I havent written anything here in a while because my laptop died and was impossible to ressurect. Well, I got a new one but needless to say, I was a bit resentful of new laptops because I thought the whole widescreen thing was ugly and none of them had little volume wheels on the side (I'm sure that's probably not the technical term) and the screen was the wrong size, I actually said that I thought they looked "like someone had sat on them and squished them". However, I really did need one, for homework and the like so I got one as a (bit of an early) birthday present. I really like it, especially the whole Windows 7 thing where you can put little post it notes on your screen, mine is already covered with my casting notes for Les Miserables (I cannot for the life of me find a Marius).
So, current obsession? Musical theatre! More specifically Love Never Dies: the new Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. It is just simply brilliant!
I always wanted to know what happened to the Phantom after Christine left with Raoul. To be perfectly honest, I actually prefered Raoul in The Phantom of The Opera to the Phantom himself, but that has all changed.
Okay, so all of this will be complete gibberish to people who don't know the story of The Phantom of The Opera. Well, here's a little summary. Spoilers. "Christine Daae was brought up in the Paris Opera house when her famous musician father suddenly dies, telling her he will send her and angel of music to look after her. She grows up and discovers that she is hearing a voice, telling her and teaching her to sing. She believes he is the angel of music but infact he is a disfigured genius, The phantom. He falls in love with her whilst. Although she is fasinated and drawn towards the phantom, she falls in love with her childhood sweetheart, The vicomte de changy- or Raoul. The phantom gets madly jealous, kidknapps Christine, and threatens to kill Raoul. She, to save Raoul, agrees to marry the phantom and kisses him. He then realizes what he's done and then makes Christine go with Raoul, disappearing forever." I didn't write that because I couldn't work out how to so I apologise for all the errors in the summary.
SPOILERS!!
So now that you know the basic story I can tell you the basic story of Love Never Dies, trying not to give too much away. It's set ten years after the end of The Phantom of The Opera and apparently, Madame Giry, who acted as Christine's mother in the Paris Opera House, and her daughter Meg, Christine's best friend from Paris, smuggled the Phantom out of France and to America, Coney Island specifically. The Phantom joined a freak show, bought the freak show and then became the head honcho on Coney Island as the mysterious Mr Y. He manages to lure Christine to America to sing and she takes her husband Raoul and her son Gustave with her. Chaos, alcoholism, paternity issues and ultimately death ensue at the Phantom's mysterious Phantasma.
I sat a couple of weeks ago listening to the entire musical on my iPod for about 3 and a half hours the whole way through, but it was definitely worth it, I loved it. I read reviews on the BBC website at school one day when I was supposed to be finding out opinions on genetic engineering (shhh, you didn't read that) and there were a lot of mixed reviews on it. I personally would love to see it live, despite the opinions of it being "stodgy"etc. The worst review was without a doubt the one that said "Love Never Dies, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sequel to Phantom Of The Opera, is as slow to motor as a lawnmower at spring’s first cut.", it also said "it splutters", and that the Phantom was "here played efficiently but, well, just a little facelessly by Ramin Karimloo". Needless to say it was the Daily Mail website saying all of this and as you may or may not know, my relationship with the Daily Mail has always been a little 'strained'. Let's face it, they're just jealous. I thought that Ramin Karimloo's voice was breathtaking but then again I have thought so since I saw him playing Enjolras in the Les Miserables 25th Anniversary Concert. He doesn't struggle on the high notes and his tuning is completely flawless despite his lack of formal training and his inability to read music. When he opens his mouth the world seems to stop, he is just so good.
There was a review that talked about a show of male bravado in the second act in the form of the song 'Devil Take the Hindmost'. Well, that song happens to be one of my favourites. I love the utter resentment between the Phantom and Raoul and the way they sound so disgusted by each other. Great song.
One of the other great songs would have to be 'Dear Old Friend'. In this song, Christine, Raoul, Madame Giry and Meg are reuinited and it's clear that none of them are particularly pleased to see each other.
I really like 'The Beauty Underneath'. Andrew Lloyd Webber's attempt at a rock song is very effective.
There is also 'Coney Island Waltz' which is very haunting, 'Entr'acte' which incorporates melodies from most of the other songs and allows some relief from the high emotion of the surrounding songs, 'Beneath a Moonless Sky' which could be quite icky if the Phantom wasn't as attractive as he is and of course 'Love Never Dies', the title song, while not as recognisable as 'The Phantom of The Opera' (here performed by Ramin Karimloo) is still a beautiful piece which showcases Andrew Lloyd Webber's songwriting prowess.
'Til I Hear You Sing' is the first song we hear being sung by the Phantom and really introduces the character. It is a very emotional display of the way he feels about Christine and is on the same level as 'Music of The Night'.
So, that's my opinion. A very long, drawn out opinion, but my opinion nonetheless. I really suggest you listen to some of the songs from the musicals, not just the ones I mentioned, you might find your favourite songs elsewhere in the musical.
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