fribo.