LOVE NEVER DIES eyeing Broadway; Completely new ending? — Page 2

I'm pretty sure Sierra Boggess and Paul Wontorek are the only ones.

Kad, your comment plays into having Christine die. If Erik were to die, there would be no opportunity for a Phantom III. As others have said, the ending isn't the big problem. I like the notion of the kid being left to Erik to raise. There's a good song in there somewhere. But as is, there's not much *there* there overall.

SidebySidebyLogan: The utter failure of LND in London didn't do long-term damage to Phantom there.

But I think it's moot; I REALLY can't see this happening. Unless ALW himself makes 100% of the investment. Nobody in their right mind is touching this disaster.

Nobody in their right mind is touching this disaster.

Oh, you'd be surprised...

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Don't assume nobody likes this show. Besides its fans who have have loved it from the beginning---probably not a large number---there are a lot of people, mostly young and female but not entirely so---who have seen the DVD and are thrilled to pieces that LND is supposed to be coming to Broadway.
Are there enough of them out there to float a show's boat (along with regular theater-goers) to float the show's boat?

We might find out.

Mr. Roxy wrote: Yeston's phantom never really made it to Broadway and it is probably better musically than the one now at the Majestic.

I may have the facts off a bit, but I think I read that Yeston and Kopit wrote their version before ALW wrote his. However, they had to wait to produce it until the Leroux original came off copyright in the U.S. (Perhaps they couldn't afford the royalties.) The copyright period ended earlier in Britain, which gave Ken Hill and, more importantly, ALW, the jump on Yeston and Kopit. I don't know if the story is true, but it's interesting.

BTW, whoever likes Audrey Liebross's plot line for LND, on behalf of Audrey, I say, "Thank you." I post as AHLiebross sometimes when I'm too lazy to switch accounts -- I have two accounts because I use this one to post on the boards and the other to write reviews for Broadway World.

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It's not that I don't want it to live on Broadway, the book just needs work. The music is gorgeous and brilliant, and the staging & direction done by Phillip is perfect. The book is the only problem holding this show back.

I was not saying that the show does not have any fans. Everything does. Especially something tied to a commodity with a rabid fanbase. But Phantom is just as popular in its original production on the West End as it is here, and there's a reason Love Never Dies was an unmitigated fiasco there even after a massive overhaul and more money being poured in. I saw both versions, and it is an unsalvageably turgid and pointless show. The Australian production that was filmed is obviously much prettier, but it doesn't solve any major problems. It can't. Let's pretend for a moment that the idea of a belated musical stage sequel isn't already, historically speaking, a totally disastrous one. (It doesn't make sense from any hypothetical financial standpoint, or even artistic standpoint, the way franchise films do.) This show would remain the ultimate "why?" musical. Nice melodies can only do so much in this case. Love Never Dies is so essentially idiotic and so cynically conceived that it has become an international joke. The idea that the show's creatives want it to be known that they somehow find the current ending "artistically successful," as if the audience just doesn't get it, but are willing to drop it in the future anyway, speaks volumes. It's a microcosm of the incredible combination of arrogant ego and cynical pandering that is Andrew Lloyd Webber.

This show will never have the very long run it would need to be a success, after the initial curiosity burns off. And any Broadway producer with any critical thinking skills will recognize that.

Updated On: 3/17/14 at 10:53 PM

PTOPhan, this should answer your question as to how it was the Y/K Phantom never reached Broadway.
Phantom