Because no one asked for it, Andrew Lloyd Webber decided that his insanely successful Broadway production The Phantom of the Opera needed a sequel. The title he is working with is Phantom: Love Never Dies. His hopes are that a sequel to the movie based on his stage musical will in turn inspire stage productions based on a movie.
The sequel will be set a decade or so after the first installment, during which time the Phantom has relocated from the Paris Opéra of Gaston Leroux’s original novel to Coney Island in Brooklyn, then still a hugely popular beach-side amusement resort for New Yorkers. “It was the place,” said Lloyd Webber. “Even Freud went because it was so extraordinary … people who were freaks and oddities were drawn towards it because it was a place where they could be themselves.”
The Phantom will be reunited with Christine, the “Swedish soprano.”
And who does Webber have in mind to take the Phantom role? He says, “We are pretty clear who our Phantom is going to be – I can’t say who,” he said.
Let me first say that I have seen the stage production of Phantom three times. I fancy myself a bit of a fan.
And despite my personal grudges against Joel Joel Schumacher for what he did to Batman and hero movies in general, I have to admit that I fell in love with the film adaptation. That movie captivated me and allowed me to experience the music again. It also introduced me to Emmy Rossum. She is truly an angel of music.
Two names being tossed about to star in the sequel are Hugh Jackman or Gerard Butler. Butler played (and sang) as the Phantom in the 2004 film, so naturally I would hope he would reprise his role.
I hope they get Rossum to return as well to reprise Christine. Rumour had it last summer that Katherine Jenkins would be getting the part but back then Webber wanted John Barrowman to be the Phantom.
