#1
Posted: 10/1/10 at 11:28am
LOVE NEVER DIES will not arrive on broadway this season...uh duh?
#2
Posted: 10/1/10 at 11:34am
Oh good heavens! I would never have suspected that!
Butters, go buy World of Warcraft, install it on your computer, and join the online sensation before we all murder you.
--Cartman: South Park
ATTENTION FANS: I will be played by James Barbour in the upcoming musical, "BroadwayWorld: The Musical."
#3
Posted: 10/1/10 at 12:06pm
Having seen the show recently, it's not so much that it's bad, it's just numb-inducingly Boring.
The Phantom can't be a guy who just walks among people, and hangs out at bars singing cliches about the devil.
It will take an entire new book to make this thing work.
It will be interesting to see what director gets saddled with this drudge.
Zambello?
The Phantom can't be a guy who just walks among people, and hangs out at bars singing cliches about the devil.
It will take an entire new book to make this thing work.
It will be interesting to see what director gets saddled with this drudge.
Zambello?
Updated On: 10/1/10 at 12:06 PM
#4
Posted: 10/1/10 at 12:14pm
Craig Revel Horwood will direct the Toronto production.
#5
Posted: 10/1/10 at 1:14pm
Oh good, who dat?
#6
Posted: 10/1/10 at 1:17pm
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Craig+Revel+Horwood
"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt
#7
Posted: 10/1/10 at 1:28pm
WHY GOD??? WHYYYYYYYYYY!!!!
"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
~ Muhammad Ali
#8
Posted: 10/1/10 at 3:10pm
I, too, have recently watched this (thanks, internet!) and yes, the book and lyrics are the problem.
There is a musical lurking in the piece. Musically, this is Lloyd Webber at his strongest, it's a far better score musically and evocatively. I love the staging for Coney Island Waltz. I hate the prologue. The Phantom of this piece is a jilted ex bf, not someone who raped Christine and therefore gave her a son. I'm all for turn of the century melodrama, but there is no villain to the piece. And Christine, the focus of the original Phantom, is almost a bit player in this. Slater and Elton are completely out of their element here.
However, with the way this season is shaping up to be, I wouldn't want to bring it now either.
There is a musical lurking in the piece. Musically, this is Lloyd Webber at his strongest, it's a far better score musically and evocatively. I love the staging for Coney Island Waltz. I hate the prologue. The Phantom of this piece is a jilted ex bf, not someone who raped Christine and therefore gave her a son. I'm all for turn of the century melodrama, but there is no villain to the piece. And Christine, the focus of the original Phantom, is almost a bit player in this. Slater and Elton are completely out of their element here.
However, with the way this season is shaping up to be, I wouldn't want to bring it now either.
"Are we being attacked or entertained?" - MST3K
My theatre poster/logo portfolio: http://www.listenterprises.com/
#9
Posted: 10/1/10 at 7:01pm
He can bring in the best director and choreographer in the world and try it out in every major city, but unless he tosses the piss pour excuse of a book, this show will not fare well. The Phantom is a psychopathic murdering stalker, not a jilted ex-lover. Yes we sympathize with him in the end, but that doesn't stop the facts. Webber needs to reevaluate his original Phantom, take a look at that book and those lyrics and then give us something a bit more canonical than this tripe.
Perhaps he should start with the Twisted Every Way segment. I do believe that that is repeated in the sequel, and she simply doesn't sing the parts that make the story not work. There are several other moments as well that really make the sequels book fail.
Do I become his prey?
Do I have any choice?
He kills without a thought,
he murders all that's good . . .
Perhaps he should start with the Twisted Every Way segment. I do believe that that is repeated in the sequel, and she simply doesn't sing the parts that make the story not work. There are several other moments as well that really make the sequels book fail.
Do I become his prey?
Do I have any choice?
He kills without a thought,
he murders all that's good . . .
#10
Posted: 10/1/10 at 7:08pm
My first thought when I saw this headline on front page of BWW when I logged on to the site. "Well, there's a ****ing surprise."
"If you try to shag my husband while I am still alive, I will shove the art of motorcycle maintenance up your rancid little Cu**. That's a good dear"
Tom Stoppard's Rock N Roll
#11
Posted: 10/1/10 at 7:23pm
This show is such a mess. They're going to have to completely work it over if they want a chance.
#12
Posted: 10/1/10 at 10:41pm
A chance at what? Satisfying critics? Lloyd Webber's NEVER done that. Satisfying internet message board aficionados? I doubt he cares... He would bring the thing to NY just to piss off the Love Should Die people.
As bad as the book is, it's better than a few of the shows I've seen more recently that have established storylines - I'm talking to YOU, Wicked.
As bad as the book is, it's better than a few of the shows I've seen more recently that have established storylines - I'm talking to YOU, Wicked.
"Are we being attacked or entertained?" - MST3K
My theatre poster/logo portfolio: http://www.listenterprises.com/
#13
Posted: 10/1/10 at 11:36pm
A chance to not be ridiculed and skewered by critics, both professional and otherwise? A chance to succeed and not close prematurely? I'm not trying to defend some of the other 'successful' shows that have terrible books or scores, I'm just saying. He's messing around with a 'beloved classic' here. This could either help the show out, regardless of whether the book is fixed, or it could turn against him.
#14
Posted: 10/2/10 at 1:15am
There are a few nice melodies, but the book is very bad. I didn't even like the set design.
But I think CurtainPullDowner pinpointed the major problem. The Phantom has lost his otherworldly character and is now just an odrinary Joe wearing a mask. And that is disastrous.
But I think CurtainPullDowner pinpointed the major problem. The Phantom has lost his otherworldly character and is now just an odrinary Joe wearing a mask. And that is disastrous.
#15
Posted: 10/2/10 at 3:12am
You'd think someone connected with the show would have realized that making the Phantom an ordinary Joe with a mask was a mistake.
Maybe one of the "chance at whats" is the chance to finally come up with a version of the show that Broadway producers would put money in.
Maybe one of the "chance at whats" is the chance to finally come up with a version of the show that Broadway producers would put money in.
#16
Posted: 10/2/10 at 4:18am
He isn't worried about producers, he is producing it himself with his Really Useful Group production company... find investors on the other hand may be a different story assuming the money doesn't come from RUG themselves.
#17
Posted: 10/2/10 at 4:29am
...Apparently love does die.
Wherever we go, we rep our people and the beat goes...
Updated On: 10/2/10 at 04:29 AM
#18
Posted: 10/2/10 at 4:53am
I saw it two nights ago - on a discount ticket - and agree with what others have said about the book and lyrics. There's no story there. It boils down to which man will Christine choose, the drunken pathetic Raoul (talk about an awful part!) or the brooding ex-bf? Who ultimately cares?
The music still stirs things up in "dramatic" moments but as usual with ALW the lesser songs, the music hall ditties sung by the ridiculously characterized Meg Giry, suck big time.
The shining light of the production is Sierra Boggess who is radiant throughout and sings beautifully. Would that she were in a show worthy of her.
The music still stirs things up in "dramatic" moments but as usual with ALW the lesser songs, the music hall ditties sung by the ridiculously characterized Meg Giry, suck big time.
The shining light of the production is Sierra Boggess who is radiant throughout and sings beautifully. Would that she were in a show worthy of her.
Faced with these Loreleis, what man can moralize!
#19
Posted: 10/2/10 at 8:18am
Love never arrives.
Love is on hold.
Love is delayed.
Oh, Andy.
Love is on hold.
Love is delayed.
Oh, Andy.
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
#20
Posted: 10/2/10 at 9:36am
As bad as the book is, it's better than a few of the shows I've seen more recently that have established storylines - I'm talking to YOU, Wicked
But it's the book that is most damaging to the show; not only does it contradict its own internal coherence, it completely misunderstands the charm of the original: the allure of the man of mystery. The original attraction does not come from the fact that the Phantom is a misunderstood nice guy really!
Very few adaptors have so thoroughly failed to grasp the appeal of their own work!
But it's the book that is most damaging to the show; not only does it contradict its own internal coherence, it completely misunderstands the charm of the original: the allure of the man of mystery. The original attraction does not come from the fact that the Phantom is a misunderstood nice guy really!
Very few adaptors have so thoroughly failed to grasp the appeal of their own work!
#21
Posted: 10/2/10 at 9:50am
Sierra was out when I saw the show and a (how to put it) more mature actress played the part, which actually made sense.
If the story started with Christine, Raul and Phantom Jr. arriving in Coney Island, still intact as a family and then the spector of the Phantom gradually tears them apart, as a spirit, it might work.
And what's up with the Lady Gaga, Boy George and Adam Lambert characters???
Maybe they should get them to play the parts.
And Raul and Meg should definitely make dirty drunken sex on the beach.
If the story started with Christine, Raul and Phantom Jr. arriving in Coney Island, still intact as a family and then the spector of the Phantom gradually tears them apart, as a spirit, it might work.
And what's up with the Lady Gaga, Boy George and Adam Lambert characters???
Maybe they should get them to play the parts.
And Raul and Meg should definitely make dirty drunken sex on the beach.
#22
Posted: 10/2/10 at 6:39pm
Can anyone recall a sequel to a sung-through (or for that matter any sung-through show) that didn't have major book problems?
#23
Posted: 10/2/10 at 7:24pm
I feel really sorry for Sierra he should put her in the broadway version of Phantom this was meant to be her big break and now it is wasted . Like it is just so silly phantom is supposed to have an enigma to him and this just f###### it
#24
Posted: 10/2/10 at 8:00pm
"He's messing around with a 'beloved classic' here."
I don't think he is "messing around" with anything. He wrote a sequel to one of HIS shows. Did it have the best turnout? Absolutely not. However, I don't think one musical can "mess around" with another. They are separate shows even if they involve the same characters.
And I agree with ProperVillain about this being one of the only shows with an established storyline. I think this show has potential. While there are many bad things about, I also think there are many good things. The orchestrations are stunning, the cast is stellar, and the storyline is very graceful even if it is not the most exciting story.
I don't think he is "messing around" with anything. He wrote a sequel to one of HIS shows. Did it have the best turnout? Absolutely not. However, I don't think one musical can "mess around" with another. They are separate shows even if they involve the same characters.
And I agree with ProperVillain about this being one of the only shows with an established storyline. I think this show has potential. While there are many bad things about, I also think there are many good things. The orchestrations are stunning, the cast is stellar, and the storyline is very graceful even if it is not the most exciting story.
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "
Updated On: 10/2/10 at 08:00 PM
#25
Posted: 10/3/10 at 12:03am
I just mean that in the eyes of the masses, he IS messing around with the classic. Yes, it's his material and his right to do what he wishes with it. But I fear that it's going to be looked at the same way the Star Wars prequels were, if you get my nerdy reference. There are some people who will love the 'character developments' and then there are others who will bitch and moan about how he's 'ruined' the characters they know from the original.
Tickets From $59
Tickets From $71
Tickets From $71
Tickets From $95