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Canberra Today 25°/28° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Phantom pregnancy hits the right note

THE latest Andrew Lloyd Webber musical to hit Australia, “Love Never Dies”, is not just the “Return of the Phantom”, but it’s “Son of the Phantom”, too.

In a double-whammy, Lloyd Webber’s sequel reveals that the tormented Phantom of the Opera has been spirited away to the glitter of Coney Island where, 10 years later, he is a successful entrepreneur.

Meantime, the love of his life, diva Christine, has given birth to a son displaying a musical talent that he could not possibly have got from her drunken husband, Raoul.

According to Lloyd Webber’s Asia Pacific producer and managing director, Tim McFarlane, the production of “Love Never Dies” is “like our child”. McFarlane can justly make that claim, because the Australian stage production, reworked by Lloyd Webber in conjunction with Melbourne director Simon Phillips, has rescued a dismal show from the dust heap in London and breathed new life into it. The new version is tighter by 15 to 20 minutes.

“We need to get through the Sydney season,” McFarlane told me, but a spectacular DVD is to be released in February that will become the production’s international calling card.

Ben Lewis, who plays the Phantom, is one of Australia’s brightest young singers. A graduate of the WA Academy of Performing Arts, he is the son of Opera Australia star baritone Michael Lewis. His younger brother is currently understudying the original Phantom while playing Raoul and his mother teaches at WAAPA.

“We spent a lot of time on the ending,” Lewis tells me, “going through various permutations to resolve it.” He won’t say more, but I’ve heard the whole show on CD, so I know.

In McFarlane’s opinion, the women in the audience were always more turned on by the Phantom. To Lewis, it’s as if he inhabits the role –

“I’ve been lusting after power and riches, but it’s really Christine who inspires me… now I’m forced to connect with people.”

Even so, his relationship with Christine remains confrontational. The Phantom, in bi-polar fashion, “flicks” from volatile to benign, shown musically.

Here’s the spoiler. The sequel reveals that from a weird night of passion immediately preceding Christine’s marriage to Raoul, the Phantom becomes a father.

Back in character, Lewis tells me: “I like to think I’d make a terrific father… there is hope; the boy is the perfect version of what I could have been.”

“Love Never Dies” by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Capitol Theatre, Sydney from January 12 until further notice. Bookings to 1300 723038.

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Helen Musa

Helen Musa

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