Peanut Butter and Phantoms

Jif knows my peanut butter needs.  In May, a kind soul sent me a family size jar of Jif peanut butter.  I'm still not to the bottom.  (And I'm an huge fan of peanut butter!)  This doesn't connect really with the rest of this post, but to make a long story short, I just got a snack of an apple and peanut butter before sitting down to write, which is what prompted the praise of peanut butter.  (I didn't even plan that alliteration!)

Last night three friends and I went to see Love Never Dies.  It is Andrew Lloyd Webber's sequel to the Phantom of the Opera.  It has not been as popular as the Phantom of the Opera, and the show is actually closing this month.  Perhaps partly because of that, I was able to find discounted tickets and the four of us travelled to the Adelphi Theatre on the Strand.  

We snapped this picture before being scolded by the somewhat grumpy usher.  To be fair though, he had been watching us for a while and I'm sure he knew what we were doing.  I think he let us get away with the picture before telling us that we weren't to take pictures.  

And the music started.  Ramin Karimloo, the Phantom, has an incredible voice.  His voice made the show for me.  The story continues, starting ten years after the end of the Phantom of the Opera.  It takes place in New York, mostly on Coney Island.  (The American accents were atrocious, by the way).  The story is that Madame Giry and her daughter Meg were able to save the Phantom from the destruction of the Opera House in Paris and smuggled him to New York.  In New York, he started a show called Phantasma on Coney Island.  Christine and Raoul arrive in New York with their son, Gustave, expecting Christine to be preforming at the Manhattan Opera House.  Instead, they are unknowningly redirected to Coney Island by the Phantom.  The Phantom has composed an aria especially for Christine and the story unfolds from there...

I have loved the story of the Phantom of the Opera for years.  Somehow, and I honestly don't remember how, I got a copy of the soundtrack on cd while still living in Southern Africa.  Perhaps my parents gave it to me as a gift or else I just came across it in a catalog (I loved musicals) and decided to order it.  That CD was my introduction to the Phantom.  My parents took four of us to see the Broadway production for my twenty first birthday.  I was captivated.  My dad fell asleep.   How do you sleep through the Phantom of the Opera??????  To each their own, indeed.

Sadly, I don't think Gaston Leroux had an inkling of how famous his story would become.  It was published initially in 1909 but it wasn't really popular until it was adapted for films and theatre productions. 

Love Never Dies isn't as good as Phantom of the Opera, but really, I'm not sure any attempt to match the story could be successful.  The songs were good though and the cast was very talented.  I've been listening to the soundtrack all day while I work!  Admittedly, I've been listening mostly to "Til I hear you sing" and "Love Never Dies" the most. The story does have an element that I appreciate.  There is an interesting paradox in the question of beauty.  Raoul is the handsome character, but throughout the show, his nature is revealed to be quite selfish and dark.  In one song, he sings, "Beneath this mask I wear..." recognizing that he wears a mask as well.  The Phantom is the one rejected by society for his appearance and yet he has a deep appreciation for beauty and mystery.  In one song, Christine teaches her son to see the beautiful by looking with his heart, not his eyes.  

After the show, we went a few blocks further to the Haagen Dazs Cafe and had a sugary treat to finish off our evening.  It is a fantastic thing when there is a sit-down restaurant devoted to ice cream.  

I met my match for sugar last night.  I had a waffle with two scoops of ice cream, one of dulce de leche and one of chocolate chocolate chip.  I couldn't finish it.  It was incredible though!  All in all, a wonderful night.