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On Respecting Andrew Lloyd Webber's Holy Opinion...
In discussing the new Phantom movie, some people who love it have attempted to blast fans with less positive opinions by telling them that Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote it and approved the cast, so we should like it. After all, he created the great musical we love. Here's a little lesson in compare and contrast. Peter Jackson, director of the Lord of the Rings films, to the Lord of the Rings Fans: "One of the things that really motivated us was we're absolutely terrified of letting you guys down." Now that's a man who respects the fans and the input they have. Andrew Lloyd Webber? He sat down with Frederick Forsyth a few years ago to create a sequel to Phantom. A sequel to a story in which the Phantom dies at the end of the original novel, which necessarily involves completely changing the original author's story and characters. A sequel where Christine has the Phantom's baby, and the Phantom dresses up as a clown. Lloyd Webber said that Forsyth's book, which was trashed by fans and critics alike, "captures the spirit and style of Gaston Leroux's novel, and the romance and thrills." Captures the spirit and style of the novel? In his introduction to the novel, Forsyth starts by trashing Leroux's original, and saying he got the ages of his own characters wrong. I'm sorry, but we're supposed to respect this nonsense? In contrast to Jackson, Joel Schumacher said of fans who felt he should have cast someone who had already proven themselves in the role, and could actually sing (such as the fans who wanted Michael Crawford to be cast), "maybe they should stay home then..." (moviehole 05/22/03) That's how much respect they have for the fans who helped make the Phantom of the Opera the international phenomenon that it is. Fans who have seen the stage show as many as 300 times, who have travelled the world seeing it, who have spent thousands on merchandise and theatre tickets. Fans who have created hundreds of websites, run fan clubs and written newsletters and fanzines, who love the story and the characters as well as the music and musical. Fans who have certainly come to know the story and its characters better than anyone who could actually endorse a piece of rubbish like Forsyth's sequel. After Lord of the Rings: Return of the King swept the Oscars, Peter Jackson said there was only one party he wanted to go to - the party held by One Ring .net, the fans who had supported him from the beginning. When Phantom of the Opera celebrated its 10th anniversary in London, fans who had bought tickets were told they were not valid. The international Phantom fan club was given no information on how fans might attend. The after-show party was cast, crew and employees only, and no special events were held for fans (unlike the Livent produced show in Toronto, which regularly held special events for fans on its anniversaries). Fans only got access to the Broadway 10th after over a year of letter-writing and pressure organized by the Phantom of the Opera magazine. Andrew Lloyd Webber lost any credibility when he collaborated on the sequel, so listing him in support of the changes the movie makes to the characters and story hardly holds up. Which people who have been fans of Phantom for any time shouldn't need telling.
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