{"id":1829,"date":"2015-05-12T02:48:57","date_gmt":"2015-05-12T06:48:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wizardwalk.com\/newblather\/?p=1829"},"modified":"2023-08-10T04:15:25","modified_gmt":"2023-08-10T08:15:25","slug":"love-never-dies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wizardwalk.com\/newblather\/?p=1829","title":{"rendered":"Love Never Dies"},"content":{"rendered":"

I watched Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies<\/a>\"\" on blu-ray over the weekend, his sequel to his famous Phantom of the Opera<\/em>. Being a fan of the original, I was curious to see the sequel, though I didn’t really have high hopes. I actually bought the cast recording when it came out, but couldn’t really get into it for whatever reason. And the plot involves the Phantom working at Coney Island, which sounds laughably ridiculous. Finally, the title, Love Never Dies<\/em>, seems rather a bit melodramatic.<\/p>\n

\"Love<\/p>\n

But I actually really enjoyed Love Never Dies<\/em> a lot. It features some of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s better melodies, and the dark mysterious atmosphere they give Coney Island and the other sets complement the dark mysterious atmosphere of the original Phantom.<\/p>\n

That said, I think one still has to approach this musical as sort of its own self-contained thing, merely based<\/em> on the original, rather than a “definitive” continuation. (Especially as the original Phantom ends quite fine on its own, thank you very much; it doesn’t really leave anything to be said.) Though the main characters are back and musical references to the original are all over the place, Love Never Dies<\/em> still feels a bit like fan-fiction. It has a different “spirit” to it. It’s not nearly as large in scope; rather, it’s a drama among a few characters. Gone is the mysterious and murderous Phantom lurking in the shadows, willing to kill to get what he wants. Now he’s the main character, trying to get back a piece of the love he knows he lost, without resorting to violence. Gone is the romantic and dependable Raoul willing to do anything for Christine; he now likes to drink and is a pretty much a jerk. And now there’s a child, Christine’s son, whom the Phantom quickly comes to realize has more in common with himself than his supposed father, Raoul. Could it be the Phantom has a son? If so, what does it mean for everyone?<\/p>\n

So it’s a very different kind of story than the original Phantom of the Opera<\/em>. But I think if you view it as “story variations on a group of characters” rather than a definitive sequel, it works very well. I enjoyed seeing the a-bit-too-romantic-Raoul turned into a jerk, I enjoyed seeing Christine still caring about the Phantom (though I suppose we must forget that he is a murderer who got away with even burning down an entire opera house), and I enjoyed seeing the Phantom facing the realization that he might be a father. After all, he’s been alone and rejected almost all his life; being able to pass on his interests in music and … dark brooding atmospheres? … seems a salvation. (And having just written a book called Son of a Dark Wizard<\/em>, I suppose that dynamic appeals to me.)<\/p>\n

Perhaps because I’ve been listening to quite a bit of symphonic metal lately, the song Beauty Underneath<\/em> got stuck in my head the most. It’s a parallel to the title song of the original, only this time instead of leading his love interest to his lair under an opera house, he’s showing his lost-love’s son … a bunch of freaks trapped in glass or something. Anyway, it’s here that he’s realizing the child may share his interests because he shares his blood. Also, I think the singers on the blu-ray do a better job with the song than the cast on the album:<\/p>\n