Love Never Dies: Can Lightening Strike Twice?

When I first heard that Sir Andrew Lloyd Weber planned on making a sequel to his hit musical, The Phantom of the Opera, I was ecstatic. Phantom might possibly be my favorite Broadway show of all time. However, when I learned that the sequel, Love Never Dies, was to be set in Coney Island and included Christine, Raoul, and their young, musically talented son, Gustave, I feared they had ruined the sequel with an unrealistic plot line for this follow-up. I could see the Phantom fleeing France and heading for Coney Island, because Coney Island was known for freak shows during the turn of the Twentieth Century. However, some other points did not seem to make sense, like why would Christine, the new Viscountess of Chaney, travel to Coney Island? When was this “musically, talented son,” which I could safely assume to be love child of Christine and the Phantom, conceived, because the last installment did not allow for such an occurrence?

In April, Love Never Dies premiered in London’s West End to mixed-reviews. Because the critics provided no help at all, I decided that I would have to get the sound track and decide for myself. Last weekend I listened to the entire soundtrack from start to finish with the intent to figure out the plot and see how I liked the overall sound of the play.

Musically, Love Never Dies was generally enjoyable. The score was beautiful with subtle connections to the first Phantom and only one direct connection. Going into it, I had no doubt that the score would be lovely, because after all, it was written by Weber, the man who gave the world the first Phantom, Cats, and Evita, just to name a few. The only songs that I was not thrilled about were the very American vaudeville sounding songs. They made sense for the setting, but they were a bit too “Broadway.” Nevertheless, the songs were good; however, none left me with chills like the songs from the first Phantom.

Like the first Phantom, the play opens with a retrospective prologue between Madame Giry and a freak show performer named Fleck. A past tragedy is alluded to and then the first act begins. In Act I, we are reintroduced to Meg Giry, Christine’s blonde friend, who now stars in one of the shows as the “Oo La La Girl.” She is now in love with the Phantom and tries to get him to notice her, but of course he’s still obsessed with Christine. Naturally, Madame Giry is not happy with the Phantom for ignoring her daughter after they smuggled him out of Europe and helped him begin his theater group on Coney Island. However, still pining over Christine, he develops a plan to have her come to Coney Island and sing in his show.

Enter Christine, Raoul, and Gustave, who have just arrived to New York, so Christine can accept the offer to sing in a performance at Coney Island. Why Coney and not the Met, is the question on the reporters’ lips as well as the audiences’. But never fear, Sir Andrew has thought of a good answer. Apparently, Raoul has developed quite a nasty taste for gambling and liquor. Therefore, Christine has to sing at Coney to get money to pay off the massive amount of debts that Raoul has amassed, typical and believable.

Once at Coney Island, Christine realizes the Phantom sent for her and she is not too happy, in fact neither are Raoul and both of the Girys. Then something predictable happens, Gustave, Christine’s son, meets the Phantom. They sing a song about music, “The Beauty Underneath,” which I believe most closely parallels “The Phantom of the Opera” in its rock and roll style only it’s less entrancing. In the song, the Phantom realizes how similar he and the boy are in tastes and their love of music. In the subsequent “Ah Ha” moment of the play, the Phantom realizes that Gustave is his son. The moment is bitter-sweet because the boy is afraid of the Phantom and yet the Phantom is glad that he has fathered such a beautiful child.

The Phantom confronts Christine about the boy and they sing one of the most beautiful songs in the play which recounts that one fateful night when their love was consummated. Apparently, after Christine went away with Raoul at the end of the last play, she must have had second thoughts because she sought the Phantom out and they spent a passion-filled night together. But alas, the Phantom left before morning because he did not want to see Christine leave, but at that time he did not know that he had also left her with child. So they both agree that they still love each other and they both seem happy.

Flash over to a bar, where Raoul is drinking himself blind and wondering why Christine loves him. The Phantom appears and they make a wager for Christine: if she sings, Raoul has to leave; if she does not sing, the Phantom will pay Raoul’s debt and they all leave.

Act II begins with each man attempting to convince Christine of what she should do. Once again she is torn between two men, but eventually ends up singing the title song, “Love Never Dies,” which almost has the sound of “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again.” After the performance, Raoul is gone, as is Gustave. A frantic Christine and Phantom search Coney Island until someone tells them that the boy was seen with Meg Giry. Meg has taken the boy to get the Phantom’s attention. The Phantom manages to talk Meg into releasing the boy, but in a fit of fury, Meg shoots Christine. Christine then dies, and the Phantom appears to take her death much better than I thought he would. In the end, the Phantom takes Gustave.

And there you have it. The plot turned out to be better than I expected with a bit of a surprise at the end that fits with the ending of the first Phantom. Overall Love Never Dies was good, but I think I will need to see it as well as listen to draw my final conclusion.

Guidelines for Finding the Right Guy

Every woman has her own opinion about what’s desirable for a man. For me, I like a classy, sophisticated type. I’ve decided to share some of my guidelines. Some rules are humorous. Some might be shallow. But all are 100% certifiably true. 

1. If a man says “fuck” like a Valley Girl says “like,” he is not classy, but trashy. WALK AWAY.

2. If a man brags to you about how much alcohol he can consume, nod and then LEAVE.

3. If a man starts to talk to you about his gun rack on the back of his truck, RUN.

4. If a man mentions a mattress in the bed of his truck, notify the authorities, he’s probably on a police watch list.

5. Always choose a man with a foreign sports car.

6. Never date a man who’s “finding himself,” because he probably never will.

7. Never date a man who’s a proclaimed “student of life.”

8. Never date a man who buys cheap alcohol, aka. no boxed wines or other alcohol that doesn't come in a glass bottle.

9. Always act as though you’re high maintenance, even if you’re not. It's serves the same purpose as high taxes: keep away the riff-raff.

10. Check for good teeth and fresh breathe.

11. If he has a beer belly at 20, it’s only going to get worse.

12. Never date a man with bigger boobs than yourself.

13. Never date a guy with a chin strap.

14. Good hygiene is not an option, it’s a requirement.

15. Avoid men with mullets.

16. If a man has Stars and Bars on any of his belongings and refers to the Civil War as “The War of Northern Aggression,” run before you get lynched.

17. Never date a guy whose ambition in life is to be a guitarist in a band and/or a rock star. Chances are he won't be successful and will end up costing you money to support his career.

18. Fiscal responsibility: you might not care about it when you’re young, but it’s going to be very sexy in the future.

19. Bad boys are good in theory, but a terrible and unrealistic life choice.
Unless, of course, you enjoy drama and heartache.

20. If he’s cheated on past girlfriends, remember the mathematical axiom: If a=b and b=c, then a=c.