Phantom of the opera the current longest running musical on Broadway, will a sequel ruin it's reputation?
Phantom of the Opera is based on a 1911 novel, Le Fantome de l'Opera, written by French author Gaston Leroux. Leroux based the novel on his own research into strange events that occurred at the Paris Opera House in the 1880s. Though the novel was not widely read or well reviewed in its own time, the adaptation of Phantom to both screen and stage has familiarized the public with this haunting love story. http://www.ehow.co.uk/about_4569129_facts-phantom-opera.html?cr=1
After almost 22 years and more than 9,000 performances, “The Phantom of the Opera” at the Majestic Theater is the longest-running show on Broadway. Joe Brescia, 2009, “Longest-Running Show on Broadway Is Usher at ‘Phantom’ Theater”, The New York Times, [online] 12 October, pA21. Available from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/12/nyregion/12bus.html?scp=1&sq=phantom%20of%20the%20opera&st=cse [accessed 20th November 2009]
It is believed that reliable facts and figures from http://www.thephantomoftheopera.com/ shows that "It is estimated that Phantom has been seen by more than 100 million people worldwide having been played in no fewer than 14 languages. The show has won over 50 major theatre awards including three Olivier Awards, the most recent being the 2002 Oliver Audience Award for Most Popular Show, an Evening Standard Award, seven Tony Awards including Best Musical, seven Drama Desk Awards and three Outer Critic Circle Awards".
This alone argues why the curtains at the Majestic theatre should remain open, not to mention the vast amount of audiences Phantom has performed to but “The musical is also the most successful entertainment venture of all time, with worldwide box office takings of more than $3.2bn (£1.8bn)” http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4594084.stm
Andrew Lloyd Webber (22 March 1948) one of the wealthiest and most successful composers of all time is yet again the man behind the music “The Oscar-winning composer of some of the most successful British musicals of all time” Kunal, D, and Peck, T, 2009, “ I have cancer says Lloyd Webber”, The Independent, [online] 26 October, Available from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/i-have-cancer-says-lloyd-webber-1809423.html [accessed 24th November 2009] which for me raises the question “Is it Andrew Lloyd Webber keeping Phantom alive” or is “ Love never dies” keeping Webber alive after he was regrettably diagnosed with prostate cancer in November this year.
One thing for sure is Phantoms success on paper sounds far from the final curtain, but for how long now the landmark musical is faced by its sequel “Love never dies” which opens at the Adelphi Theatre on 9th March 2010. The production set 10 years from Phantom and far from the Paris Opera House Christine and Raoul are now in Coney Island. Webber based the story on all the original characters after taking advice from Ben Elton (3 May 1959) “Elton is currently working with Andrew Lloyd Webber on the sequel to his 1986 blockbuster The Phantom of the Opera entitled Phantom: Love Never Dies” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Elton
“In a move that some theatre experts have described as "risky", Lloyd Webber will also attempt to make history by staging the first successful sequel to a musical anywhere in the world. All previous bids to repeat the triumph of original productions have failed miserably” Nikkhah, R, 2009, “Andrew Lloyd Webber attempts to make history with Phantom of the Opera sequel” The Telegraph [online], 04 October, available from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-news/6257769/Andrew-Lloyd-Webber-attempts-to-make-history-with-Phantom-of-the-Opera-sequel.html [accessed date 25th November 2009]
Andrew Lloyd Webber also admits to saying that “Love Never Dies” has been in the making for seventeen years and “The story of Christine and the Phantom didn’t really end” http://www.loveneverdies.com/?video=lnd-launch-edit#video
Maybe the sequel will celebrate the life and success of Phantom, only time will tell, and with Phantoms track record, it could be years.
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This is a well written academic piece of writing, with your quotes integrated well into your prose.You back up your argument well with the box office figures and you have selected quotes that back up your arument however do be careful with the sources that you quote. I have noticed that you have sourced Wikepedia as a reference, this is not a factual encyclopeadia, any member of the public can publish information on Wikepedia whether it is backed up by fact or whether it is a complete fabrication. It is not considered a credible source in academic circles and therefore I suggest that you find another source here to quote the work that Webber and Elton are doing. (Tip: look at the references at the bottom of the Wikepedia page, look at them and you may be able to find a quote there, and then quote this resource instead then you have a credible resource). Also think about your range of resources at the moment they are all website based, think back to our previous tasks!
ReplyDeleteThis is a well written piece of work, you have constructed your prose well, just think about your resources.
I very much enjoyed reading this blog.
ReplyDeleteAt first I assumed the piece was "academic" as you used so many facts and figures in the writing. However as I continued to read I felt it became more opinionated later in the piece, when you stated some of your own personal opinions, making me wonder if the piece was "descriptive".
I'm not sure that the fact Andrew Lloyd Webber has prostate cancer is relevent to the piece. It seemed an unrelated point to the question in the title.
I think the layout of the piece worked well - talking about the success of the musical and discussing where The Phantom of the Opera originated from, and then explaining how the sequel could jepodise its future success and longevody.
I hope this helps!
Thankyou both for your comments they do help and I am appreciative of them. I will certainly take them into consideration.
ReplyDeleteMelissa- I do have to look into sources that are not all taken from the internet and I have sorted myself a library card to get some quotes from books. I will also take your advice and change my source from Wikepedia to something else that is reliable.
Laura commented on me mentioning Webber and his diagnosis of cancer, do you agree with her that it is un-related to the piece? I wrote this as I used a source from the internet that was called “I have cancer says Lloyd Webber” so I mentioned it so people would know that it was unfortunately true that he was diagnosed with cancer this month. What do you think? Also do you think this piece is on the verge of descriptive writing?
Laura
Thanks for the comments, I am struggling to find where you think I have been opinionated so if you could give me an example then I can change it. I personally do think that it’s far from descriptive as after reading my descriptive piece of writing so if you can explain why you think it is it would make it easier for me to understand and back up your comment.
I wrote the fact about Andrew Lloyd Webber been diagnosed with cancer because in my source from the independent paper title was “I have cancer says Lloyd Webber” so as I thought people would raise questions about this title so I confirmed it in text. I also wrote it as when researching Webber his diagnosis is the main headline.
Thankyou for your thoughts, when I first thought about this piece I was going to write about Phantom on it’s own, however many conversations and questions have taken place about his new sequel, so I thought that I would put it into practice.
Hi Abbi,
ReplyDeleteI apologise because having re read the piece I agree with you in that it clearly is "academic".
I think all your points are clearly set out and that it is a very intelligent piece of writing.
I still wonder whether to include the section on cancer, however I now understand why you included it.
LB
Hi Abbi,
ReplyDeleteI think this is an excellent piece of academic writting. I found it a really intersting read.You have heavily researched this piece using references through out. When reading the piece I felt that mentioning Webbers diagnosis of cancer "I have cancer says Lloyd Webber”, stuck out and didn’t fit in. In my personal opinion I didn’t feel it necessary to mention. I can see why you have mentioned it, as I have learnt about his diagnosis through your work. But for me it didn’t suit the rest of the text.
The order and layout have worked really well. Knowing that this is the style yourself and most of us are least familiar with you have done really well creating an interesting piece.
Danielle
After reading the comments from you Laura and Danielle I have decided to take your advice and remove the cancer text. There was a reason why I did it and I know you both know that, but after thinking about it more it is not related to the piece and isn’t a comfortable subject to have talked about. So thanks for helping with the decision.
ReplyDeleteLaura no need to apologise, I understand that at first something can appear to be different, it isn’t until we look again that we realise what something is, I have made that mistake many times, even when reading peoples blogs I think something is what its not. I did the same thing when commenting on Michelle Wallbanks marketing piece.
I found this piece the hardest so for you to say that “it’s a very intelligent piece of writing” is extremely flattering so thank you very much.
Danielle, thank you, your comments make it all worth while, it was the hardest for me and the feedback has given me a sense of relief as I have done the hardest piece and only have a little tweaking to do. Melissa said that all my sources all from the internet so I am going to change some to quotes from books and then hopefully it will be final.
Thanks again, I welcome any more comments
Abbi
Hello Abbi
ReplyDeleteI think thats a good choice to remove the cancer statement. It has created a little debate on this blog :) interesting.
I have had a look at the way you have referenced on this piece and understand what you mean about my referencing (or lack of). Do you think it is nessasary to gain references from books? Will it made your piece better to have equal references from books and the internet? I understand it will show you have looked into recieving references from different sources. What do you think?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteYes I am glad I did it. I just wanted to say it wasn’t meant to be offensive or ignorant I really wrote it because it was part of my quote.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you have mentioned my referencing, I think that I have used many references throughout my piece, and no I personally don’t think it matters that they are from the internet. I see it as yes I have only used the internet, but I have used the internet to look at The Stage, newspapers such as The Independent and the Telegraph, Google, what might have been on the TV and Wikipedia (that I need to change as Melissa told me it’s not a reliable source.) I have looked at books on the internet and chose not to use them as they don’t give me enough details to reference them properly.
I have used the internet as it’s the way forward. You can access everything you need on the internet and with the lack of time due to being very busy I have not had much time to go to the library and look at books, therefore I had to think about other sources. Melissa did mention I should look back at previous tasks and think she is referring to Task A our resources task, I have that’s why I have used the internet, Google and the stage. These were the most popular resources everyone used. I could have used a real newspaper but unfortunately I don’t collect them to look back through to see if there happened to be anything about Andrew Lloyd Webber in it. I also don’t read the paper therefore I researched the newspapers on-line as you can backdate them for information. Just because I sat at home to do it doesn’t mean it should be perceived as not a strong piece of work due to quotes only from the net.
Also what happens if you are in a foreign country where they don’t have English libraries and accessing other sources are difficult?
Do I think it will make my work better, nope, but I know that other people as well as Melissa will say that I should use other resources; in fact my mum said it. I respect their comments but maybe after reading why I have used the net might make them wonder if it actually makes any difference to the quality of the work.
Do you think that after reading this that it’s still important to use sources that are not from the internet?
I actually wrote those questions to you beacause I believe that using the internet is the best resourse. I did read Melissa's comment's and didn't agree that you needed to get resourses from books. I cant't see how it would make your work better?
ReplyDeleteAs for me being in Oz and others not in an english speaking country it is very difficult to get other resourses. Also it is very hard and a long process to search for information. When it can be much quicker to use the internet and get information from newspapers etc. In many ocassions the information is the same. Like the newspapers, you have access to news from years back by having the internet.
Who has time to work to a degree and look through their collection of newspapers?
Hey i replied to this on my debate blog. Think we might have started something here!!!
ReplyDeleteHows OZ i go to Sydney on the 19th xxx