New Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Loyd Weber

[HinatAArcticA]

Hi everyone!
Well, to be honest I don't expect to many people to care about this, since this is a metal forum, and musicals are not very suitable for metalheads xD but when I was 10, I saw The Phantom of The Opera live, and I really loved it. The music, the story, everything was so dark and tragic and I really became a fan of it ever since. That was back in 2000, 10 years ago. I have 5 versions of the musical, and Michael Crawford as the Phantom is really an amazing singer. The final piece "Down once More" has a really amazing vocal work and it's just amazing how it ended. I really recomend it to any music lover.

Now, a few days ago I found out that Loyd Weber made... a sequel!!...
I didn't know what to think, if it was going to be amazing, if it was just stupid or what, so I went to the internets and searched some info and downloaded a version, and also found the official site: http://www.loveneverdies.com/.
So I went there, made a little research, and what I think is that at firsth sight, this thing... IS A FAILURE!... I read the full review of the story, and... a Beach?... Meg Giry is now a main character?... The Phantom wants Christine back?... What happened to that AMAZING final act from the original play?... he just decides after that that he wants her back in the end?
I really got dissapointed by the story, and when I listened to the begining of the new play, it has a weird Prologue and then some intro.
To be honest, it was just lame next to that amazing Overture from The Phantom of the Opera. I havn't listened to the full play, but for a first listen I first got dissapointed by one major thing.
Ramin Karimloo, the new Phantom is NOWHERE near Michael Crowford. He's not bad, but he doesn't have that dark magic Crawford had. Also, look at how they look:

Ramin Karmiloo


Michael Crawford


I think Ramin look far less scary, and far more like a plastic doll or something like that.
I don't wanna jump into conclutions, but my first sight at "The Phantom of The Opera" was an amazing dark tale with lovely dark and also very romantic music. And my first sight of "Love Never Dies" is just a money-maker with avarage music and singers, and so far, I'm dissapointed, but maybe is to soon to jump into conclusions, but I'm sure it won't match the original. I'll stop now befoere I write more than what I should.

Now, do someone else shares my love for the original Phantom of the Opera or has any thought? xD

[AAAAAAAAAA]

Could you please summarize this post in <15 words?
My attention span is not what it used to be.

[HinatAArcticA]

Loyd Weber makes a sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, and is nothing next to it's predecesor.
Opinions?

[rikkertje]

I love The Phantom of The Opera. So I'm really curious about this second part. I allready have the CD of Love Never Dies. Some of the music is not that good. But most of it is wonderful. I needed time to get used to this musical. But now I love it.

[NeonVomit]

Like most sequels, it was made to cash in on the success of the original. It just feels sort of contrived. There's some good music in there but it lives firmly in the shadow of the original.

[icecab21]

ill check it out sometime. the shows have all sorts of different versions with different people. i can't imagine broadway going below its normal standards for singers but i guess that could happen and musically broadway does not really have the greatest standards but the songs should change over time to make sure they get the best audiance reaction and it should only then that they make it to a record. i know my neighbor works on editing musicals as the shows go own and songs get cut and edited so the first show is a completly different show than the last of the production.