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Phantom sequel will premiere in three cities at the same time
Ellen Widdup29.12.08
A SEQUEL to the Phantom Of The Opera is to open in three cities at the same time next year - making theatrical history.
Andrew Lloyd Webber, the show's composer, said "the button is pushed" for the project.
The musical - based on Gaston Leroux's novel - opened 22 years ago with Michael Crawford in the title role.
Since then it has attracted 80 million theatregoers in 124 cities and taken more than £3.5billion at the box office.
Lord Lloyd-Webber, 60, said the sequel, entitled Phantom: Love Never Dies, would be set a decade or so later, moving the action from the Paris Opera to Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York.
In it, the Phantom is reunited with Christine, the Swedish soprano first played by Lord Lloyd-Webber's wife at the time, Sarah Brightman.
Lord Lloyd-Webber said that he hoped to open the show in London, on Broadway and in an Asian city - possibly Shanghai - at the same time, something no other production has done.
"I don't think you could do this if it wasn't the sequel to Phantom," he said. "We have been into the feasibility of rehearsing three companies at once and opening in the three territories."
Phantom: Love Never Dies has yet to be cast but he added: "We are pretty clear who our Phantom is going to be - I can't say who."
Lord Lloyd-Webber is also working on Britain's 2009 Eurovision Song Contest entry.
On Saturday he will begin his search on BBC One for a singer to perform the hit at the event in Moscow in May.
Lord Lloyd-Webber, who found his Maria for The Sound Of Music through a reality show, said: "The TV casting shows increase the audience."
Reader views (3)
Why not have a sequel? Why not open in three cities simultaneously? The theatre is universal and there is no doubt of the appeal of the original PHANTOM. Caveat: times have changed; music has changed; performance expectations have changed. How will Lord Lloyd Webber encompass all these changes? I look forward to seeing the result.
- Barbara Alloway, United States
REMEMBER MICHAEL CRAWFORD AS THE PHANTOM???
Michael still has the voice and everything else that is needed to be the Phantom..he looks much younger than his age..Please consider MIchael as the POTO. Sincerely,
Glo
- Glo Meyers, Sacramento USA
I hope that Andrew has the good sense to offer the UK role to Rhydian, as he once said "he was born to play the Phantom role"
- Keith Price, Luton, England
