Love Never Dies...on tour — Page 2

It did indeed all start with the awful film version and the casting of Gerard Butler (who can't even sing) as the "Hot Phantom." The Phantom is supposed to be sexy in a Dracula kind of way, not a Jake Gyllenhaal kind of way.

Oh, and by the way, despite having two or three good songs, Love Never Dies just plain sucks.

LizzieCurry said: "Why would you blame the younger, female set of fans when it's more likely thirsty casting directors -- or casting directors with a mistaken idea of what the fans want?"

Obviously casting directors are making these choices, but I believe they are basing their selections on what phangirls respond to.

LizzieCurry said: "Is there really that much crossover from the original show to LND? Or are you just tired of the Ramin fans (in which case I wouldn't really blame you)?"

I've been a fan (note the spelling) of this story for quite some time and I enjoy following its life through ALW's lens. I observed that the "franchise" took on a new crop of ardent females with the release of the Butler/Rossum film, but they really came in droves when Mr. Karimloo and Ms. Boggess were cast in the original London production of LND. The "phangirling" reached its apogee with the Phantom 25th Anniversary production at the Royal Albert Hall, after which the "Rierra" 'shippers turned hardcore. Despite the fact that Mr. Karimloo is happily married with children and Ms. Boggess was then in a relationship with Tam Mutu, the "Rierra" people became quite obsessed with making these two performers into a real-life Phantom and Christine. They are now only interested in seeing young and pretty pairings in the show, regardless of whether the performers can sing or how such casting invalidates the plot (Chris Mann in the misguided touring production was in way over his head, but they loved him).

While I have great appreciation for Mr. Karimloo as a singer and performer and I particularly enjoyed his version of "Til I Hear You Sing", I always thought him far too young and handsome to credibly play a horribly disfigured, middle-aged man. Ms. Boggess has been a superb Christine and her rendition of the title aria from LND is, to my ears, untouchable, but she's rapidly aging out of the role in Phantom. However, that means she's also properly aging into the role in LND, and I'd very much like to see her do it again with a more mature male talent like Anthony Warlow or Hugh Panaro.

Updated On: 2/24/17 at 09:08 AM