Good news for Theatre fans came recently when Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber announced on his official website that he would indeed be writing a sequel to the hit show ‘The Phantom of the Opera' and that it would be set in New York. Rumours had been flying around about this for the past few months and I'm sure I'm not the only one excited by the prospect of this confirmation. I wanted to write a piece about this as Theatre is a form of entertainment that is very close to my heart. Ever since I was a little girl I have loved theatre shows, especially musicals. Phantom of the Opera is the first one I ever saw live on stage at Her Majesty's Theatre in London. I was instantly mesmerised by the dramatic effects and beautiful songs and I have travelled to London's West End ever since to see various other shows at every opportunity.

The Phantom of the Opera was originally written by Andrew Lloyd Webber with the role of Christine designed to be played by his then wife, the talented Opera singer Sarah Brightman. She was the first (and arguably best) Christine and starred opposite actor Michael Crawford for the shows premier run. It has enjoyed great success in the UK and theatres worldwide ever since, and in 2004 the much anticipated movie version of ‘Phantom of the Opera' was released. Now, I know a lot of fans were disappointed with the way the movie turned out and I'd be interested to find out which bits you felt let down by and which bits you loved.

For me, I loved Gerard Butler as the Phantom and thought Emmy Rossum did a brilliant job of playing Christine, but I feel that Minnie Drivers portrayal of the diva Carlotta could have been better. It was a shame that she didn't get to sing the part herself, and am I alone in thinking that if the producers weren't going to let her put her voice to it maybe they should have cast someone they felt could both sing and act the part. Don't get me wrong, I do love Minnie Driver and usually she's a great actress but I think this part just felt wrong for her.

Or is that just me?... I do however think that over all they did the right thing by turning the show into a movie, it can surely only help attract more people to the wonder of musicals, and theatre in general and for those who aren't able to get to the theatre to see the show live, I guess it's the next best thing. I could sit here and nit pick about it of course, as there were several annoyances such as various lines being spoken that were originally intended to be sung etc, but the transition from theatre to movie is a hard one to make and I feel that it could have been a lot worse. Anyways, back to ‘The Phantom of the Opera 2' or whatever it will eventually be called. ‘Phantom 2 - Lost in New York' maybe? Catchy!! (Nah, I'm just kidding.) I'm really excited by the prospect of this new show, and I anticipate that tickets are going to be booked up months in advance, but I do wonder if it's possible to live up to such a brilliant piece of writing and musical score as the original. I suppose if anyone can do it Andrew Lloyd Webber can! I'll keep you all informed of more news as details are released but in the meantime let me know what you think about the sequel and your own personal views on the movie.