Love Never Dies?...Well It Should!

Cinderella. The Original Star Wars trilogy. Jaws. All classics in their own right. They each have their own loyal fan base. They all have well known narratives that make each film unique. They all also have one more unfortunate commonality; they all were followed by less than mediocre sequels.

Phantom of the Opera is a beloved musical. Thousands have flocked to see it. Many loyal fans will see it as many times as possible. It reached such a popularity that it was turned into a feature film. Perhaps hoping to bank further on his success Andrew Lloyd Webber then embarked to write a sequel to his much beloved musical. The sequel entitled Love Never Dies.

I'm not quite sure what exactly was my least favorite moment of the approximate two hours I spent watching this "musical". Perhaps it was the ridiculous number in which Meg and her ensemble dressed in period bathing suits dancing to music so oddly in-congruent with the rest of the score. Or maybe it was the fact that each character's basic personality was completely altered from the original Phantom. Or perhaps it was the fact that at the end of the play there was no real narrative progression from the end of Phantom except now there is a kid in the picture and Christine is now dead.

Upon reflection I believe it was the complete disregard to allow the characters to progress without losing everything we liked about them in the original. Christine goes from an independent, honest and honorable woman to a meek house wife who we discover slept with the Phantom mere hours after she had chosen Raoul. Raoul it transpired went from the courageous savour of the original to a gambling drunk who mistreats his son and spends nights out at a time not telling Christine where he has been. Oh and then there is Meg, the sweet friend of Christine who supported her throughout the original, now has become a jealous diva who gets so pissed at being looked over by the Phantom that she decides to kill her former best friend out of spite. In fact the only character who seemed to be true to his basic personality type was the Phantom himself, a budding psychopath who used creepy mind controlling music to keep Christine under his thumb. Phew! Glad we didn't lose that hero.

When will Hollywood and Broadway learn? Good sequels come in about one out of a hundred. If you have an original that worked then for God's sake don't ruin it.

-Jenafer Culjak
UC Irvine