Phantom2 - Love Never Dies

Sequels are hard. And Phantom is definitely a tough act to follow. I didnt realised how much I like the original until I see Phantom2, Love Never Dies.

The first 15mins was horrible, partly because expectations were sky-high going in, but also because its has just plain boring music and overdone video/projection graphics. The musical did got better; and second act was better than first.

The plot was melodrama-ish, very Korean soap like. But there are touching moments, esp towards the end. Intro of the child character (Christine's son) helps bring some new chemistry. But cant help but think as (in general) scriptwriters or directors get old, its harder for them to just write about passion and love; inevitably elements of family come in.

There's a few solid, memorable scores, but nothing like the original Phantom. There's a lot more projection, video; the set was trying to hard to impress but failed, and there's no more falling chandelier and boat punting that impressed audience so much in the original.

But still recommendable - its just like SNTC. Even with all the poor reviews, you'd still go, because, its like catching up with old friends.