Is it just me, or is this a terrible idea?

Yeah, I'm going to spend a few minutes here talking about musicals. I've seen Phantom of the Opera a few times now, and I'll tell you I enjoy it. The story's excellent, the humor is sparse but perfect and the music will never leave your head. Now how can we tarnish this legacy?

You can always make a movie, but they already did that. The good news is that it didn't bother anybody. Bad news is, it didn't help anyone. Really, it wasn't bad enough to do lasting damage to Webber's reputation.

So in the great tradition of Caddyshack, Webber's giving us a sequel that nobody asked for and the bits he has mentioned ensure that fans of Phantom will leave the auditorium embarrassed for having expected anything worth seeing. Even the title, Love Never Dies, bears no connection to the original show. Probably at the request of the original investors' attorneys.

Here's the short story of the original. Girl loves boy. Monster loves girl. Monster steals girl, then loses her. Angry mob chases monster. It's a story as old as time, but done with such passion that every person who sees it sympathizes with the Phantom and is hoping he gets his happy ending (not like a massage parlor type).

Now it's 10 years later. And the Phantom is either in charge of the music hall or a freak (depending on which article you read) but that isn't important. The show is set in Coney Island. And just like all sitcoms, suddenly the whole cast has left France and is in Brooklyn now. That should be enough to convince anyone that ALW's out of ideas, when you're looking to Laverne & Shirley for inspiration.

Now if this thing turns out to be anything but crap, I'll sit here and tell you I was wrong. In fact, I'd love to tell you I'm wrong and that this thing is a tribute and a necessary piece to what will surely be a Phantom trilogy. But something tells me I'll never have to type that post. It could be that Broadway sequels have never succeeded. And sequels slapped on the end of the success years and years after the original typically feel desperate and are hated and then ignored by fans. Wouldn't be surprised to see it happen here too.