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'Love Never Dies:' Phantom Sequel Review

It ain't over until the Phantom is unmasked once again.

By Heather WilkinsPublished 6 years ago 10 min read
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Fans of Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber are eager to set sail and enjoy the journey of the beloved Phantom through the streets of New York City in this sequel of the iconic musical.

I was lucky to catch the musical on its American tour. Making a stop at the Morsani Hall inside the Straz Theater located in Tampa, Florida. After seeing the musical recently in New York, I was eager to see the change in the characters ten years from when the story was first told.

If you are not interested in spoilers about the musical, then please do not continue any further unless you want to know what happens before you go see the musical yourself.

'Till I Hear You Sing'

We begin with the Phantom sitting at his piano trying to write a piece of music. He throws away the piece of paper and the song "Till I Hear You Sing" starts. When it is performed by other cast members who play the Phantom, the music is very slow or medium paced. It is similar in the composition of "The Music of the Night," long and somber with at least five crescendos and diminuendos starting with flat whimsical notes to sharp sounding cries of frustration. The man who was cast as Phantom for the American tour did most of his background in German Operas and Broadway plays, which explains to me why his version of "Till I Hear You Sing" was faster and much harder for the composer to catch up.

Meg and Madame Giry are now working for the Phantom and Meg has been performing on his vaudeville stage for quite some time. The Phantom would watch her perform and dance like he did with Christine. Meg always asks if the Phantom has seen her perform. But after her performance that night, Madame Giry states that Christine will be performing in New York and that they must not tell the Phantom. However, the Phantom grabs the newspaper with Christine's image on the front cover and heads towards the docks to see her walk off the boat.

When Christine comes off the boat to perform for Oscar Hammerstein, she is confronted by people and new journalists who have very little control over their rude and dishonorable comments about her situation. She is married to Raoul Vicomte de Chagny, but it is only in name. She is also with her little boy, Gustave. In other versions overseas from America, the little Gustave wears a mask on one side of his face like the Phantom. In the American version, he is seen without the mask, but contains a slight deformity to his face. Raoul is a gambler and a drinker and has lost every penny to his vices. Christine performs around the world to make money for his gambling debts, which have wiped away his fortune. A carriage arrives with two henchmen of the Phantom and are whisked away to Coney Island. "Angel of Music" is briefly mentioned.

In the hotel room, their son Gustave has found a little monkey who performs "The Point of No Return," which frightens Christine. The Phantom emerges from the balcony window and Christine faints from the shock of finding out he is still alive. "Beneath A Moonless Sky" begins to play and the two of them talk about their choices, Christine married Raoul and lived her life off the stage for years. The Phantom has lived in New York with the Giry family and has since longed to see her again. They embrace only for a moment, but not before he hands her a song, an aria he has composed and wants her to perform before he disappears into the night. Raoul comes back, drunk and angry that Hammerstein did not come to see him at the bar. Christine said there has been a change of plans. Raoul does not know the Phantom came to visit her.

At the vaudeville stage, Gustav runs off chasing one of the Phantoms henchmen. Christine bumps into her old friend Meg and they rekindle the magic for a little while when she lets it slip that she will be performing at the place tonight, even though Meg will be performing there too. Raoul shows Madam Giry the contract they signed for tonight's performance when she lets it slip to Raoul that the contract was from the Phantom and that he owns this theater. Raoul is upset and wishes for Christine to not perform for the Phantom once again. All four friends take a toast to the memories of long ago. Raoul complains that the drink isn't strong enough and then heads off to the bar. Christine then is surprised to find that Gustav is nowhere in sight. Meg and Christine run off to look for him.

The Phantom takes the little boy back to his hideout and the boy begins to play a little melody. It leads into "The Phantom of the Opera" and he begins to sing the notes his mother once sang long ago. The Phantom discovers the child is his own son. Something Christine has not yet told him until she discovers her son running from the Phantom when he has removed his mask and has shown his hideous deformity. Meg takes the child back to the hotel room and the Phantom and Christine talk about that night under the moonless sky once again. She said that, yes, she fell pregnant after marrying Raoul, but Raoul and her did not consummate their relationship. The Phantom now has a trump card and prepares to meet Raoul at the bar to place a bet.

Madam Giry comes out and finds out that the Phantom has a son that Christine has been raising all along. She is upset to know that the money and hard work that her and Meg have put into the Phantom's success in America will no longer go to them. She becomes enraged and schemes a plan to get rid of the boy so that they are able to hold onto the vast fortune that the child will soon inherit from his father. There is a one hour intermission before the play is set at the bar with Raoul and the Phantom.

'Devil Take the Hindmost'

After intermission, Raoul is seen at the bar drinking the last of his pennies away. The Phantom disguises himself as the morning shift and continues to pour drinks into Raoul's glass until Meg walks in from swimming in the ocean. She urges Raoul not to perform now that he knows the theater is owned by the Phantom. She requests that they leave at once and never return. For her, she knows all too well how the Phantom's music has a lock and key around Christine's soul.

The Phantom surprises Raoul once Meg left to go change for her solo "Bathing Beauty." He wagers a bet on Raoul that if he can convince Christine not to perform, then all three of them will have a large sum of money, the rest of the Phantom's fortune, to help with paying off all his debts. However, if Christine performs, then Raoul must leave America alone without his wife or the boy. Raoul runs off to beg her to stop one last time before the Phantom visits Christine from an open window and tells her the performance she will put on tonight would be the last time she needs to perform for him.

Meg's "Bathing Beauty" was a success and she asks her mother if the Phantom has seen her performance. Her mother replies he was never there. This upsets Meg and she does not want to listen to her mother when her mother mentions that the Phantom has a son and that he would be given everything. All of their hard work is gone. This angers Meg and she smashes her mirror with her parasol. She runs off to find the little boy and takes with her a small caliber gun. Meg at this point has snapped and has become obsessed with getting the Phantom's attention in hopes that he could forget Christine.

Christine is onstage performing the aria by the Phantom. Raoul and Gustave wait on the other side of the stage, watching Christine perform. At first she is hesitant to continue, but once she finds the courage to go on, she bursts into "Love Never Dies" with great success. Knowing that Raoul has lost his son and his wife, he leaves a note behind stating that he is going back to France without them much to his regret. Christine is upset and begins to cry. But once Christine knows that Gustave is no longer in the dressing room, the Phantom requests that his henchmen bring fourth Madam Giry. The Phantom and Christine question Madam Giry to see if she has taken their son. Madam Giry insists that she did not do it. One henchmen comes back saying Raoul left without the boy, the other henchmen says Meg's mirror in her dressing room was smashed to pieces and she was seen leaving with the boy.

Meg and Gustave are climbing a cliff. Gustave requests that he is taken back to his mother, Meg is refusing to give in. At the highest point of the cliff, she tries to push the boy into the sea when her mother, Christine, and the Phantom yell for her to stop. She turns around and holds onto the boy stating that if they come closer, she will throw him into the sea. Meg then tells the Phantom how she and her mother followed the Phantom all over America. His music was the only reason he traveled so that it could be performed. But it wasn't enough and drove them into poverty, which led them to Coney Island to be nothing but a side show. She begins to weep and releases the boy and pulls out the caliber handgun and holds to her temple. The Phantom is trying to coerce her to release the gun into his hands. But as he gets close enough, he mentions Christine's name. "Christine, Christine, Christine," Meg chants in her weeping state. The Phantom makes a move to wrestle the gun, but it goes off. The bullet strikes Christine in the rib cage and severely wounds her. She collapses on the ground and Gustave runs to his mother's side. The Giry's run away from the scene. The boy tells his mother he is going to get father, but his mother says to him that his real father is right here. Gustave looks at the Phantom and shakes his head in disbelief and runs away searching for Raoul. The Phantom breaks into "Love Never Dies" before Christine begins to slip away. She gasps for breath and asks him to kiss her one last time. As her hand falls from his masked cheek, she dies.

Raoul and Gustave come running back and Gustave reaches for his mother's gown. He clings to his mother's dress when the Phantom reaches out his hand and touches the boy's head. Raoul comes slowly to Christine's body and the Phantom gives him her lifeless corpse. Raoul cries silently over his wife's body lying on the ground. The boy and the Phantom, father and son, look at each other at the edge of the cliff. The boy reaches out and grabs the mask, unveiling the deformity that made Christine love the Phantom out of pity. The stage lights dimmer and then it is all black.

'Why does she love me?'

The performance as a whole was one of the most spectacular pieces of Webber's music. The characters are full of their flaws. Raoul marries and loves Christine because he fell for her beauty. She married him for security and protection. But in honesty, the one person who stole her heart the most was the Phantom. She loved him because she knew of his deformity, she knew of his secrets, she also knew of his fragile heart and wanted to provide him something he could be proud in, whether it is a son or her voice.

Love Never Dies is a torch to the flame of passion, murder, desire, and happiness. Even though Christine turned away from her own happiness to marry Raoul for protection, the glimpses of her happiness from singing on the stage of the Phantom's vaudeville theater show her desire to bring back the fame and glory to the Phantom's music. If you look for a wonderful performance for this Christmas, it is highly recommended you look at the sequel to The Phantom of the Opera as your next Christmas present.

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About the Creator

Heather Wilkins

Born in South Carolina, raised in Florida. I enjoy writing for therapy or stress release. Enjoy my ramblings or any updates on cities where I live.

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