by Broadway.com Staff
Andrew Lloyd Webber has big plans for his most popular character, telling the Times of London that he hopes to open a long-awaited sequel to The Phantom of the Opera simultaneously in London, on Broadway and in an Asian city, possibly Shanghai. Titled Phantom: Love Never Dies, the sequel takes place in Coney Island and will be ready for the stage by the end of 2009, directed by Jack O’Brien.
“We’ve been into the feasibility of rehearsing three companies at once and opening very fast in the three territories,” Lloyd Webber told the London newspaper. “The one which really interests me [in the Far East] would be China ... I think to open Love Never Dies in Shanghai would be an enormous thing.”
The composer hinted that a big name will play the title role in the sequel, saying, “We are pretty clear who our Phantom is going to be—I can’t say who.” The paper speculated that Gerard Butler, who starred in the 2004 movie version, and Hugh Jackman, who is on the wish list for just about every musical project that comes up, might take on the role created by Michael Crawford.
According to Lloyd Webber, the sequel will be set a decade or so after The Phantom of the Opera and will reunite the title character with his true love, soprano Christine Daae, in Coney Island. “It was the place,” Lloyd Webber told the Times of the Brooklyn beach resort. “Even Freud went because it was so extraordinary ... people who were freaks and oddities were drawn towards it because it was a place where they could be themselves.”
Last April, Ben Elton, who collaborated with Lloyd Webber on The Beautiful Game, was announced as the book writer for the Phantom sequel, joining lyricist Glenn Slater (Sister Act) and designer Bob Crowley.
http://www.broadway.com/Phantom-Goes-to-Coney-Island-Lloyd-Webber-Spills-Sequel-Secrets/broadway_news/5018518
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Lloyd Webber Hopes to Open Phantom Sequel Simultaneously in Three Cities
By Mark Shenton
29 Dec 2008
Andrew Lloyd Webber has confirmed that "the button [has been] pushed" on Phantom: Love Never Dies for it to now proceed into production.
As reported in The Times of London, Phantom: Love Never Dies make its premiere at the end of 2009. It is Lloyd Webber's current plan to open the new musical simultaneously in three territories. Lloyd Webber told the Times, "I don't think you could do this if it wasn't the sequel to Phantom ... We've been into the feasibility of rehearsing three companies at once and opening very fast in the three territories. The one which really interests me [in the Far East] would be China ... I think to open Love Never Dies in Shanghai would be an enormous thing."
As previously reported by Playbill.com, Lloyd Webber has been proceeding slowly on bringing the Phantom sequel to the stage. "I have learned very definitely over the last few years that you have to be very sure before you go forward," he told Playbill.com earlier in the year, noting that he has abandoned plans to bring the Bulgakov novel, "The Master and Margarita," to the stage for precisely that reason: "I couldn't really find anybody who saw in it what I saw in it." Admitting that there were problems with the plot – "the end of it is very confused" – he revealed, "I got myself into that problem with The Woman in White. We had a terrific first act, but actually today, and it was something I had underestimated, there's no secret you can even remotely put on a stage today that a modern audience can find shocking. It was a novel about a faked birth certificate – and people said, 'So what?' That was our mistake – if ever I revisited the piece, we would have to stop at the point where it is revealed that the sisters are swapped in the asylum. So I don't want to make that mistake again, and what I'm going to do is workshop [the new Phantom] to the nth degree."
The first act was workshopped in summer 2008 at Lloyd Webber's private Sydmonton Festival at his Berkshire country home. "We've already done the first act," Lloyd Webber explained, "and rather like The Woman in White, where the first act worked wonderfully, what we cannot do is presume that the second act is going to as well." Working with director Jack O'Brien, who staged the Sydmonton workshop, and lyricist Glenn Slater, he is now writing the rest of the show, and when they have completed the work, "we are going to do a workshop of the second act, then take a month off and do it again with both halves this time and then we'll see."
He said at the time, "I won't push the button on it till we've done both those workshops. I don't want to let this one out unless we're pretty sure that the basic material is as good as we can get it."
Now that he has told The Times that the button has been pushed on the show – in which the Phantom has been relocated from the Paris Opera to Brooklyn's Coney Island, with an entirely new story created by himself, lyricist Slater, director O'Brien "and a twist of it was given to us by Ben Elton," the productions have to be cast. He has told The Times, "We are pretty clear who our Phantom is going to be – I can't say who."
The Times speculates that Gerard Butler, who played the title role in the 2004 film version of Lloyd Webber's musical, and Hugh Jackman could be among the contenders. It also confirms that the designer will be Bob Crowley, currently represented on Broadway by his designs for Mary Poppins.
http://www.playbill.com/news/article/124690.html
29 Dec 2008
Andrew Lloyd Webber has confirmed that "the button [has been] pushed" on Phantom: Love Never Dies for it to now proceed into production.
As reported in The Times of London, Phantom: Love Never Dies make its premiere at the end of 2009. It is Lloyd Webber's current plan to open the new musical simultaneously in three territories. Lloyd Webber told the Times, "I don't think you could do this if it wasn't the sequel to Phantom ... We've been into the feasibility of rehearsing three companies at once and opening very fast in the three territories. The one which really interests me [in the Far East] would be China ... I think to open Love Never Dies in Shanghai would be an enormous thing."
As previously reported by Playbill.com, Lloyd Webber has been proceeding slowly on bringing the Phantom sequel to the stage. "I have learned very definitely over the last few years that you have to be very sure before you go forward," he told Playbill.com earlier in the year, noting that he has abandoned plans to bring the Bulgakov novel, "The Master and Margarita," to the stage for precisely that reason: "I couldn't really find anybody who saw in it what I saw in it." Admitting that there were problems with the plot – "the end of it is very confused" – he revealed, "I got myself into that problem with The Woman in White. We had a terrific first act, but actually today, and it was something I had underestimated, there's no secret you can even remotely put on a stage today that a modern audience can find shocking. It was a novel about a faked birth certificate – and people said, 'So what?' That was our mistake – if ever I revisited the piece, we would have to stop at the point where it is revealed that the sisters are swapped in the asylum. So I don't want to make that mistake again, and what I'm going to do is workshop [the new Phantom] to the nth degree."
The first act was workshopped in summer 2008 at Lloyd Webber's private Sydmonton Festival at his Berkshire country home. "We've already done the first act," Lloyd Webber explained, "and rather like The Woman in White, where the first act worked wonderfully, what we cannot do is presume that the second act is going to as well." Working with director Jack O'Brien, who staged the Sydmonton workshop, and lyricist Glenn Slater, he is now writing the rest of the show, and when they have completed the work, "we are going to do a workshop of the second act, then take a month off and do it again with both halves this time and then we'll see."
He said at the time, "I won't push the button on it till we've done both those workshops. I don't want to let this one out unless we're pretty sure that the basic material is as good as we can get it."
Now that he has told The Times that the button has been pushed on the show – in which the Phantom has been relocated from the Paris Opera to Brooklyn's Coney Island, with an entirely new story created by himself, lyricist Slater, director O'Brien "and a twist of it was given to us by Ben Elton," the productions have to be cast. He has told The Times, "We are pretty clear who our Phantom is going to be – I can't say who."
The Times speculates that Gerard Butler, who played the title role in the 2004 film version of Lloyd Webber's musical, and Hugh Jackman could be among the contenders. It also confirms that the designer will be Bob Crowley, currently represented on Broadway by his designs for Mary Poppins.
http://www.playbill.com/news/article/124690.html
Upcoming Sequel to “Phantom of the Opera”
30-Dec-2008
Written by: Susie Kopecky
The Phaaaaantom of the Opera is here . . . literally!
The lyrics croon, "The Phaaaaaantom of the Opera is here. . . ."
Literally!
Many years after the smashing success of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera, news has come that the playwright is doing right by audiences once more, and will have a sequel to the beloved play ready by 2009.
Keep in mind that 2009 is only days away.
In a recent interview with the Times of London, Webber reported that the title of the musical will be Phantom: Love Never Dies, and it will be an all-out global event, with late-2009 releases all over the world's most popular musical theater locations.
The original Phantom of the Opera was released more than two decades ago. It certainly says something about staying power, that after 20 years, crowds are still hungering for more, more, more!
Here's hoping that some of the songs will be as catchy as those in the original! The Phaaaaaantom of the Opera . . . !
http://www.thecelebritycafe.com/features/22969.html
Written by: Susie Kopecky
The Phaaaaantom of the Opera is here . . . literally!
The lyrics croon, "The Phaaaaaantom of the Opera is here. . . ."
Literally!
Many years after the smashing success of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera, news has come that the playwright is doing right by audiences once more, and will have a sequel to the beloved play ready by 2009.
Keep in mind that 2009 is only days away.
In a recent interview with the Times of London, Webber reported that the title of the musical will be Phantom: Love Never Dies, and it will be an all-out global event, with late-2009 releases all over the world's most popular musical theater locations.
The original Phantom of the Opera was released more than two decades ago. It certainly says something about staying power, that after 20 years, crowds are still hungering for more, more, more!
Here's hoping that some of the songs will be as catchy as those in the original! The Phaaaaaantom of the Opera . . . !
http://www.thecelebritycafe.com/features/22969.html
Phantom of the Freak Show
Andrew Lloyd Webber says Phantom sequel will be set in Coney Island
By JOHN CAPONE
Updated 3:23 PM CST, Tue, Dec 30, 2008
Andrew Lloyd Webber is not given to subtlety. He's known for his melodrama, bombast and set pieces, but his next move might make landing a helicopter on stage (as happened in "Miss Saigon") seem like an evening with the Philharmonic.
Lloyd Webber told The Times of London all about the Phantom sequel, called "Love Never Dies," in the works. And Phantom 2 will be set not in a Parisian opera house, oh no, but at the seaside amusement park Coney Island in Brooklyn, about ten years after the original. Webber said one of the reasons he chose the setting is because "people who were freaks and oddities were drawn towards it because it was a place where they could be themselves.”
In typically over-the-top Lloyd Webber fashion, the show might have the biggest opening ever attempted by a stage play, opening simultaneously in London, New York and an Asian city ("possibly Shanghai"). Which multiplies any casting speculation times three. Three new Phantoms and three new Christines means six times the fun for those who want to argue over who'll make a better phantom — Gerard Butler or Hugh Jackman. One can only hope whomever it is ends up covered in tattoos with a forked tongue waving from a float in the Mermaid Parade.
Copyright NBC Local Media
http://www.nbcdfw.com/around_town/the_scene/Phantom-of-the-Freak-Show.html
By JOHN CAPONE
Updated 3:23 PM CST, Tue, Dec 30, 2008
Andrew Lloyd Webber is not given to subtlety. He's known for his melodrama, bombast and set pieces, but his next move might make landing a helicopter on stage (as happened in "Miss Saigon") seem like an evening with the Philharmonic.
Lloyd Webber told The Times of London all about the Phantom sequel, called "Love Never Dies," in the works. And Phantom 2 will be set not in a Parisian opera house, oh no, but at the seaside amusement park Coney Island in Brooklyn, about ten years after the original. Webber said one of the reasons he chose the setting is because "people who were freaks and oddities were drawn towards it because it was a place where they could be themselves.”
In typically over-the-top Lloyd Webber fashion, the show might have the biggest opening ever attempted by a stage play, opening simultaneously in London, New York and an Asian city ("possibly Shanghai"). Which multiplies any casting speculation times three. Three new Phantoms and three new Christines means six times the fun for those who want to argue over who'll make a better phantom — Gerard Butler or Hugh Jackman. One can only hope whomever it is ends up covered in tattoos with a forked tongue waving from a float in the Mermaid Parade.
Copyright NBC Local Media
http://www.nbcdfw.com/around_town/the_scene/Phantom-of-the-Freak-Show.html
Webber tops theatre power survey
Andrew Lloyd Webber has been voted the most influential figure in theatre over the last decade by The Stage newspaper.
The industry weekly said Lord Lloyd- Webber had topped six out of its past ten theatre power charts. Cameron Mackintosh came second in the poll.
Lloyd Webber, 60, is best known for creating hit musicals such as Cats and The Phantom of the Opera.
The Stage's news editor, Alistair Smith, said he was a "hugely important figure on the theatrical landscape".
Each year The Stage lists the top 100 people, who at the time of the poll, are contributing to the theatre industry.
"It's no surprise that Lloyd Webber has come out on top. Every year, he has been there or thereabouts, holding the top spot in the Stage 100 for six out of the last ten years," said Smith.
"He has been a hugely important figure on the theatrical landscape and continues to be so.
"Last year's winner Mackintosh, though, has never been far behind and we'll have to wait until later this month to discover who has topped this year's Stage 100."
Ambassador Theatres boss Howard Panter was third in the list, with impresario David Ian in fourth.
David Ian was in fourth place, with panto producer Nick Thomas and National Theatre director Nicholas Hytner tying for fifth.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7797032.stm
The industry weekly said Lord Lloyd- Webber had topped six out of its past ten theatre power charts. Cameron Mackintosh came second in the poll.
Lloyd Webber, 60, is best known for creating hit musicals such as Cats and The Phantom of the Opera.
The Stage's news editor, Alistair Smith, said he was a "hugely important figure on the theatrical landscape".
Each year The Stage lists the top 100 people, who at the time of the poll, are contributing to the theatre industry.
"It's no surprise that Lloyd Webber has come out on top. Every year, he has been there or thereabouts, holding the top spot in the Stage 100 for six out of the last ten years," said Smith.
"He has been a hugely important figure on the theatrical landscape and continues to be so.
"Last year's winner Mackintosh, though, has never been far behind and we'll have to wait until later this month to discover who has topped this year's Stage 100."
Ambassador Theatres boss Howard Panter was third in the list, with impresario David Ian in fourth.
David Ian was in fourth place, with panto producer Nick Thomas and National Theatre director Nicholas Hytner tying for fifth.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7797032.stm
'Phantom' sequel set for next year
BY DAVE GOLDINER
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, December 30th 2008, 11:05 AM
A "Phantom" sequel is coming to Broadway by the end of 2009 - and the musical is going to be set in Brooklyn.
Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber plans to open "Phantom: Love Never Dies" at the end of 2009, with a historic simultaneous opening in New York, London and Shanghai.
Even with Broadway attendance sagging and several shows closing, Lloyd Webber said he is confident "Phantom" II will succeed.
"I don't think you could do this if it wasn't the sequel to 'Phantom'," he told The Times of London.
He said bringing the world's most popular show to China - the world's most populous nation - is a huge step forward.
"I think to open 'Love Never Dies' in Shanghai would be an enormous thing," he said.
The followup to the original "Phantom of the Opera," which has been running on Broadway since 1988, will take place a decade after the original, with the story set on Coney Island.
The Phantom character will reunite with his lost love, Christine.
The iconic roles have yet to be cast, but expect a big surprise in the lead role.
"I can't say who," Lloyd Webber said.
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/arts/2008/12/30/2008-12-30_phantom_sequel_set_for_next_year.html
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, December 30th 2008, 11:05 AM
A "Phantom" sequel is coming to Broadway by the end of 2009 - and the musical is going to be set in Brooklyn.
Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber plans to open "Phantom: Love Never Dies" at the end of 2009, with a historic simultaneous opening in New York, London and Shanghai.
Even with Broadway attendance sagging and several shows closing, Lloyd Webber said he is confident "Phantom" II will succeed.
"I don't think you could do this if it wasn't the sequel to 'Phantom'," he told The Times of London.
He said bringing the world's most popular show to China - the world's most populous nation - is a huge step forward.
"I think to open 'Love Never Dies' in Shanghai would be an enormous thing," he said.
The followup to the original "Phantom of the Opera," which has been running on Broadway since 1988, will take place a decade after the original, with the story set on Coney Island.
The Phantom character will reunite with his lost love, Christine.
The iconic roles have yet to be cast, but expect a big surprise in the lead role.
"I can't say who," Lloyd Webber said.
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/arts/2008/12/30/2008-12-30_phantom_sequel_set_for_next_year.html
Hugh Jackman, Gerard Butler in a PHANTOM OF THE OPERA Sequel?!
Written by Stephanie Sanchez
Tuesday, 30 December 2008
Sequels have been the rage in Hollywood for years, why not Broadway too? That's what Andrew Lloyd Webber thinks, he's making a Phantom of the Opera sequel ready for the end of 2009.
With a working title of PHANTOM: LOVE NEVER DIES is almost sounds like the typical Hollywood film part deux.
Lloyd Webber told The Times of London that he hopes the new musical will open in New York, London and possibly Shanghai or another Asian city.
"I don't think you could do this if it wasn't the sequel to Phantom ... We've been into the feasibility of rehearsing three companies at once and opening very fast in the three territories. The one which really interests me [in the Far East] would be China ... I think to open Love Never Dies in Shanghai would be an enormous thing.”
The sequel will be set a decade or so after the first instalment, during which time the Phantom has relocated from the Paris Opéra of Gaston Leroux's original novel to Coney Island in Brooklyn, then still a hugely popular beach-side amusement resort for New Yorkers. “It was the place,” said Lloyd Webber. “Even Freud went because it was so extraordinary ... people who were freaks and oddities were drawn towards it because it was a place where they could be themselves.”
The Phantom will be reunited with Christine, the “Swedish soprano.”
And who does Webber have in mind to take the Phantom role? He says, "We are pretty clear who our Phantom is going to be - I can't say who," he said.
The Times said possible candidates for the role include Hugh Jackman and Gerard Butler, who played the Phantom in the 2004 film version of the musical but I don't know. Jackman is an extremely busy guy and is very much in demand.
He's already set to portray Harry Houdini next on the Broadway stage but there isn't a script yet although it is said that Kurt Anderson is writing it, so there may be time.
And Butler, although I love him and he was great in 300, he didn't exactly have a very strong voice in the 2004 film adaptation certainly not strong enough to play the Phantom on stage, but I could be wrong.
Jack O'Brien, who has had successes with The Full Monty and Hairspray, will direct the production. The sets will be designed by Bob Crowley, who has won five Tony awards and whose credits include Sir Cameron Mackintosh's Mary Poppins.
http://www.iesb.net/index.php?option=com_ezine&task=read&page=1&category=4&article=5996
Tuesday, 30 December 2008
Sequels have been the rage in Hollywood for years, why not Broadway too? That's what Andrew Lloyd Webber thinks, he's making a Phantom of the Opera sequel ready for the end of 2009.
With a working title of PHANTOM: LOVE NEVER DIES is almost sounds like the typical Hollywood film part deux.
Lloyd Webber told The Times of London that he hopes the new musical will open in New York, London and possibly Shanghai or another Asian city.
"I don't think you could do this if it wasn't the sequel to Phantom ... We've been into the feasibility of rehearsing three companies at once and opening very fast in the three territories. The one which really interests me [in the Far East] would be China ... I think to open Love Never Dies in Shanghai would be an enormous thing.”
The sequel will be set a decade or so after the first instalment, during which time the Phantom has relocated from the Paris Opéra of Gaston Leroux's original novel to Coney Island in Brooklyn, then still a hugely popular beach-side amusement resort for New Yorkers. “It was the place,” said Lloyd Webber. “Even Freud went because it was so extraordinary ... people who were freaks and oddities were drawn towards it because it was a place where they could be themselves.”
The Phantom will be reunited with Christine, the “Swedish soprano.”
And who does Webber have in mind to take the Phantom role? He says, "We are pretty clear who our Phantom is going to be - I can't say who," he said.
The Times said possible candidates for the role include Hugh Jackman and Gerard Butler, who played the Phantom in the 2004 film version of the musical but I don't know. Jackman is an extremely busy guy and is very much in demand.
He's already set to portray Harry Houdini next on the Broadway stage but there isn't a script yet although it is said that Kurt Anderson is writing it, so there may be time.
And Butler, although I love him and he was great in 300, he didn't exactly have a very strong voice in the 2004 film adaptation certainly not strong enough to play the Phantom on stage, but I could be wrong.
Jack O'Brien, who has had successes with The Full Monty and Hairspray, will direct the production. The sets will be designed by Bob Crowley, who has won five Tony awards and whose credits include Sir Cameron Mackintosh's Mary Poppins.
http://www.iesb.net/index.php?option=com_ezine&task=read&page=1&category=4&article=5996
The Phantom of the Opera Returns!
December 30, 2008
If you haven't gotten enough of that masked mystery man, don't worry: there's more Phantom of the Opera on its way.
Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber tells The Times of London that he's got a sequel, Phantom: Love Never Dies, ready to open in 2009. The new show will debut simultaneously in New York, London, Shanghai or possibly another Asian city.
''We've been into the feasibility of rehearsing three companies at once and opening very fast in the three territories,'' he tells the paper. ''The one which really interests me would be China. I think to open "Love Never Dies" in Shanghai would be an enormous thing.''
The new musical is set in New York's Coney Island, and takes place about 10 years after the origianl, Paris opera setting.
As for the new Phantom, Andrew isn't about to reveal their choice, saying, ''We are pretty clear who our Phantom is going to be – I can't say who."
http://www.okmagazine.com/news/view/11041
If you haven't gotten enough of that masked mystery man, don't worry: there's more Phantom of the Opera on its way.
Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber tells The Times of London that he's got a sequel, Phantom: Love Never Dies, ready to open in 2009. The new show will debut simultaneously in New York, London, Shanghai or possibly another Asian city.
''We've been into the feasibility of rehearsing three companies at once and opening very fast in the three territories,'' he tells the paper. ''The one which really interests me would be China. I think to open "Love Never Dies" in Shanghai would be an enormous thing.''
The new musical is set in New York's Coney Island, and takes place about 10 years after the origianl, Paris opera setting.
As for the new Phantom, Andrew isn't about to reveal their choice, saying, ''We are pretty clear who our Phantom is going to be – I can't say who."
http://www.okmagazine.com/news/view/11041
'Phantom of the Opera' Returns
By Brigid Brown
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
A new "Phantom of the Opera" is set to have a historic simultaneous opening in three cities -- on Broadway in New York, in London's West End, and potentially Shanghai.
Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber told the Times of London on Monday, Dec. 29, that "the button is pushed" on a sequel to the world's most successful musical.
He revealed the title of the much talked about upcoming sequel currently in the works in an interview with the BBC, saying, "I have got my own new show coming on next year, which is my sequel to the Phantom of the Opera, which I think is going to be called "Phantom: Once Upon Another Time". But that will come on in November next year, probably, if everything goes well."
Webber said in a video blog, "I will do The Phantom of the Opera sequel, and have met with a couple of people today who persuaded me to do it, who I will not reveal...(it's a) very exciting day for me. I'm going to Los Angeles tonight and then I'm back for my son's wedding on Saturday, but more of the Phantom sequel anon...it's going to be very exciting, and I can reveal it will be set in New York."
Webber previously noted that the sequel would follow ideas developed with Frederick Forsyth, who released a sequel to the show in novel form with "The Phantom of Manhattan" in 1999.
http://www.hollywood.com/news/Phantom_of_the_Opera_Returns/5371862
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
A new "Phantom of the Opera" is set to have a historic simultaneous opening in three cities -- on Broadway in New York, in London's West End, and potentially Shanghai.
Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber told the Times of London on Monday, Dec. 29, that "the button is pushed" on a sequel to the world's most successful musical.
He revealed the title of the much talked about upcoming sequel currently in the works in an interview with the BBC, saying, "I have got my own new show coming on next year, which is my sequel to the Phantom of the Opera, which I think is going to be called "Phantom: Once Upon Another Time". But that will come on in November next year, probably, if everything goes well."
Webber said in a video blog, "I will do The Phantom of the Opera sequel, and have met with a couple of people today who persuaded me to do it, who I will not reveal...(it's a) very exciting day for me. I'm going to Los Angeles tonight and then I'm back for my son's wedding on Saturday, but more of the Phantom sequel anon...it's going to be very exciting, and I can reveal it will be set in New York."
Webber previously noted that the sequel would follow ideas developed with Frederick Forsyth, who released a sequel to the show in novel form with "The Phantom of Manhattan" in 1999.
http://www.hollywood.com/news/Phantom_of_the_Opera_Returns/5371862
'The Phantom…' sequel to simultaneously premiere in three cities
London (IANS): A sequel to acclaimed musical "The Phantom Of The Opera" by Andrew Lloyd Webber is to make a theatrical history by opening in three cities at the same time next year.
The musical based on Gaston Leroux's novel opened 22 years ago with Michael Crawford in the title role and since then has been a record hit.
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, reports dailymail.co.uk.
In it, the Phantom is reunited with Christine, the Swedish soprano first played by Lloyd-Webber's wife at the time, Sarah Brightman.
Lord Lloyd-Webber said 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. We have been into the feasibility of rehearsing three companies at once and opening in the three territories,” he said.
The opera so far has attracted more than 80 million theatergoers in 124 cities and raked in more than 3.5 billion pounds at the box office.
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/009200812300925.htm
The musical based on Gaston Leroux's novel opened 22 years ago with Michael Crawford in the title role and since then has been a record hit.
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, reports dailymail.co.uk.
In it, the Phantom is reunited with Christine, the Swedish soprano first played by Lloyd-Webber's wife at the time, Sarah Brightman.
Lord Lloyd-Webber said 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. We have been into the feasibility of rehearsing three companies at once and opening in the three territories,” he said.
The opera so far has attracted more than 80 million theatergoers in 124 cities and raked in more than 3.5 billion pounds at the box office.
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/009200812300925.htm
A Half-Masked Man to Ride the Q Train
Arts, Briefly
Compiled by DAVE ITZKOFF
Published: December 29, 2008
When he’s crashed the chandelier of the Paris Opera House and driven away the woman he loves with the sight of his abhorrent face, where does a musically gifted phantom go for a little R&R? Brooklyn, of course. In an interview with The Times of London, Andrew Lloyd Webber said that a recently completed sequel to his musical “The Phantom of the Opera” would send the title character — played by Gerald Butler in the 2004 film version — to 19th-century Brooklyn, to be reunited with his lost love, Christine, on the sands of Coney Island. “It was the place,” Mr. Lloyd Webber said, according to The Times of London. “Even Freud went because it was so extraordinary.” He added, “People who were freaks and oddities were drawn towards it because it was a place where they could be themselves.” Mr. Lloyd Webber said he planned to open the sequel, “Phantom: Love Never Dies,” in London, New York and a city in Asia next year; no theaters have been announced.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/30/arts/30arts-AHALFMASKEDM_BRF.html?ref=arts
Compiled by DAVE ITZKOFF
Published: December 29, 2008
When he’s crashed the chandelier of the Paris Opera House and driven away the woman he loves with the sight of his abhorrent face, where does a musically gifted phantom go for a little R&R? Brooklyn, of course. In an interview with The Times of London, Andrew Lloyd Webber said that a recently completed sequel to his musical “The Phantom of the Opera” would send the title character — played by Gerald Butler in the 2004 film version — to 19th-century Brooklyn, to be reunited with his lost love, Christine, on the sands of Coney Island. “It was the place,” Mr. Lloyd Webber said, according to The Times of London. “Even Freud went because it was so extraordinary.” He added, “People who were freaks and oddities were drawn towards it because it was a place where they could be themselves.” Mr. Lloyd Webber said he planned to open the sequel, “Phantom: Love Never Dies,” in London, New York and a city in Asia next year; no theaters have been announced.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/30/arts/30arts-AHALFMASKEDM_BRF.html?ref=arts
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Andrew confirms Love Never Dies
December 29, 2008, 12:00 am
Andrew Lloyd Webber today confirmed future plans for Love Never Dies, the sequel to The Phantom of the Opera.
“I am delighted to confirm that following a successful sing-through of the complete score of “Love Never Dies” (the sequel to “The Phantom of the Opera”) in the lead-up to Christmas, I have decided to greenlight the production. Of course you never can tell how things will turn out, but we are exploring the idea of opening the show in the UK, America and the Far East in the autumn of 2009. This is a very exciting idea but obviously we have to see that it is logistically possible.
As reported in today’s edition of the “The Times” I can also confirm that “Love Never Dies” is set in America’s Coney Island approximately ten years after the beginning of the original story. In those days Coney Island was one of the wonders of the world, far eclipsing the excesses of Las Vegas today. The story continues the tale of the Phantom, Raoul, Christine, Madame Giry and Meg.”
http://www.andrewlloydwebber.com/news/article.php?ID=191
Andrew Lloyd Webber today confirmed future plans for Love Never Dies, the sequel to The Phantom of the Opera.
“I am delighted to confirm that following a successful sing-through of the complete score of “Love Never Dies” (the sequel to “The Phantom of the Opera”) in the lead-up to Christmas, I have decided to greenlight the production. Of course you never can tell how things will turn out, but we are exploring the idea of opening the show in the UK, America and the Far East in the autumn of 2009. This is a very exciting idea but obviously we have to see that it is logistically possible.
As reported in today’s edition of the “The Times” I can also confirm that “Love Never Dies” is set in America’s Coney Island approximately ten years after the beginning of the original story. In those days Coney Island was one of the wonders of the world, far eclipsing the excesses of Las Vegas today. The story continues the tale of the Phantom, Raoul, Christine, Madame Giry and Meg.”
http://www.andrewlloydwebber.com/news/article.php?ID=191
Monday, December 29, 2008
From ALIIAK
Its hard to see how 'Once Upon Another Time' gives it any more hope then 'Love Never Dies', the latter sounds like a Titanic sequel, and the former something from 'Into the Woods'. I'll go to the musical half-expecting a ship sinking in a forest somewhere.
@ phantomoftheopera.com
LOL
@ phantomoftheopera.com
LOL
Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera to rise again
Luke Leitch
December 29, 2008
Article from: Times Online
HIS hideous face obscured by that iconic white mask, the Phantom of the Opera has stalked the stage before 80 million theatregoers in 124 cities around the world - and spirited away more than $US5 billion at the box office.
Now, 22 years after Michael Crawford first played the Phantom, the show's composer, Andrew Lloyd Webber, has told The Times that "the button is pushed" on the sequel to the world's most lucrative musical.
Entitled Phantom: Love Never Dies it will receive its premiere at the end of next year and will make theatrical history if, as Lloyd Webber intends, it opens in three main cities at the same time. Lloyd Webber hopes that it will show in the West End of London, on Broadway in New York and in one, as yet undecided, Asian city, possibly Shanghai. He said: "I don't think you could do this if it wasn't the sequel to Phantom ... We've been into the feasibility of rehearsing three companies at once and opening very fast in the three territories. The one which really interests me (in the Far East) would be China ... I think to open Love Never Dies in Shanghai would be an enormous thing."
The sequel will be set a decade or so after the first instalment, during which time the Phantom has relocated from the Paris Opera of Gaston Leroux's original novel to Coney Island in Brooklyn, then still a hugely popular beach-side amusement resort for New Yorkers. "It was the place," said Lloyd Webber. "Even Freud went because it was so extraordinary ... people who were freaks and oddities were drawn towards it because it was a place where they could be themselves."
The Phantom will be reunited with Christine, the "Swedish soprano", first played by Lloyd Webber's wife at the time, Sarah Brightman. The production has yet to be cast but he said: "We are pretty clear who our Phantom is going to be - I can't say who."
Possible candidates include Gerard Butler, who played the part in Joel Schumacher's 2004 film adaption, and Hugh Jackman, the star of Baz Luhrmann's film Australia, whose stage CV includes Sunset Boulevard, Oklahoma! and The Boy from Oz, for which he won Best Actor in a musical Tony Award. Jack O'Brien, who has had successes with The Full Monty and Hairspray, will direct the production. The sets will be designed by Bob Crowley, who has won five Tony awards and whose credits include Sir Cameron Mackintosh's Mary Poppins.
Lloyd Webber said: "Bob and I have more or less constructed the first five minutes ... I've written a prologue to the piece in which Bob is going to create Coney Island in front of everyone's eyes."
Lloyd Webber, 60, is writing the United Kingdom's 2009 Eurovision Song Contest entry. On a new BBC One programme, starting on Saturday, he is helping to choose the country's singer at the final, which takes place in Moscow in May. He has played impresario on three previous BBC series dedicated to casting starring roles in West End musicals, and in 2010 will collaborate with the BBC once again to cast Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. He said: "The TV casting shows increase the (theatre) audience - not just West End audience but around the country - year on year 20 per cent ... I can't be snobby about it, I think its absolutely great. And the West End audience has gone down in age."
His shows include Cats, Sunset Boulevard, Evita, Aspects of Love and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. He added: "What everyone has got to understand about theatre is that it will never die because it is live entertainment. Whatever happens with the net, computers or television, the endgame will always be that people want to go out."
The Stage newspaper this month voted Lloyd Webber, who in 1997 was enobled as Lord Lloyd-Webber, as the most powerful figure in British theatre of the past decade.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24851929-2703,00.html
December 29, 2008
Article from: Times Online
HIS hideous face obscured by that iconic white mask, the Phantom of the Opera has stalked the stage before 80 million theatregoers in 124 cities around the world - and spirited away more than $US5 billion at the box office.
Now, 22 years after Michael Crawford first played the Phantom, the show's composer, Andrew Lloyd Webber, has told The Times that "the button is pushed" on the sequel to the world's most lucrative musical.
Entitled Phantom: Love Never Dies it will receive its premiere at the end of next year and will make theatrical history if, as Lloyd Webber intends, it opens in three main cities at the same time. Lloyd Webber hopes that it will show in the West End of London, on Broadway in New York and in one, as yet undecided, Asian city, possibly Shanghai. He said: "I don't think you could do this if it wasn't the sequel to Phantom ... We've been into the feasibility of rehearsing three companies at once and opening very fast in the three territories. The one which really interests me (in the Far East) would be China ... I think to open Love Never Dies in Shanghai would be an enormous thing."
The sequel will be set a decade or so after the first instalment, during which time the Phantom has relocated from the Paris Opera of Gaston Leroux's original novel to Coney Island in Brooklyn, then still a hugely popular beach-side amusement resort for New Yorkers. "It was the place," said Lloyd Webber. "Even Freud went because it was so extraordinary ... people who were freaks and oddities were drawn towards it because it was a place where they could be themselves."
The Phantom will be reunited with Christine, the "Swedish soprano", first played by Lloyd Webber's wife at the time, Sarah Brightman. The production has yet to be cast but he said: "We are pretty clear who our Phantom is going to be - I can't say who."
Possible candidates include Gerard Butler, who played the part in Joel Schumacher's 2004 film adaption, and Hugh Jackman, the star of Baz Luhrmann's film Australia, whose stage CV includes Sunset Boulevard, Oklahoma! and The Boy from Oz, for which he won Best Actor in a musical Tony Award. Jack O'Brien, who has had successes with The Full Monty and Hairspray, will direct the production. The sets will be designed by Bob Crowley, who has won five Tony awards and whose credits include Sir Cameron Mackintosh's Mary Poppins.
Lloyd Webber said: "Bob and I have more or less constructed the first five minutes ... I've written a prologue to the piece in which Bob is going to create Coney Island in front of everyone's eyes."
Lloyd Webber, 60, is writing the United Kingdom's 2009 Eurovision Song Contest entry. On a new BBC One programme, starting on Saturday, he is helping to choose the country's singer at the final, which takes place in Moscow in May. He has played impresario on three previous BBC series dedicated to casting starring roles in West End musicals, and in 2010 will collaborate with the BBC once again to cast Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. He said: "The TV casting shows increase the (theatre) audience - not just West End audience but around the country - year on year 20 per cent ... I can't be snobby about it, I think its absolutely great. And the West End audience has gone down in age."
His shows include Cats, Sunset Boulevard, Evita, Aspects of Love and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. He added: "What everyone has got to understand about theatre is that it will never die because it is live entertainment. Whatever happens with the net, computers or television, the endgame will always be that people want to go out."
The Stage newspaper this month voted Lloyd Webber, who in 1997 was enobled as Lord Lloyd-Webber, as the most powerful figure in British theatre of the past decade.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24851929-2703,00.html
Andrew Lloyd Webber on Eurovision and the Phantom sequel
December 29, 2008
Andrew Lloyd Webber has big plans to bring Eurovision glory back to Britain, and to revive his most iconic heroe in Phantom II
Luke Leitch
It's an entourage!” says someone as we march, Reservoir Dogs-style, towards the BBC Television Centre lifts. There are eight of us: Andrew Lloyd Webber, The Times and half a dozen assorted publicists/aides. Upstairs, in a BBC entertainment meeting room, we settle on sofas and the gems and revelations start pouring forth from Lloyd Webber's Jagger-esque lips, including details of his visit to Vladimir Putin's dacha, a swipe at Hollywood and a glimpse into his role as a key judge (and composer) of the UK's Eurovision entry for 2009.
First, though, must come the juiciest news of all: his radical plan for a sequel to what is (with more than 80 million tickets sold and £3.5 billion grossed) the most successful musical in the world: The Phantom of the Opera. Lloyd Webber, 60, has been intermittently sketching out plans for Phantom II for years now, but it was only this summer that he premiered the first act to a private audience at his country pile. Earlier had come the compelling story that Otto, his cat, deleted the entire score by falling asleep inside Lloyd Webber's digital piano. This is a painful subject, but not because of the score: “Otto? He was squidged in the road ...”
Lloyd Webber briefly winces, then gathers himself: “Yes, he sort of did do that but, you know, these stories grow and grow and he didn't cause lasting damage. It was only on one of those clavinovas that you can record on as you go along.”
Otto my have been squidged, but not Phantom II. Nine weeks ago there was a sing-through of the second act and then, ten days ago, the decision was made: “We put the whole thing together with the work we had done on both acts. There is nothing to delay us. The button is pushed.”
Phantom: Love Never Dies, as the sequel is to be called, is set in New York a decade after the first Parisian instalment. That ended when the misunderstood, facially disfigured musical genius of the title lost his beloved Christine (and his mask), but evaded the baying French mob pursuing him and slipped away into the night. Lloyd Webber says: “It is set on Coney Island. He started in one of the freak shows there but, by the time we meet him, being the Phantom he has become the most powerful operator in Coney. He's pulling the strings and running the island.”
Traditionally Lloyd Webber's shows, indeed all big successful musicals, open in London or on Broadway and then, after a year or so, secondary productions open in other territories. Given that Phantom II, which will open at the end of 2009, is set in New York, isn't he minded to forgo an opening in the West End (where he owns seven theatres) in favour of Broadway? Before fully answering, he issues caveats - these are early days, none of it may be do-able ... - and then continues: “We are tempted to see whether we can open very quickly in the three main areas where Phantom has been embraced, which are America, London and the Far East. So we have been into the feasibility of rehearsing three companies at once, and opening very fast in the three territories. The one that really interests me [in the Far East] would be China ... I think to open Love Never Dies in Shanghai would be an enormous thing for China.”
A near-simultaneous opening of a major musical in three continents would be a first. But who will play the Phantom, and who will play Christine? Not even counting understudies, Lloyd Webber will need three of each. This he will not divulge, but he does say that he is “pretty clear who our Phantom is going to be”. John Barrowman (as rumoured) or perhaps a return for Michael Crawford? Lloyd Webber discounts both. And Sarah Brightman is out of the question to reprise Christine. For one thing (this is my ungentlemanly interjection) the actresses who play her will need to be about 28. But with three premiere shows, who will be credited with “creating” the roles, as the first actors to play in productions always are? “That's an interesting question,” he mulls.
Lloyd Webber's passion for musicals is clearly undimmed - the critics can be sniffy, but his wildly popular hits include Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, Cats, Evita and Aspects of Love. The current production of Sunset Boulevard at the Comedy Theatre, the first in the West End since Lloyd Webber's own one closed 11 years ago, has been warmly received. Directed by Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood it's from a small, talented cast that plays the musical instruments as well as singing and acting. Lloyd Webber, though, is a little worried for it, because in his experience the lead role of Norma Desmond, a fading, loopy silent cinema star, only clicks with audiences when played by someone they have themselves seen on screen. “If the audience didn't vaguely associate it with the movies, then subliminally people didn't quite get it,” he says. “This is only a theory of mine and I hope this production disproves it.”
I ask if the long-mooted film of Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard is in development, albeit delayed by the Hollywood writer's strike? “No,” he says. “the film has been delayed entirely because Paramount, which owns the original film, is not keen on it being made. Many people have wanted to play the role [of Norma] - the latest is Barbra Streisand.”
Glenn Close? “Glenn has absolutely wanted to play it, Meryl [Streep] has wanted to play it and none of us can get past this wall. I don't think they get the idea of a musical at all.”
This Saturday, he will return to our screens as the judge on Eurovision: Your Country Needs You. It will be his fourth BBC prime-time series. (In the first three shows Lloyd Webber talent-scouted for plum roles in West End musicals.) He will also, ultimately, compose the winner's song, to be performed in the finals in Moscow. He has already conceded that it's highly unlikely he can reverse Britain's recent woeful record in the competition, saying: “I'd be staggered if we won - we're not going to.” He is phlegmatic about the bloc voting system that handicaps entries from Britain. “They say they've changed it this year. There is a jury system or something. But it's been a long time since we put in a sensible, serious entry. All you can do is try to find a good song for the best artist. This will be the first song I've written for years outside theatre or film.”
Interspersed with the live competition will be pre-records that follow Lloyd Webber's campaign to win hearts and minds across Europe before the Eurovision finals in May. As part of this he managed to scoop an interview with Vladimir Putin, the Russian Prime Minister, who invited Lloyd Webber to his dacha. “I was rather annoyed really, because they said ‘Oh it's got to be very informal', so I didn't bother to wear a tie or anything - and of course he arrived wearing the full lot.”
Sartorially disadvantaged he may have been, but Lloyd Webber nonetheless persuaded Putin to pledge his personal vote in the 2009 Eurovision contest to Great Britain. And he also found a fan. “He introduced me to a couple of friend of his. One of them was a cellist and this cellist guy said: ‘Why don't you write a piece for the cello?' and Putin said: ‘But he has, it's called Variations and I've got it in the other house.' He was either incredibly well briefed or he really did know.”
Before his song and artist go to Moscow or Phantom II opens another new Lloyd Webber production will premiere in February. Entitled Touched ... For the Very First Time, it is the first piece of theatre by his daughter Imogen. A solo piece at the Trafalgar Studios in London, it stars Sadie Frost. Much more a proud Lloyd Webber does not know. “She hasn't even let me seen the investment documents - daddy has no part of it! I'm very pleased for her. ‘Get on with it' is my view.”
Sunset Boulevard is at the Comedy Theatre, London SW1 (0871 2975454)
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/theatre/article5412672.ece
Andrew Lloyd Webber has big plans to bring Eurovision glory back to Britain, and to revive his most iconic heroe in Phantom II
Luke Leitch
It's an entourage!” says someone as we march, Reservoir Dogs-style, towards the BBC Television Centre lifts. There are eight of us: Andrew Lloyd Webber, The Times and half a dozen assorted publicists/aides. Upstairs, in a BBC entertainment meeting room, we settle on sofas and the gems and revelations start pouring forth from Lloyd Webber's Jagger-esque lips, including details of his visit to Vladimir Putin's dacha, a swipe at Hollywood and a glimpse into his role as a key judge (and composer) of the UK's Eurovision entry for 2009.
First, though, must come the juiciest news of all: his radical plan for a sequel to what is (with more than 80 million tickets sold and £3.5 billion grossed) the most successful musical in the world: The Phantom of the Opera. Lloyd Webber, 60, has been intermittently sketching out plans for Phantom II for years now, but it was only this summer that he premiered the first act to a private audience at his country pile. Earlier had come the compelling story that Otto, his cat, deleted the entire score by falling asleep inside Lloyd Webber's digital piano. This is a painful subject, but not because of the score: “Otto? He was squidged in the road ...”
Lloyd Webber briefly winces, then gathers himself: “Yes, he sort of did do that but, you know, these stories grow and grow and he didn't cause lasting damage. It was only on one of those clavinovas that you can record on as you go along.”
Otto my have been squidged, but not Phantom II. Nine weeks ago there was a sing-through of the second act and then, ten days ago, the decision was made: “We put the whole thing together with the work we had done on both acts. There is nothing to delay us. The button is pushed.”
Phantom: Love Never Dies, as the sequel is to be called, is set in New York a decade after the first Parisian instalment. That ended when the misunderstood, facially disfigured musical genius of the title lost his beloved Christine (and his mask), but evaded the baying French mob pursuing him and slipped away into the night. Lloyd Webber says: “It is set on Coney Island. He started in one of the freak shows there but, by the time we meet him, being the Phantom he has become the most powerful operator in Coney. He's pulling the strings and running the island.”
Traditionally Lloyd Webber's shows, indeed all big successful musicals, open in London or on Broadway and then, after a year or so, secondary productions open in other territories. Given that Phantom II, which will open at the end of 2009, is set in New York, isn't he minded to forgo an opening in the West End (where he owns seven theatres) in favour of Broadway? Before fully answering, he issues caveats - these are early days, none of it may be do-able ... - and then continues: “We are tempted to see whether we can open very quickly in the three main areas where Phantom has been embraced, which are America, London and the Far East. So we have been into the feasibility of rehearsing three companies at once, and opening very fast in the three territories. The one that really interests me [in the Far East] would be China ... I think to open Love Never Dies in Shanghai would be an enormous thing for China.”
A near-simultaneous opening of a major musical in three continents would be a first. But who will play the Phantom, and who will play Christine? Not even counting understudies, Lloyd Webber will need three of each. This he will not divulge, but he does say that he is “pretty clear who our Phantom is going to be”. John Barrowman (as rumoured) or perhaps a return for Michael Crawford? Lloyd Webber discounts both. And Sarah Brightman is out of the question to reprise Christine. For one thing (this is my ungentlemanly interjection) the actresses who play her will need to be about 28. But with three premiere shows, who will be credited with “creating” the roles, as the first actors to play in productions always are? “That's an interesting question,” he mulls.
Lloyd Webber's passion for musicals is clearly undimmed - the critics can be sniffy, but his wildly popular hits include Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, Cats, Evita and Aspects of Love. The current production of Sunset Boulevard at the Comedy Theatre, the first in the West End since Lloyd Webber's own one closed 11 years ago, has been warmly received. Directed by Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood it's from a small, talented cast that plays the musical instruments as well as singing and acting. Lloyd Webber, though, is a little worried for it, because in his experience the lead role of Norma Desmond, a fading, loopy silent cinema star, only clicks with audiences when played by someone they have themselves seen on screen. “If the audience didn't vaguely associate it with the movies, then subliminally people didn't quite get it,” he says. “This is only a theory of mine and I hope this production disproves it.”
I ask if the long-mooted film of Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard is in development, albeit delayed by the Hollywood writer's strike? “No,” he says. “the film has been delayed entirely because Paramount, which owns the original film, is not keen on it being made. Many people have wanted to play the role [of Norma] - the latest is Barbra Streisand.”
Glenn Close? “Glenn has absolutely wanted to play it, Meryl [Streep] has wanted to play it and none of us can get past this wall. I don't think they get the idea of a musical at all.”
This Saturday, he will return to our screens as the judge on Eurovision: Your Country Needs You. It will be his fourth BBC prime-time series. (In the first three shows Lloyd Webber talent-scouted for plum roles in West End musicals.) He will also, ultimately, compose the winner's song, to be performed in the finals in Moscow. He has already conceded that it's highly unlikely he can reverse Britain's recent woeful record in the competition, saying: “I'd be staggered if we won - we're not going to.” He is phlegmatic about the bloc voting system that handicaps entries from Britain. “They say they've changed it this year. There is a jury system or something. But it's been a long time since we put in a sensible, serious entry. All you can do is try to find a good song for the best artist. This will be the first song I've written for years outside theatre or film.”
Interspersed with the live competition will be pre-records that follow Lloyd Webber's campaign to win hearts and minds across Europe before the Eurovision finals in May. As part of this he managed to scoop an interview with Vladimir Putin, the Russian Prime Minister, who invited Lloyd Webber to his dacha. “I was rather annoyed really, because they said ‘Oh it's got to be very informal', so I didn't bother to wear a tie or anything - and of course he arrived wearing the full lot.”
Sartorially disadvantaged he may have been, but Lloyd Webber nonetheless persuaded Putin to pledge his personal vote in the 2009 Eurovision contest to Great Britain. And he also found a fan. “He introduced me to a couple of friend of his. One of them was a cellist and this cellist guy said: ‘Why don't you write a piece for the cello?' and Putin said: ‘But he has, it's called Variations and I've got it in the other house.' He was either incredibly well briefed or he really did know.”
Before his song and artist go to Moscow or Phantom II opens another new Lloyd Webber production will premiere in February. Entitled Touched ... For the Very First Time, it is the first piece of theatre by his daughter Imogen. A solo piece at the Trafalgar Studios in London, it stars Sadie Frost. Much more a proud Lloyd Webber does not know. “She hasn't even let me seen the investment documents - daddy has no part of it! I'm very pleased for her. ‘Get on with it' is my view.”
Sunset Boulevard is at the Comedy Theatre, London SW1 (0871 2975454)
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/theatre/article5412672.ece
Andrew Lloyd Webber has composed sequel to Phantom of the Opera musical
Andrew Lloyd Webber has composed a sequel to his most successful musical, the Phantom of the Opera, and has disclosed that it will be premiered across three continents in 2009.
By Lucy Cockcroft
Last Updated: 8:31AM GMT 29 Dec 2008
Since Michael Crawford first played the Phantom in London two decades ago, the show has been performed before 80 million theatregoers in 124 cities across the world and earned more than £3.5 billion at the box office.
Now Lord Lloyd Webber has announced that "the button is pushed" on the sequel, entitled "Phantom: Love Never Dies".
It will be premiered at the end of next year in the West End, Broadway and an as yet unconfirmed Asian city at the same time, making theatrical history.
Lord Lloyd Webber said: "I don't think you could do this if it wasn't the sequel to Phantom ... We've been into the feasibility of rehearsing three companies at once and opening very fast in the three territories.
"The one which really interests me would be China ... I think to open Love Never Dies in Shanghai would be an enormous thing."
The sequel will be set around ten years after the first instalment, during which time the Phantom has relocated from the Paris Opera of Gaston Leroux's original novel to Coney Island in Brooklyn, a beachside amusement resort for New Yorkers.
Lord Lloyd Webber told The Times: "It was the place. Even Freud went because it was so extraordinary ... people who were freaks and oddities were drawn towards it because it was a place where they could be themselves."
The production has not yet been cast, but he disclosed: "We are pretty clear who our Phantom is going to be – I can't say who."
Candidates include Gerard Butler, who played the part in Joel Schumacher's 2004 film adaptation, and Hugh Jackman, the star of Baz Luhrmann's film Australia, who has appeared on stage in Sunset Boulevard, Oklahoma! and The Boy from Oz, for which he won Best Actor in a musical Tony Award.
The Phantom of the Opera musical is now the longest running Broadway show in history, and the most lucrative entertainment enterprise of all time, outstripping even Titanic, the most successful film.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/4001215/Andrew-Lloyd-Webber-has-composed-sequel-to-Phantom-of-the-Opera-musical.html
By Lucy Cockcroft
Last Updated: 8:31AM GMT 29 Dec 2008
Since Michael Crawford first played the Phantom in London two decades ago, the show has been performed before 80 million theatregoers in 124 cities across the world and earned more than £3.5 billion at the box office.
Now Lord Lloyd Webber has announced that "the button is pushed" on the sequel, entitled "Phantom: Love Never Dies".
It will be premiered at the end of next year in the West End, Broadway and an as yet unconfirmed Asian city at the same time, making theatrical history.
Lord Lloyd Webber said: "I don't think you could do this if it wasn't the sequel to Phantom ... We've been into the feasibility of rehearsing three companies at once and opening very fast in the three territories.
"The one which really interests me would be China ... I think to open Love Never Dies in Shanghai would be an enormous thing."
The sequel will be set around ten years after the first instalment, during which time the Phantom has relocated from the Paris Opera of Gaston Leroux's original novel to Coney Island in Brooklyn, a beachside amusement resort for New Yorkers.
Lord Lloyd Webber told The Times: "It was the place. Even Freud went because it was so extraordinary ... people who were freaks and oddities were drawn towards it because it was a place where they could be themselves."
The production has not yet been cast, but he disclosed: "We are pretty clear who our Phantom is going to be – I can't say who."
Candidates include Gerard Butler, who played the part in Joel Schumacher's 2004 film adaptation, and Hugh Jackman, the star of Baz Luhrmann's film Australia, who has appeared on stage in Sunset Boulevard, Oklahoma! and The Boy from Oz, for which he won Best Actor in a musical Tony Award.
The Phantom of the Opera musical is now the longest running Broadway show in history, and the most lucrative entertainment enterprise of all time, outstripping even Titanic, the most successful film.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/4001215/Andrew-Lloyd-Webber-has-composed-sequel-to-Phantom-of-the-Opera-musical.html
Tom Cruise 'is going to be killed'
11:00 AEST Mon Dec 29 2008
3 hours 36 minutes ago
By ninemsn staff
Actor Tom Cruise has been warned by anti-Scientology activists that he will be assassinated, reports say.
Cruise and his wife Katie Holmes are so shaken by the death threats that they have alerted the FBI and will only travel in bomb-proof vehicles, the Daily Mail reports.
The threats are believed to have been made by a group that opposes Scientology, a religion which counts Cruise as one of its most devout and high-profile followers.
The Mail reports that the US actor is so fearful of his family's safety that he now lives in a separate location to Holmes and their two-year-old daughter Suri.
The 46-year-old Mission: Impossible star has also alerted the FBI and stepped up his security.
Anti-Scientology group Anonymous protested at the Los Angeles premiere of his new film Valkyrie last week.
Critics say the film, in which Cruise plays an army officer who attempts to kill Adolf Hitler, is sympathetic towards the Nazis and omits details of their actions in World War II.
In August this year, Cruise received a security threat that spores of anthrax bacteria could be pumped into the air conditioning system at his Los Angeles office.
He was so shaken by the threat that he had a $10.6 million underground bunker built at his Colorado estate.
Cruise is well-known for his support of Scientology.
He famously introduced media magnate James Packer to the group in 2002.
Packer was reported to have left the "cult" earlier this year, but the pair remain friends.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/entertainment/704547/tom-cruise-is-going-to-be-killed
3 hours 36 minutes ago
By ninemsn staff
Actor Tom Cruise has been warned by anti-Scientology activists that he will be assassinated, reports say.
Cruise and his wife Katie Holmes are so shaken by the death threats that they have alerted the FBI and will only travel in bomb-proof vehicles, the Daily Mail reports.
The threats are believed to have been made by a group that opposes Scientology, a religion which counts Cruise as one of its most devout and high-profile followers.
The Mail reports that the US actor is so fearful of his family's safety that he now lives in a separate location to Holmes and their two-year-old daughter Suri.
The 46-year-old Mission: Impossible star has also alerted the FBI and stepped up his security.
Anti-Scientology group Anonymous protested at the Los Angeles premiere of his new film Valkyrie last week.
Critics say the film, in which Cruise plays an army officer who attempts to kill Adolf Hitler, is sympathetic towards the Nazis and omits details of their actions in World War II.
In August this year, Cruise received a security threat that spores of anthrax bacteria could be pumped into the air conditioning system at his Los Angeles office.
He was so shaken by the threat that he had a $10.6 million underground bunker built at his Colorado estate.
Cruise is well-known for his support of Scientology.
He famously introduced media magnate James Packer to the group in 2002.
Packer was reported to have left the "cult" earlier this year, but the pair remain friends.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/entertainment/704547/tom-cruise-is-going-to-be-killed
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Legendary singer Eartha Kitt dies
Eartha Kitt, the US singer, dancer, actor and self-proclaimed "sex kitten" whose career spanned six decades, has died in the United States aged 81.
One of the entertainment world's most versatile performers – she was nominated for Emmys, Tonys and Grammys – Kitt was perhaps best known for her sultry, cat-like purr, which took in both her speaking and singing voices. A family spokesman said Kitt died yesterday in Connecticut after treatment for colon cancer.
The cancer was first treated two years ago but recurred after a period of remission, Andrew Freedman told Reuters. "She came back strongly. She had been performing until two months ago," he said. "We had dates booked through 2009."
Kitt, who published three autobiographies over the course of her long career, had a difficult childhood as a mixed-race daughter of the American South before starting her entertainment career as a dancer with the famed Katherine Dunham troupe.
Her best known songs included C'est Si Bon, Let's Do It and Just an Old Fashioned Girl, as well as the Christmas staple, Santa Baby. Kitt was ostracised in America for speaking out against the Vietnam war in the 1960s.
Famously called the "most exciting woman in the world" by Orson Welles, Kitt spent much of her life single, though brief romances with the rich and famous peppered her younger years. In 1960, she briefly married Bill McDonald, but separated from him after the birth of their daughter.
After making headlines singing in the Broadway revue, New Faces of 1952, Kitt released her first album in 1954, which included Santa Baby.
Her acting career saw her star opposite Nat King Cole in St Louis Blues in 1958. Her best known television role was as Catwoman in the 1960s Batman series.
Always blunt about her beliefs, Kitt made her feelings about Vietnam known as she attended a White House lunch hosted by Lyndon Johnson's wife in 1968, when her fame was near its peak.
"You send the best of this country off to be shot and maimed," she told the group of about 50 women. "They rebel in the street. They don't want to go to school because they're going to be snatched off from their mothers to be shot in Vietnam." For the next four years, Kitt performed almost exclusively overseas.
She talked widely about her deprived childhood in South Carolina, where she said her mother was black and Cherokee and her father was white. She subsequently lived with an aunt in New York, where she attended stage school.
Kitt was unsure of her birthplace or birth date until in 1997 a group of South Carolina college students located her birth certificate, which gave her birth date as 17 January 1927. Kitt had always celebrated on 26 January.
"I'm an orphan. But the public has adopted me and that has been my only family," she said.
Man in Santa suit kills 8, self on Christmas Eve
COVINA, Calif. (AP) — The bloodbath began when an 8-year-old girl attending a Christmas Eve party answered a knock at the door. A man dressed as Santa and carrying what appeared to a present pulled out a handgun and shot her in the face, then began shooting indiscriminately as partygoers tried to flee.
By the time it was over, at least eight people at the party were dead and the house was torched. The gunman killed himself hours after exacting revenge against his ex-wife by going on a massacre at his former in-laws' home.
Bruce Pardo's ex-wife and her parents were believed to be among the dead. At daybreak Friday, investigators planned to resume searching what was left of their two-story home on a cul-de-sac in a quiet Covina neighborhood 25 miles east of Los Angeles.
Pardo, 45, had no criminal record and no history of violence, according to police, but he was angry following last week's settlement of his divorce after a marriage that lasted barely a year.
"It was not an amicable divorce," police Lt. Pat Buchanan said.
Investigators seeking further information about Pardo's motives have begun searching his home in the suburban Los Angeles community of Montrose.
Police said he showed up at his former in-laws' home around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday for their annual Christmas party.
The gift-wrapped box Pardo was carrying actually contained a pressurized homemade device he used to spray a liquid that quickly sent the house up in flames. Police said Pardo had recently worked in the aerospace industry.
David Salgado, a neighbor, said he saw the 8-year-old victim being escorted to an ambulance by four SWAT team members as flames up to 40 feet high consumed the house.
"It was really ugly," Salgado said.
Another neighbor, Jan Gregory, said she saw a teenage boy flee the home, screaming "They shot my family!"
A 16-year-old girl was shot in the back, and a 20-year-old woman broke her ankle when she escaped by jumping from a second-story window. Those two, and the 8-year-old, remained hospitalized. All were expected to recover.
When the fire was extinguished early Thursday, officers found three charred bodies in the living room area.
"They were met with a scene that was just indescribable," police Chief Kim Raney said. Investigators found five more bodies amid the ashes later in the day and planned to return Friday to continue looking.
None of the dead or missing has been identified. Authorities were unable to immediately determine whether the victims were killed by the flames or the gunfire.
Following the shootings, Pardo quickly got out of the Santa suit and drove off, witnesses told police. He went to his brother's home about 25 miles away in the Sylmar area of Los Angeles. No one was home, so Pardo let himself in, police said.
Police were called to the home early Thursday, and officers found Pardo dead of a single bullet to the head. Two handguns were found at the scene, and two more were discovered in the wreckage of his former in-laws' house.
A car that Pardo apparently parked near his brother's home exploded Thursday evening and more ammunition was found in it, Los Angeles police Sgt. Francisco Wheeling said. She had no immediate details on what set off the explosion. No one was hurt.
Pardo's next-door neighbor, who did not want her name published to protect her privacy, said he moved in more than a year ago with a woman and a child. She said they kept mostly to themselves and the woman later moved out with the child.
Pardo was often seen walking a dog around the neighborhood and working on his lawn, the neighbor said.
He also served regularly as an usher at evening Mass at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Montrose, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Jan Detanna, the head usher at the church, was stunned when told about the violence.
"I'm just — this is shocking," Detanna told the Times. "He was the nicest guy you could imagine. Always a pleasure to talk to, always a big smile."
Bong Garcia, another of Pardo's next-door neighbors, told the Times he saw Pardo between 9 and 10 p.m. Christmas Eve and spoke briefly to him. Pardo told him he was on his way to a Christmas party, Garcia said.
Associated Press writer Daisy Nguyen contributed to this report.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gm6-_k-0T2iGWVOGoVqXVg8I4HogD95AD1KG0
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Bush dispatched with shoes
Havana. December 15, 2008
Deisy Francis Mexidor
HE wanted to surprise and he was the one surprised. George W. Bush won’t learn his lesson: the world does not want him. Anywhere he goes it’s "Ugh!" as if a plague had appeared. But his time is running out. He has just a little over one month to leave the Oval Office. His residency in the White House has been deplorable.
In Iraq, Bush has just been reminded of the fervent opposition to his policies when a man threw his shoes at him, one after the other, during a press conference in Baghdad. The president arrived in that capital on a surprise visit to "say goodbye" to the troops, 17 days before a controversial military agreement with that country comes into effect.
Muntadar al-Zeidi, a correspondent for an Iraqi TV station, based in Cairo, Egypt, was identified as the author of the attack on W. with the improvised missiles, before the astonished regard of Iraqi Prime Minsiter Nuri al-Maliki, and stunned security guards, as could be seen on CNN.
Everything happened in a couple of seconds; the journalist got up from his seat shouting "this is the end!" and "dog!" while launching the first shoe. Bush ducked to avoid the blow and the second one immediately followed, although missing its target.
Minutes later the president tried to dismiss what had happened and jokingly said: "I can tell you that they’re size 10," and went on to comment that he didn’t know the reason for the aggression, as he was sure that the action did not represent the people of Iraq. You sure about that, George?
In Arabic culture, to throw shoes at somebody is one of the worst insults that you can give them. Does Bush need to be reminded as to why the rejection?
Translated by Granma International
http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2008/diciembre/lun15/Bush.html
LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
Deisy Francis Mexidor
HE wanted to surprise and he was the one surprised. George W. Bush won’t learn his lesson: the world does not want him. Anywhere he goes it’s "Ugh!" as if a plague had appeared. But his time is running out. He has just a little over one month to leave the Oval Office. His residency in the White House has been deplorable.
In Iraq, Bush has just been reminded of the fervent opposition to his policies when a man threw his shoes at him, one after the other, during a press conference in Baghdad. The president arrived in that capital on a surprise visit to "say goodbye" to the troops, 17 days before a controversial military agreement with that country comes into effect.
Muntadar al-Zeidi, a correspondent for an Iraqi TV station, based in Cairo, Egypt, was identified as the author of the attack on W. with the improvised missiles, before the astonished regard of Iraqi Prime Minsiter Nuri al-Maliki, and stunned security guards, as could be seen on CNN.
Everything happened in a couple of seconds; the journalist got up from his seat shouting "this is the end!" and "dog!" while launching the first shoe. Bush ducked to avoid the blow and the second one immediately followed, although missing its target.
Minutes later the president tried to dismiss what had happened and jokingly said: "I can tell you that they’re size 10," and went on to comment that he didn’t know the reason for the aggression, as he was sure that the action did not represent the people of Iraq. You sure about that, George?
In Arabic culture, to throw shoes at somebody is one of the worst insults that you can give them. Does Bush need to be reminded as to why the rejection?
Translated by Granma International
http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2008/diciembre/lun15/Bush.html
LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
Saturday, December 13, 2008
INTERVIEW WITH VERONIQUE
GREAT GRANDDAUGHTER OF GASTON LEROUX, AUTHOR OF "LE FANTOME DE L'OPERA"
http://www.ladyghost.com/veronique.html
PICTURES INCLUDED
http://www.ladyghost.com/veronique.html
PICTURES INCLUDED
The Phantom existed? MORE thoughts 2
kittybyte:
The fact that Leroux didn't publish all of his findings but turned his "evidence" back over to the opera house also seems to indicate that Erik may have been a member of a powerful family (or at least one that was powerful in the Opera House's world).
http://www.phantomoftheopera.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=131&viewmode=flat&order=ASC&type=&mode=0&start=200
The fact that Leroux didn't publish all of his findings but turned his "evidence" back over to the opera house also seems to indicate that Erik may have been a member of a powerful family (or at least one that was powerful in the Opera House's world).
http://www.phantomoftheopera.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=131&viewmode=flat&order=ASC&type=&mode=0&start=200
The Phantom existed? MORE thoughts
From fredrik
Posted on: 5 Aug 2005 3:37
Posted on: 5 Aug 2005 3:37
hmm. I was in France a few years ago. We were in a small village (i dont remember the name of the village) anyway, when we were there someone of my friends showed a house that was very old.
It was said that the real Erik was born in that house and (of course) his mother had lived there. The house had been empty since 1901. No one wanted to live there. We saw a calendar that a man had. He was responsible for the care of the house. He had a log where you could see what persons had been interested in the house. I saw Gaston Leroux name several times there, but he was forbidden to come there!!!!!.
This was (mind you) AFTER his book was written. The friend that showed the house talked to many of the villagers also, and even that they did not say it openly, you could sense a few things.
1 They thought that the real Erik was born there.
2 An old lady told about she maybe had seen him (she was 110 years old)
3 no one wanted to go in the house (they were spooked)
4 there was some records in the church of a "monster"
Now, i ask you guys: was this a total lie to get people there or was it maybe true? What do you others think about this?
i have tried to find the name of the village but cant.
http://www.phantomoftheopera.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=131&viewmode=flat&order=ASC&type=&mode=0&start=175
It was said that the real Erik was born in that house and (of course) his mother had lived there. The house had been empty since 1901. No one wanted to live there. We saw a calendar that a man had. He was responsible for the care of the house. He had a log where you could see what persons had been interested in the house. I saw Gaston Leroux name several times there, but he was forbidden to come there!!!!!.
This was (mind you) AFTER his book was written. The friend that showed the house talked to many of the villagers also, and even that they did not say it openly, you could sense a few things.
1 They thought that the real Erik was born there.
2 An old lady told about she maybe had seen him (she was 110 years old)
3 no one wanted to go in the house (they were spooked)
4 there was some records in the church of a "monster"
Now, i ask you guys: was this a total lie to get people there or was it maybe true? What do you others think about this?
i have tried to find the name of the village but cant.
http://www.phantomoftheopera.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=131&viewmode=flat&order=ASC&type=&mode=0&start=175
The Phantom existed? More thoughts
From phantomflutist2
O.K., we have all read the book(s) and have a pretty good background of what we talk about. Now for the real question: Is it true? I have been doing quite the research into the Leroux "novel" for a good many years now, so here is my spin. From my looking into Leroux's life and what inspired him to write The Phantom of the Opera, I have discovered that Leroux was a war correspondent for the French army at the time of the Paris Commune, roughly 1863ish. He was a private detective, and had his sore spots, shall we say, with the French government. On all the sites you go, you see 'inspired' to write his novel...etc. If you really take a good delve into the book, and the notes at the bottom corresponding to parts in the text, I believe you really find that he is trying to bring out some truth amidst his fiction. Granted, all he had were the documents from the Persian to interpret the true story of who Erik was and how he existed, but I find it very interesting that Erik's existence hurt the French government in the way it did (the fact he got away with the stuff he did makes them look absolutely foolish). This book is structured like no other 'fiction' I've ever read or even heard of in that it directly correlates actual events into the timeline and structure of the story, and backs them up with these supposed "occurences". The final and most interesting phact that I ran across was a couple of years ago. I was reading into the life history of Gaston Leroux, and got down to the part where he is on his death-bed. Now I can't find this document for the life of me, but I remember what it said. His best friend (who had written this document) was with him, and during his last moments, he said that no one ever believed him... He really lived and the government/police just pushed it aside, saying it was a done deal and there was nothing more to worry about. He even looked up at his friend and said "You have to believe in me...in this, and that the story is true...".
Freaky, isn't it...? I have come to the conclusion that Gaston Leroux used fiction to bring out all of the truth he had available at the time. I welcome your opinions and also if you have any insight as to where this mysterious document that I can't find anymore may be. This is only a short synopsis of the information that I have encountered through my research, so if you want to hear more, just ask. Otherwise, I don't want to bore anyone dead-set against the fact that this story, part-in-parcel, is true...
~J.B.
http://www.phantomoftheopera.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=131&viewmode=flat&order=ASC&type=&mode=0&start=0
O.K., we have all read the book(s) and have a pretty good background of what we talk about. Now for the real question: Is it true? I have been doing quite the research into the Leroux "novel" for a good many years now, so here is my spin. From my looking into Leroux's life and what inspired him to write The Phantom of the Opera, I have discovered that Leroux was a war correspondent for the French army at the time of the Paris Commune, roughly 1863ish. He was a private detective, and had his sore spots, shall we say, with the French government. On all the sites you go, you see 'inspired' to write his novel...etc. If you really take a good delve into the book, and the notes at the bottom corresponding to parts in the text, I believe you really find that he is trying to bring out some truth amidst his fiction. Granted, all he had were the documents from the Persian to interpret the true story of who Erik was and how he existed, but I find it very interesting that Erik's existence hurt the French government in the way it did (the fact he got away with the stuff he did makes them look absolutely foolish). This book is structured like no other 'fiction' I've ever read or even heard of in that it directly correlates actual events into the timeline and structure of the story, and backs them up with these supposed "occurences". The final and most interesting phact that I ran across was a couple of years ago. I was reading into the life history of Gaston Leroux, and got down to the part where he is on his death-bed. Now I can't find this document for the life of me, but I remember what it said. His best friend (who had written this document) was with him, and during his last moments, he said that no one ever believed him... He really lived and the government/police just pushed it aside, saying it was a done deal and there was nothing more to worry about. He even looked up at his friend and said "You have to believe in me...in this, and that the story is true...".
Freaky, isn't it...? I have come to the conclusion that Gaston Leroux used fiction to bring out all of the truth he had available at the time. I welcome your opinions and also if you have any insight as to where this mysterious document that I can't find anymore may be. This is only a short synopsis of the information that I have encountered through my research, so if you want to hear more, just ask. Otherwise, I don't want to bore anyone dead-set against the fact that this story, part-in-parcel, is true...
~J.B.
http://www.phantomoftheopera.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=131&viewmode=flat&order=ASC&type=&mode=0&start=0
The Phantom of the Opera really existed? Part 3.
From Marvin,
Posted: Fri Dec 12, 2008 7:14 pm
In our last post, there was an opera diva in the late 1870s named Mlle. Krauss who became ill and lost her voice for 10 days, and had to drop out of a Don Juan in which she was due to appear. But was this the only inspiration for the soprano diva La Carlotta? Certainly not.
Leroux drew her name from Carlotta Patti, the wheelchair-bound soprano singing sister of Adelina Patti, another soprano who competed with Christina Nilsson, and the Patti pair were infamous divas in opera history. French critics of the time constantly compared their styles, mocking Nilsson's Swedish accent and at the same time pointing out that Adelina lacked Christina's high notes and gracefulness of tone. Additionally, Adelina Patti wrote fairly cattish things about Nilsson, an example of which can be seen in the article she wrote entitled The Art of Song, Yesterday and To-day. The name and attitude cannot be coincidence. (Incidentally, with regard to the time capsules buried under the Opera Garnier, "Patti" is one of names listed as a voice included in the recordings. The day may come when La Carlotta will actually be heard!)
Two more divas (for a grand total of five divas becoming one epic woman) were part of the inspiration for Carlotta's character. Marie Miolan-Carvalho, a weak and shrilly thin-voiced soprano with an iron will and a strong temper (sound familiar?), member of a famous family of French musicians, was the star of the French premiere of Gounod's Faust at the Theatre Lyrique, which was a notorious flop. (Side note: Leroux actually mentions her as a "real" artist in the novel.)
And last but not least, Rosa Carron, she who sang to bring down the chandelier...or part of it, anyway. The Opera Garnier, 1896: Rosa Carron is in the midst of singing an encore when she hears a loud crash, followed by a bright flash of light and a cloud of dust. A counterweight falls from the chandelier, and lands on a woman who works as a concierge on the Rue Rochechouart, killing her.
Is there any single Carlotta? No. If Nilsson is Daae, take Adelina Patti's personality and her sister Carlotta's name; the three were rivals, after all. Add Carron's chandelier incident and Carvalho's Faust flop, and you have the arist currently known as Carlotta.
All this and more to be continued!
Posted: Fri Dec 12, 2008 7:14 pm
In our last post, there was an opera diva in the late 1870s named Mlle. Krauss who became ill and lost her voice for 10 days, and had to drop out of a Don Juan in which she was due to appear. But was this the only inspiration for the soprano diva La Carlotta? Certainly not.
Leroux drew her name from Carlotta Patti, the wheelchair-bound soprano singing sister of Adelina Patti, another soprano who competed with Christina Nilsson, and the Patti pair were infamous divas in opera history. French critics of the time constantly compared their styles, mocking Nilsson's Swedish accent and at the same time pointing out that Adelina lacked Christina's high notes and gracefulness of tone. Additionally, Adelina Patti wrote fairly cattish things about Nilsson, an example of which can be seen in the article she wrote entitled The Art of Song, Yesterday and To-day. The name and attitude cannot be coincidence. (Incidentally, with regard to the time capsules buried under the Opera Garnier, "Patti" is one of names listed as a voice included in the recordings. The day may come when La Carlotta will actually be heard!)
Two more divas (for a grand total of five divas becoming one epic woman) were part of the inspiration for Carlotta's character. Marie Miolan-Carvalho, a weak and shrilly thin-voiced soprano with an iron will and a strong temper (sound familiar?), member of a famous family of French musicians, was the star of the French premiere of Gounod's Faust at the Theatre Lyrique, which was a notorious flop. (Side note: Leroux actually mentions her as a "real" artist in the novel.)
And last but not least, Rosa Carron, she who sang to bring down the chandelier...or part of it, anyway. The Opera Garnier, 1896: Rosa Carron is in the midst of singing an encore when she hears a loud crash, followed by a bright flash of light and a cloud of dust. A counterweight falls from the chandelier, and lands on a woman who works as a concierge on the Rue Rochechouart, killing her.
Is there any single Carlotta? No. If Nilsson is Daae, take Adelina Patti's personality and her sister Carlotta's name; the three were rivals, after all. Add Carron's chandelier incident and Carvalho's Faust flop, and you have the arist currently known as Carlotta.
All this and more to be continued!
The Phantom of the Opera really existed? Part 2.
From Marvin,
Next Post:
In response to another:
Sat Mar 15, 2008 6:21 am
Thanks for introducing the next bit of info! See, as you saw in the real Phantom story, there was a Christine Daae and the Phantom did fall for her. But what's interesting about some nobody in the back row of the chorus? People admire what they want to be, what they could never be--an unparalleled singer, a mysterious and majestic phantom, sort of like hero worship. Leroux took Christina Nilsson's background story and stitched parts of it onto Daae for a more interesting novel.
In fact, it's kind of obvious when you look at what matches up about their background stories:
Both came from a similarly named town in Sweden (Skotelof for Christine, Skatelov for Christina -- different spellings over time may mean it was actually the same town).
Both of their fathers sang in church.
They both traveled the countryside with their fathers as children, singing for money at fairs.
They were discovered at similarly named fairs (Limby for Christine, Ljungby for Christina).
Both were trained by someone bearing the name Valerius (in the novel, Valerius discovered Christine as well).
Both people named Valerius took their charges with them to Gothenburg.
Both married into nobility and became countesses.
Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 3:55 pm
Coming back to necro-bump the thread, more info has surfaced about what Leroux added to the novel aside from mixing a chorus girl with an opera diva. For example, much of his own personality was folded into the character of Erik:
In April 1879, the opera diva, Mlle. Krauss became ill, and lost her voice for 10 days. Don Juan, in which she was due to appear, was replaced by Faust. Among many other things, this was minor inspiration for Carlotta.
More as more info develops!
Next Post:
In response to another:
Sat Mar 15, 2008 6:21 am
Thanks for introducing the next bit of info! See, as you saw in the real Phantom story, there was a Christine Daae and the Phantom did fall for her. But what's interesting about some nobody in the back row of the chorus? People admire what they want to be, what they could never be--an unparalleled singer, a mysterious and majestic phantom, sort of like hero worship. Leroux took Christina Nilsson's background story and stitched parts of it onto Daae for a more interesting novel.
In fact, it's kind of obvious when you look at what matches up about their background stories:
Both came from a similarly named town in Sweden (Skotelof for Christine, Skatelov for Christina -- different spellings over time may mean it was actually the same town).
Both of their fathers sang in church.
They both traveled the countryside with their fathers as children, singing for money at fairs.
They were discovered at similarly named fairs (Limby for Christine, Ljungby for Christina).
Both were trained by someone bearing the name Valerius (in the novel, Valerius discovered Christine as well).
Both people named Valerius took their charges with them to Gothenburg.
Both married into nobility and became countesses.
Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 3:55 pm
Coming back to necro-bump the thread, more info has surfaced about what Leroux added to the novel aside from mixing a chorus girl with an opera diva. For example, much of his own personality was folded into the character of Erik:
- Leroux's father was an entrepreneur--so was Erik's
- Leroux had a penchant for writing quasi-anonymous letters in red ink (at the time, writing in red was considered extremely impolite; it meant one was making fun of the person to whom they were writing)--so did Erik
- Leroux wrote anonymous letters complaining about changes at the Opera (two of them published as anonymous articles in 1897)--so did Erik
In April 1879, the opera diva, Mlle. Krauss became ill, and lost her voice for 10 days. Don Juan, in which she was due to appear, was replaced by Faust. Among many other things, this was minor inspiration for Carlotta.
More as more info develops!
Friday, December 12, 2008
The Phantom of the Opera really existed?
Marvin presents his Knowledge On The Matter.
Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 12:20 pm
The real story is actually quite intriguing. I've now been authorized to release some of the information that was uncovered thanks to a Phan in Paris who haunted the opera library there for years searching for evidence that Erik actually existed. After all that time, she was befriended by Mme. Renata de Waele, the Opera Garnier's PR officer. (Brigitta D'Arcy, author of Le Fantome, received similar info and based the first half of her novel on it.)
De Waele took her on a tour of the cellars. The first thing that the Phan noticed was a circular, subterranean rotunda, recognizable by a stone dome, described as the acoustic center of the Opera Garner. It's a chamber that catches every sound from overhead with incomparable sonority. This rotunda was constructed almost exactly the same as the one up above, a round symmetrical construction that seemingly caused every sound to converge at its center. She described it as "a sort of skeletal framework" for its twin above. It's not hard to picture Erik listening in, is it?
They then come to this locked metallic door with a concrete seal, and de Waele lays the whole tale on her. A certain Monsieur Clark donated a bunch of phonographic records featuring popular voices of the time to the Opera. They were not to be exploited or played in any form until a certain number of years had passed. (If this sounds familiar, Leroux mentions it in the book.) Anyway, in the meantime, Clark wanted the records stored in a securely guarded vault...and it became necessary to build one in the basement because the Opera didn't have such a vault at the time.
Don't get the wrong idea. Before construction began, that door wasn't in the wall, nor did Erik ever live to use it. The people who were charged with leading the project, and some of the work force, looked for the best place to dig, one that would be well reinforced, close to the underground access way, and removed from the everyday comings and goings of workmen. And they found this wall that de Waele and the Phan were staring at today. Now here's the kicker...they were demolishing the wall to set it up as a secure vault and discovered a furnished two-room studio apartment with all the comforts of a 19th century home!
The workmen didn't immediately realize the importance of their discovery. After all, while rare, it was not uncommon during that time for workers to set up private living spaces at a construction site purely for convenience. Nothing extraordinary. But once they emptied the room, some of the workers (as they do) began to wonder how this guy ever got into the place, as there were no doors in sight.
Soon enough, picking through the wreckage of the demolished wall told them everything: there was an entrance in the wall they had demolished, but it had been bricked over on both sides.
More on this story when I get a minute!
Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2008 9:31 am
Okay, more of the story!
In 1907, while working on the vault further, a buried skeleton was found (I don't have to tell you who this is). Quite large, clearly masculine, and the skull was asymmetrical, suggesting a severe facial deformity due to a malformation of bone and cartilage. (Leroux mentions this corpse as part of the novel, too...it was suggested by many, including George Perry in The Complete POTO, that this was the body of a prisoner from the Commune days, but when the Phan said this to de Waele, she was informed that the dungeons were actually located on the other side of the building from where the corpse was found, and even if it were a prisoner, it wouldn't have been found by itself or so much later than the others.) What cemented the identification of this skeleton as Erik's was the presence of a ring, described by Leroux. made of solid gold, with the initials "C.D." on it in what de Waele described as "large, unmistakable letters". (Both the skeleton and the ring were apparently lost in one of the subsequent wars. Why the workers never reburied the skeleton elsewhere or preserved the ring remains unknown.)
As it turns out, the real story has been passed down since the 1800's as Opera Garnier lore. Only Erik's first name was known, his last name will forever remain a mystery. Perhaps he wanted to forget it (at the time, those with deformities were considered monsters and denied of rights given to others, such as title and dignity if you were a noble, which is relevant because there's more to the story based on research).
Erik's story was fairly well known at the time. He left home at the age of 8, earned his living with the circuses traveling Europe at the time, learned architecture in Persia (his alleged tribulations there as recounted by Leroux are based in fact and were apparently not unknown), and returned to Paris where he got a job building the Grand Hotel. And then Charles Garnier put the word out that he needed workmen for the new opera house.
Erik was seriously interested and managed to get hired as a stonemason doing primary work on the Opera House's foundation, and while everyone else focused on the high water table problem (necessitating the creation of the lake), he was free to build his new home as he pleased. Not a palace by the lake (that was a later exaggeration brought on by the story being passed down by word of mouth over time), but a simply furnished home away from the cold world above. He didn't have any outstanding qualities other than a great interest in music, so it was a shock and surprise when tragic events unfolded as they did.
Over time, he fell in love with a simple chorus girl, as anonymous as all the others, named Christine Daae. He was deeply smitten with her, the poor thing, but he knew that he could never show himself to her. He felt that if he did, she could never love him. If only he had something to hide his deformity, some sort of disguise, like...a mask...and so the legendary Phantom was born!
While disguised, he began to develop facets of his personality that no one had ever seen before. Remember, Erik the construction worker was just like anybody else except for his love of music. When the gifted and later much maligned Phantom appeared, no one could have ever imagined it was Erik. Only one person knew the true story, a person Leroux later dubbed "The Persian" with an invented background and history with Erik. And it was this person who observed events as they developed. No one remembers who he was, but all that is recalled is that he was Erik's friend.
With new-found confidence while disguised, Erik developed an air of mystery about himself and rumors began to spread about the Phantom's gift for seducing women. He even began to be written about in newspapers (the May 29, 1879 issue of The Parisian writes in a short article of "the Phantom of the Avenue de l'Opera" who played an ocarina). So it was no surprise when Daae, rumored to be the Phantom's chief interest, disappeared from the singers' foyer and was not heard from for two weeks, reputedly in the company of the Phantom. But after two weeks, she returned, claiming to have spurned the Phantom's love (God knows why), and the poor man never took up mask or cape again.
He was simply Erik once again, and due to the severe depression, he became suicidal. He walled up the main entrance to his apartment and allowed himself to starve to death there. Later, the character who became "The Persian" found him dead and buried him out of pity, also walling up the other entrance. Given this whole story, Leroux had the basic outline and the setting. Now it was time to fill in the gaps.
Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 12:20 pm
The real story is actually quite intriguing. I've now been authorized to release some of the information that was uncovered thanks to a Phan in Paris who haunted the opera library there for years searching for evidence that Erik actually existed. After all that time, she was befriended by Mme. Renata de Waele, the Opera Garnier's PR officer. (Brigitta D'Arcy, author of Le Fantome, received similar info and based the first half of her novel on it.)
De Waele took her on a tour of the cellars. The first thing that the Phan noticed was a circular, subterranean rotunda, recognizable by a stone dome, described as the acoustic center of the Opera Garner. It's a chamber that catches every sound from overhead with incomparable sonority. This rotunda was constructed almost exactly the same as the one up above, a round symmetrical construction that seemingly caused every sound to converge at its center. She described it as "a sort of skeletal framework" for its twin above. It's not hard to picture Erik listening in, is it?
They then come to this locked metallic door with a concrete seal, and de Waele lays the whole tale on her. A certain Monsieur Clark donated a bunch of phonographic records featuring popular voices of the time to the Opera. They were not to be exploited or played in any form until a certain number of years had passed. (If this sounds familiar, Leroux mentions it in the book.) Anyway, in the meantime, Clark wanted the records stored in a securely guarded vault...and it became necessary to build one in the basement because the Opera didn't have such a vault at the time.
Don't get the wrong idea. Before construction began, that door wasn't in the wall, nor did Erik ever live to use it. The people who were charged with leading the project, and some of the work force, looked for the best place to dig, one that would be well reinforced, close to the underground access way, and removed from the everyday comings and goings of workmen. And they found this wall that de Waele and the Phan were staring at today. Now here's the kicker...they were demolishing the wall to set it up as a secure vault and discovered a furnished two-room studio apartment with all the comforts of a 19th century home!
The workmen didn't immediately realize the importance of their discovery. After all, while rare, it was not uncommon during that time for workers to set up private living spaces at a construction site purely for convenience. Nothing extraordinary. But once they emptied the room, some of the workers (as they do) began to wonder how this guy ever got into the place, as there were no doors in sight.
Soon enough, picking through the wreckage of the demolished wall told them everything: there was an entrance in the wall they had demolished, but it had been bricked over on both sides.
More on this story when I get a minute!
Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2008 9:31 am
Okay, more of the story!
In 1907, while working on the vault further, a buried skeleton was found (I don't have to tell you who this is). Quite large, clearly masculine, and the skull was asymmetrical, suggesting a severe facial deformity due to a malformation of bone and cartilage. (Leroux mentions this corpse as part of the novel, too...it was suggested by many, including George Perry in The Complete POTO, that this was the body of a prisoner from the Commune days, but when the Phan said this to de Waele, she was informed that the dungeons were actually located on the other side of the building from where the corpse was found, and even if it were a prisoner, it wouldn't have been found by itself or so much later than the others.) What cemented the identification of this skeleton as Erik's was the presence of a ring, described by Leroux. made of solid gold, with the initials "C.D." on it in what de Waele described as "large, unmistakable letters". (Both the skeleton and the ring were apparently lost in one of the subsequent wars. Why the workers never reburied the skeleton elsewhere or preserved the ring remains unknown.)
As it turns out, the real story has been passed down since the 1800's as Opera Garnier lore. Only Erik's first name was known, his last name will forever remain a mystery. Perhaps he wanted to forget it (at the time, those with deformities were considered monsters and denied of rights given to others, such as title and dignity if you were a noble, which is relevant because there's more to the story based on research).
Erik's story was fairly well known at the time. He left home at the age of 8, earned his living with the circuses traveling Europe at the time, learned architecture in Persia (his alleged tribulations there as recounted by Leroux are based in fact and were apparently not unknown), and returned to Paris where he got a job building the Grand Hotel. And then Charles Garnier put the word out that he needed workmen for the new opera house.
Erik was seriously interested and managed to get hired as a stonemason doing primary work on the Opera House's foundation, and while everyone else focused on the high water table problem (necessitating the creation of the lake), he was free to build his new home as he pleased. Not a palace by the lake (that was a later exaggeration brought on by the story being passed down by word of mouth over time), but a simply furnished home away from the cold world above. He didn't have any outstanding qualities other than a great interest in music, so it was a shock and surprise when tragic events unfolded as they did.
Over time, he fell in love with a simple chorus girl, as anonymous as all the others, named Christine Daae. He was deeply smitten with her, the poor thing, but he knew that he could never show himself to her. He felt that if he did, she could never love him. If only he had something to hide his deformity, some sort of disguise, like...a mask...and so the legendary Phantom was born!
While disguised, he began to develop facets of his personality that no one had ever seen before. Remember, Erik the construction worker was just like anybody else except for his love of music. When the gifted and later much maligned Phantom appeared, no one could have ever imagined it was Erik. Only one person knew the true story, a person Leroux later dubbed "The Persian" with an invented background and history with Erik. And it was this person who observed events as they developed. No one remembers who he was, but all that is recalled is that he was Erik's friend.
With new-found confidence while disguised, Erik developed an air of mystery about himself and rumors began to spread about the Phantom's gift for seducing women. He even began to be written about in newspapers (the May 29, 1879 issue of The Parisian writes in a short article of "the Phantom of the Avenue de l'Opera" who played an ocarina). So it was no surprise when Daae, rumored to be the Phantom's chief interest, disappeared from the singers' foyer and was not heard from for two weeks, reputedly in the company of the Phantom. But after two weeks, she returned, claiming to have spurned the Phantom's love (God knows why), and the poor man never took up mask or cape again.
He was simply Erik once again, and due to the severe depression, he became suicidal. He walled up the main entrance to his apartment and allowed himself to starve to death there. Later, the character who became "The Persian" found him dead and buried him out of pity, also walling up the other entrance. Given this whole story, Leroux had the basic outline and the setting. Now it was time to fill in the gaps.
Heath Ledger wins Golden Globe nomination
Heath Ledger, Rachel Griffiths and Melissa George have been nominated for Golden Globes, but Nicole Kidman, Baz Luhrmann, Hugh Jackman and their epic Australia were snubbed at the Golden Globes nomination ceremony.
Cate Blanchett was also a surprise omission.
Blanchett was expected to be nominated for a best actress Golden Globe for her new film, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, but missed out despite the movie picking up five nominations, including best drama and a best actor nod for co-star Brad Pitt.
Ledger looks on track to score a posthumous Oscar, with Golden Globes voters nominating him for best supporting actor for his striking portrayal of villain The Joker in the latest Batman blockbuster, The Dark Knight.
Ledger's father, Kim, said the late actor's family was "so proud".
"This nomination is deeply appreciated and is not lost on those of us who continue to love and miss him," Kim Ledger told People magazine.
"We are so proud our boy's work is being recognised in this way."
In past years the Golden Globes have been reliable indicators of the coming Oscars.
The failures of Kidman, Jackman and director-screenwriter Luhrmann to win Golden Globe nominations and Australia missing out in the best picture race follows their epic's disappointing box office opening in North American theatres, with the $US130 million ($197.7 million) film making just $US31 million in its crucial first two weeks.
It also highlights Kidman's slide from Hollywood's highest-paid actress in 2007, to her new image of being box office poison after the mediocre opening of Australia and poor results with other recent projects.
Last week a Los Angeles Times columnist declared Kidman was "not a movie star".
Brandon Walters, the 13-year-old star of Australia, also missed out in the supporting actor category.
The best actress in a drama nominations went to: Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married): Angelina Jolie (Changeling); Meryl Streep (Doubt); Kristin Scott Thomas (I've Loved You So Long); and Kate Winslet (Revolutionary Road).
Joining Brad Pitt in the best actor in a film drama category are: Leonardo DiCaprio (Revolutionary Road); Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon); Sean Penn (Milk); and Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler).
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button will compete against Frost/Nixon, The Reader, Slumdog Millionaire and Revolutionary Road for best picture/drama.
Another major snub was Tom Cruise for his new war drama, Valkyrie.
Cruise did pick up a best supporting actor nomination for his hilarious portrayal of an obese, foul-mouthed Hollywood studio executive in Tropic Thunder. Cruise's Tropic Thunder co-star, Robert Downey Jr, who plays an Australian method actor in the comedy, was also nominated in the supporting category.
The Golden Globes also celebrates TV and Griffiths and George will carry the Australian flag at the ceremony.
They will go head-to-head in the supporting actress TV category, with Griffiths nominated for her series Brothers and Sisters and George for In Treatment.
Simon Baker, the new golden child of American TV for his new drama The Mentalist, former Home & Away star Ryan Kwanten for the HBO vampire series True Blood and veteran Anthony LaPaglia, for his long-running crime drama Without a Trace, could not manage nominations.
The Golden Globes winners will be announced at a ceremony in Beverly Hills on January 11.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Actor slices throat on stage in knife mix-up
The character played by Daniel Hoevels was supposed to commit suicide in the drama with a blunt stage weapon but had instead been provided with a real blade.
He collapsed on stage with blood pouring from his neck and the audience started to applaud the spectacular special effects.
It was only when Hoevels, 30, failed to get up to take a bow at Vienna's Burgtheater in Austria that they realised something was wrong.
Now police are investigating their own murder mystery drama – after refusing to rule out the possibility that the stunt may have been an attempt to bump off the actor by a jealous rival.
Police have been told that the knife had been bought at a local store and are asking if props staff forgot to blunt the blade for the performance of Friedrich Schiller's play Mary Stuart, about Mary Queen of Scots.
"The knife even still had the price tag on it," said one shocked police investigator.
The theatre's props manager is understood to have been quizzed by police about the knife, reported Austrian daily Osterreich.
The actor recovered after emergency treatment to his wound at a local hospital and appeared on stage the next night with a bandage around his neck.
"If Hoevels had hit an artery or cut only slightly deeper, he would have died on stage," a doctor said.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Lyricist Tim Rice reflects on his career
Wed Nov 19, 2008 5:55pm EST
By Shannon L. Bowen
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - If you've ever found yourself singing "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina," "A Whole New World," "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" -- or countless other show and pop tunes -- you've sung the words of Tim Rice.
An Oscar-, Tony-, Grammy- and Golden Globe-winning lyricist and author, Rice recently spoke with the Hollywood Reporter.
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: WHICH PROJECT HAVE YOU BEEN THE
MOST EMOTIONALLY INVESTED IN?
Tim Rice: Maybe "Chess" more than some, though it hasn't yet had a particularly successful or satisfactory production in the States yet. The score is pretty well-known, and we recently did a show in London that was very successful. It is, in essence, from personal experience. It's about fairly ordinary people. Most of the things I've been lucky enough to do, there's something I particularly like about them. If I find myself working on a piece that I don't like, I tend to abandon it or lose interest, and it never happens.
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: WHAT'S THE STATUS OF YOUR MOST
RECENT FILM, "NUTCRACKER: THE UNTOLD STORY?"
Rice: It's coming out sometime next year. It's quite fun to work with Tchaikovsky, because he never rings up and complains and says, "Where are the lyrics?"
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: IS IT TRUE THAT "EVITA" WAS
INSPIRED BY SOMETHING YOU HEARD ON THE RADIO?
Rice: Well, it was 1973. We (Rice and then-collaborator Andrew Lloyd Webber) had had some success with "Jesus Christ Superstar," and we hadn't decided what was the ideal way to follow that up. I was driving around, and I was late, trying to find an address in London -- way before (satellite navigation). In fact, if satnav had been invented in 1973, "Evita" would never have been written because I would have found my destination quicker and I would have missed the beginning of this radio program, which was about Eva Peron. I was very intrigued by it ... and the more research I did on this woman, the more I thought she was a very good dramatic subject for a musical. And I guess I was right.
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE GENERAL
DIRECTION OF MUSICAL THEATER TODAY?
Rice: I don't see an awful lot of great new young musical writers on the horizon. Most of the hit shows tend to be brilliantly put together around existing songs or old scores, and certainly in England there isn't anybody young and good coming up with revolutionary or interesting new ideas. Producers, directors and artists are falling back a bit on tried and tested things, either revivals or jukebox musicals, and there isn't a lot around that's absolutely brand-new, or if there is, it's not getting heard.
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: WHY IS THERE A DEARTH OF NEWIDEAS?
Rice: It's very hard to say. It might be that it's very expensive, and producers aren't prepared to take a (chance) on somebody who's unknown. ... Or people maybe start off by trying to be too sophisticated. They want to be Stephen Sondheim the first time out, so they choose quite complex subjects. Musicals need an element of uncertainty about them, which means great sweeping tunes and straightforward story lines. You can have lots of subtleties within them, but the basic thing has to be much less pretentious than a lot of people think.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
http://www.reuters.com/article/musicNews/idUSTRE4AI8U620081119
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Nolan no slam dunk for sequel
Mon, December 8, 2008
By BRUCE KIRKLAND
LOS ANGELES -- Christopher Nolan will still not commit to another Batman movie, despite the staggering $996 million The Dark Knight has generated in worldwide box office.
On the eve of tomorrow's launch of The Dark Knight on DVD, the London-born director waffled on directing a third Batman. The issue came up in Nolan's Q&A before a special, DVD-related screening here in L.A.
"I had not intended to do a second film when we had done Batman Begins," Nolan said of sequelizing. "The reason we made it (The Dark Knight) is that we got interested in where the story could go."
By "we" Nolan is referring to himself, as director and co-writer; to his brother Jonathan Nolan, co-writer on Dark Knight; and to his wife Emma Thomas, co-producer of both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.
Nolan said "the process of figuring out whether there would be a third film and what that would be" involves a renewed effort to come up with a story that would excite him as much as Dark Knight did.
"We haven't held anything back for future films for purposes of a franchise. We've really just tried to put everything we wanted these characters to do into the story. So we'll have to try to figure out whether there is somewhere it has to go." Rumours include casting Johnny Depp as The Riddler and Philip Seymour Hoffman as The Penguin, although Hoffman discredited the notion and Nolan downplayed Penguin possibilities if he did direct.
While Nolan is still iffy, Warner Bros. bosses are not. Executives hope to get another Batman in theatres by 2011. Gary Oldman (Commissioner Gordon) reportedly said he is confident Nolan will return. Christian Bale (Batman/Bruce Wayne) has indicated he would reprise his role if Nolan directs.
http://www.edmontonsun.com/Entertainment/MovieNews/2008/12/08/7667711-sun.html
By BRUCE KIRKLAND
LOS ANGELES -- Christopher Nolan will still not commit to another Batman movie, despite the staggering $996 million The Dark Knight has generated in worldwide box office.
On the eve of tomorrow's launch of The Dark Knight on DVD, the London-born director waffled on directing a third Batman. The issue came up in Nolan's Q&A before a special, DVD-related screening here in L.A.
"I had not intended to do a second film when we had done Batman Begins," Nolan said of sequelizing. "The reason we made it (The Dark Knight) is that we got interested in where the story could go."
By "we" Nolan is referring to himself, as director and co-writer; to his brother Jonathan Nolan, co-writer on Dark Knight; and to his wife Emma Thomas, co-producer of both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.
Nolan said "the process of figuring out whether there would be a third film and what that would be" involves a renewed effort to come up with a story that would excite him as much as Dark Knight did.
"We haven't held anything back for future films for purposes of a franchise. We've really just tried to put everything we wanted these characters to do into the story. So we'll have to try to figure out whether there is somewhere it has to go." Rumours include casting Johnny Depp as The Riddler and Philip Seymour Hoffman as The Penguin, although Hoffman discredited the notion and Nolan downplayed Penguin possibilities if he did direct.
While Nolan is still iffy, Warner Bros. bosses are not. Executives hope to get another Batman in theatres by 2011. Gary Oldman (Commissioner Gordon) reportedly said he is confident Nolan will return. Christian Bale (Batman/Bruce Wayne) has indicated he would reprise his role if Nolan directs.
http://www.edmontonsun.com/Entertainment/MovieNews/2008/12/08/7667711-sun.html
Heath Ledger's chances of Oscar glory increase after US award
PETA HELLARD in LOS ANGELES
December 09, 2008 10:20am
HEATH Ledger's chances of Oscar glory increased significantly today after the late actor earned his first posthumous US award.
Hot on the heels of Ledger being named best actor award by the Australian Film Institute on the weekend for his performance as The Joker in Batman film The Dark Knight, the Perth-raised screen star was announced as winner of the best supporting actor category by the Washington DC Film Critics Association this morning.
The win for the actor, who died in January from an accidental overdose of prescription medication, came as the Hollywood awards season kicks off properly this week, with nominations for the annual Golden Globes awards to be revealed on Friday (Australian time).
The biggest winner in the Washington DC Film Critics Association annual awards was independent movie Slumdog Millionaire, which won best film, best director for Danny Boyle, best adapted screenplay and best Breakthrough performance for teenage star Dev Patel.
In the acting categories, Mickey Rourke was named best actor for his comeback vehicle The Wrestler, Meryl Streep won best actress for drama Doubt and Rosemarie DeWitt was named best supporting actress for independent film Rachel Getting Married.
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,24773265-5006343,00.html
December 09, 2008 10:20am
HEATH Ledger's chances of Oscar glory increased significantly today after the late actor earned his first posthumous US award.
Hot on the heels of Ledger being named best actor award by the Australian Film Institute on the weekend for his performance as The Joker in Batman film The Dark Knight, the Perth-raised screen star was announced as winner of the best supporting actor category by the Washington DC Film Critics Association this morning.
The win for the actor, who died in January from an accidental overdose of prescription medication, came as the Hollywood awards season kicks off properly this week, with nominations for the annual Golden Globes awards to be revealed on Friday (Australian time).
The biggest winner in the Washington DC Film Critics Association annual awards was independent movie Slumdog Millionaire, which won best film, best director for Danny Boyle, best adapted screenplay and best Breakthrough performance for teenage star Dev Patel.
In the acting categories, Mickey Rourke was named best actor for his comeback vehicle The Wrestler, Meryl Streep won best actress for drama Doubt and Rosemarie DeWitt was named best supporting actress for independent film Rachel Getting Married.
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,24773265-5006343,00.html
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