Gleeful Phantom

High schools can now apply for the rights to Phantom of the Opera — even if the technical demands are steep.

Bobo can scarcely credit the rumors that the high school version of Lord Webber's musical has been re-set, not underneath the Paris Opera, but underneath the gym floor at William McKinley High School — or that the Phantom herself now bears a strong resemblance to Jane Lynch as Sue Sylvester.

Phantom 2

Lord Webber will open the long-awaited sequel, Love Never Dies, in March 2010 in London and the following November in New York.

Love Never Dies

... and apparently, neither do profitable musicals.
Lord Webber will reportedly open his sequel -- *Phantom: Love Never Dies* -- in three cities on three continents late in 2009.
Bobo made a mistake of omission in his October salivation over *Phantom* by not including a review.
So here's what I really think: Lovely melodies and (by theatrical standards, at least) great special effects. (And those two things are not to be sneezed at: ALW can write a tune, and the live, in-theater experience is impressive.)
But as Aristotle said, plot and character, blah, blah ... and that's where *Phantom* falls apart. Of the three main characters, two are flat and uninteresting, and the title guy is simply creepy. I mean, he's a stalker.
The plot's silly, and the Charles Hart/Richard Stilgoe lyrics frequently just make your eyes roll.
So do we REALLY need Phantom to show up 10 years later ... at Coney Island?
Well, that's where the freaks went ...