Andrew Lloyd Webber is hellbent on composing a sequel to his musical “Phantom of the Opera”. He hopes to have the musical done by 2009, and he’s already got a name – “Phantom: Love Never Dies”, which sounds vaguely like a James Bond movie. People are already rushing to cast the soon-to-be musical, and the two names that keep popping up are Aussie Hugh Jackman and Scotsman Gerard Butler.
Butler played The Phantom in the 2004 film version, singing with a rock n’ roll kind of voice. He sounded a little bit like the lead singer of Nickelback, Chad Kroeger. Hugh Jackman has more of a “musical theatre” kind of voice, probably because that’s his background. One of Jackman’s big breaks was in a theatre production of “Oklahoma” and he won a Tony several years ago for his Broadway role in “The Boy From Oz”.
Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber says the long awaited sequel to “Phantom of the Opera” should be ready at the end of 2009, with a possible simultaneous opening on three continents. Lloyd Webber told The Times of London that he hopes the new musical, to be called “Phantom: Love Never Dies,” will open in New York, London and possibly Shanghai or another Asian city.
“We’ve been into the feasibility of rehearsing three companies at once and opening very fast in the three territories,” he said. “The one which really interests me would be China. I think to open ‘Love Never Dies’ in Shanghai would be an enormous thing.”
He said the locale of the celebrated musical will be switched from the Paris Opera to New York’s Coney Island. The sequel will be set about 10 years after the original, which has been seen by approximately 80 million theatergoers in 124 cities worldwide.
And who will play the Phantom? Lloyd Webber is keeping that secret for now. “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.
[From the Associated Press Hosted by Google]
Honestly, I think Jackman has a better chance at it. He’s proven beyond a reasonable doubt that he’s at home in musical theatre, whereas Gerard Butler bombed big time as The Phantom. I’ve also got money on Jackman throwing around some song-and-dance numbers as host of the 2009 Oscar ceremony, so perhaps Andrew Lloyd Webber will be watching and plotting for The Phantom’s next incarnation. The only downside is that whichever hottie gets cast, half of their face will be covered.
Picture note by JayBird: Here’s Hugh Jackman playing with his family at Hudson River Park in New York City on Sunday. Images thanks to WENN.
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