Phantom Sequel Love Never Dies to Be Filmed

Musical theater titan Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies, a sequel to his West End and Broadway juggernaut The Phantom of the Opera, will be given everlasting life on film, according to the New York Times.

Love Never Dies continues the story of the Phantom, who has moved from his lair in the Paris Opera House to haunt the fairgrounds of Coney Island, far across the Atlantic. Set 10 years after the mysterious disappearance of the Phantom from Paris, the show is described as a rollercoaster ride of obsession and intrigue.

The musical, directed by Jack O’Brien and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, had its world premiere at the West End’s Adelphi Theatre on February 22, 2010, starring Sierra Boggess and Ramin Karimloo. That production was revised and re-reviewed, but is slated to close on August 27, 2011. An Australian production of the show, with a different creative team attached, opened to warm reviews at the Regent Theatre in Melbourne in May 2011. With Broadway plans uncertain, it will be the Australian production that will be filmed for distribution on DVD.

“I think that we’re all realistic," Lloyd Webber said of filming the show, "and I think with the baggage that it’s got, it might be better to just let it be discovered.” 

Though Love Never Dies may not make its way to Broadway any time soon, Lloyd Webber may still be well-represented on the Great White Way. A Des McAnuff-helmed production of his Jesus Christ Superstar, currently running at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Canada, is rumored to be heading for Broadway, while Lloyd Webber is said to be considering a transfer of his production of The Wizard of Oz, currently running on the West End. A highly anticipated revival of his Evita, starring Ricky Martin and Elena Roger, is slated to arrive in spring 2012.