So, after reading all the buzz about the Phantom of the Opera sequel, "Love Never Dies," on the Daily Mail's website, I got curious and decided to do some research. If my great scholarly resource (Wikipedia) is to be believed, we should all be very concerned about Andrew Lloyd Webber's sanity. The whole thing is basically one really, really bad fan fiction. In fact, I'm almost certain that's where ALW got the entire libretto from.
The Plot:
The Phantom, now called Mr. Y, has now managed to control Coney Island, and invites Christine Daaé to sing there. Yes, Coney Island. I get the freak show connection, but going from the Paris Opera House to an amusement park? How the mighty have fallen, along with Webber's standards. (Oh, wait, nevermind...)
And OF COURSE, almost all the old characters from the original musical are there. Meg Giry is now the "Ooh La La Girl." Super classy. It wouldn't be nearly as bad, except for the fact that this musical also starts in the same format -Madame Giry being creepy and reminiscing about the good old times, and then we get transported back to all the Phantom action. Completely not overdone at all...
So Christine, Raoul (who's now some ne'er-do-well drunkard and spendthrift), and their kid show up so she can perform in the ever classy music joint that is Brooklyn. But omigoodness, it's not Raoul's kid. Even though at the end of the first musical the Phantom disappears and Christine and Raoul row off singing about their love for each other, the Phantom and Christine have an illicit affair right before her wedding day. Because she wasn't terrified of him at all earlier when he was killing off people left and right in order to control her.
Turns out Meg Giry is superjealous of the Phantom's love for Christine, and so she kidnaps the kid and tries to drown him, and accidentally shoots Christine. Christine dies, and the Phantom and his kid embrace.
SERIOUSLY.
Some fat, greasy 14 year old who spends 20 hours a day online has to be behind this. I mean, I've lost faith in modern musical theatre already, but this is a new low.