In theory, it can. In practice, however, if the original was as huge a success as Phantom is, it's best to question why the success was had, and work from there to improve upon the original. Alas, sequels rarely do improve upon the original. They hope to capitalize on the success of the original and fade into oblivion. Love Never Dies is no exception.
A generation of school music students came up playing the melodies of Phantom in orchestra and band or sang them in choir. Phantom brought the spectacle back to the musical theatre, but it was supported by music that simply could not be forgotten, haunting theatre goers for some time after the curtain fell. In a way, it is the music that makes Phantom never die (and I know many a music aficionado would find fault with it--but pop music is not for everyone). That said, Love Never Dies never soars as it could or should because the music is not as memorable as it should be. This is perhaps Sir Lloyd Webber's biggest failure of late--not being able to write songs as he once could, regardless of the works that inspired him. The sung dialogue is jarring (Glenn Slater has written better), and as the melodies are predictable on a note-by-note basis (which is typical of Andrew Lloyd Webber), they are not emotionally moving.
Now, many an NYU student LOVED this show and were weepy at the close, but I was not so inspired. For any budding young directors out there--take note - bringing the curtain down every five minutes for projections or scenery changes is disjointing to an audience. There has to be another way! Emotionally manipulative works must be handled with delicacy--your audience should cry because the characters have moved them - not because you told them to. To budding playwrights--having a character obsess over his life-like mannequin of another character for a better part of Act One and then never seeing it again is bizarre. Phantom Part 3 - the mannequin Christine conquers the world? I hope not.
No comments:
Post a Comment