NY Times theater critic Ben Brantley flew to London with his claws out to see the premiere of the sequel to Phantom of the Opera, and his bitchy pan doesn't disappoint. Set in Coney Island and titled Love Never Dies, the production is such a pretentious, boring mess that Andrew Lloyd Webber "might as well have a 'kick me' sign pasted to his backside... This poor sap of a show feels as eager to be walloped as a clown in a carnival dunking booth." But be AWARE; this isn't just London's problem: The spectacle is slated to open on Broadway in November, at which point we can look forward to more satisfying critical derision—with any luck the reviews will be as entertaining as the scathing Young Frankenstein pans of 2007! more ›

When news broke two weeks ago that Andrew Lloyd Webber had set his hotly-dreaded Phantom of the Opera sequel in Coney Island circa 1919, the AP quoted Webber saying, "[Coney Island] was the eighth wonder of the world. Think of Vegas and then triple it." But the wire service left out the best and most controversial part of that quote, and some Coney Island locals have been insulted a little bit. more ›

Like awaiting the results of a biopsy, we've been dreading the release of further details about Andrew Lloyd Webber's plans to write a sequel to classy Broadway blockbuster The Phantom of the Opera. Webber announced his diabolical plan back in 2007, but suffered a setback when his new kitten destroyed all the music he'd written! But not even the selfless heroism of, um, cats can stop this maestro, and now he's announced quite the surprise. more ›