There's a very mixed reaction to this new musical as there always is to anything by ALW. There's been a very silly dog in the manger online campaign got up by some people who insist since the Phantom died in the book he can't come back in ALW's musical. But in the musical Phantom he didn't die and even if he did, hey it's fiction and showbusiness, they can do what they like for fun! Get over it!
I saw it in preview last week. It earned gasps at the ending, women burst into tears and the audience gave it a prolongued standing ovation. This was not the premiere, this was the theatre-going general public.
The score, the orchestration, the singing and some of the performances are all fabulous. There are some good tunes, 2 great ones and a wonderful theme.
However, the first half struggles with clumsy writing and dud plotting by Ben Elton , the character of the Phantom can't get established and doesn't work at this point with Ramin unable to act his way out of it, while Raoul is turned into a ghastly snob, when it would work much better if we liked, agreed and empathised with him.
But it really takes off in the second act. Sierra Bogges as Christine sings the title song at a pivotal moment in the action and is absolutely electrifying. From here the show rushes to a huge, climactic ending. Some people don't like the end: they find it staged and dragged out, but as an opera goer I am used to this sort of tableau performance and I loved it. My partner and those around us were all shocked and stunned by the ending, it came out of the blue.
It's not as good as Phantom - what could be - but that's yet. I saw Sunset Boulevard when it opened and it was also a very weak start. ALW pulled it after 3 months, rejigged the book and it came back as a huge success. I think he'll do the same here.
