The Return of the Phantom|魅影续前缘，《真爱永不止息》

by Jeremy Beacock

The biggest musical in the world is back for an encore.

世界上最成功的音乐剧将重返剧院与观众见面。

How do you outshine the most successful musical of all time? That is the question that Andrew Lloyd Webber, creator of The Phantom of the Opera, has been asking himself for more than a decade. The Phantom of the Opera, a retelling of Gaston Leroux's tale of a disfigured opera-lover who secretly grooms a young starlet in 19th-century Paris, made its debut in 1986. Since then, it has been performed all over the world and earned more than US$5 billion.

Lloyd Webber began thinking about a sequel as early as 1997, but it wasn't until 2007 that writer Ben Elton, who had previously worked with Lloyd Webber, came to him with a complete story. From then, the project called Phantom: Love Never Dies began to take its final form. The story is a continuation of The Phantom of the Opera. At the end of the original, the Phantom vanishes, and his protégée Christine becomes a leading opera singer. The sequel takes place 10 years later in New York, with the Phantom working his way up from a sideshow freak to a Coney Island fairground designer. He is still in love with Christine and invites her to New York to sing. Christine comes with her family and has no idea that the successful architect is actually the Phantom.

What happens next is a closely guarded secret, but audiences will not have to wait long to find out. The show is set to open in London on February 20, 2010, and its opening will undoubtedly be a major theatrical event.

1.  Which of the following is NOT a fact about The Phantom of the Opera?

(A) It's wildly popular and has made lots of money.

(B) It's based on Gaston Leroux's tale.

(C) It's one of Andrew Lloyd Webber's best works.

(D) It's set in 19th-century New York.

2.  From the article, we can infer that _____.

(A) Lloyd Weber had trouble thinking of a story for the sequel

(B) Lloyd Weber was originally unwilling to write the music for the sequel

(C) The Phantom died at the end of The Phantom of the Opera

(D) Phantom: Love Never Dies is set in London

3.  Why isn't there more information about Phantom: Love Never Dies?

(A) The author doesn't want to spoil any surprises for the reader.

(B) The author is trying to entice the reader to see the musical.

(C) Very few people know the whole story because little about the story was revealed.

(D) No one wants to talk about it because the original was way too successful.

　　要如何超越有史以来最成功的音乐剧呢？这是一手创作出《歌剧魅影》的安德鲁‧洛伊‧韦伯 10 多年来一直询问自己的问题。《歌剧魅影》重现卡斯顿．勒胡的故事，情节发生在 19 世纪的巴黎，叙述一名颜面遭毁、喜爱歌剧的男子，偷偷栽培一名年轻女歌手的故事。《歌剧魅影》音乐剧在 1986 年初次上演，自那时起，这出剧便在全球各地巡演，收入超过 50 亿美金。

　　韦伯早在 1997 年就开始思考《歌剧魅影》的续集，但直到 2007 年和他合作过的编剧 Ben Elton 带着完整的故事前来找他事情才有眉目。自那时起，这出续集《真爱永不止息》才开始拍板定案。该剧延续《歌剧魅影》的故事，在《歌剧魅影》的结尾，魅影消失踪迹，而他小心呵护的克里斯廷当上首席女歌手。续集发生在 10 年后的纽约，魅影从余兴节目中的怪胎力争上游成为康尼岛游乐场的设计师。他仍深爱着克里斯廷，并邀请她到纽约演唱。克里斯廷和她的家人完全不知情这名成功的建筑师就是魅影。

　　接下来的剧情发展受到严格保密，但观众不用等太久就可一探究竟。这出音乐剧将在 2010 年 2 月 20 号于伦敦上映，这场首映无疑会是剧场界的一大盛事。

标准答案: 1. (D)　2. (A)　3. (C)

For Your Information

卡斯顿．勒胡生于法国巴黎，自求学时代起即热爱文学，并立志成为大作家，但因为父亲的期许转而学习法律。在父亲逝世后，挥霍成性的他很快就将父亲所留的遗产花尽。于是，勒胡投入自由作家的工作，开始为地方报纸写诗，并成为到处旅行的通讯记者。

勒胡于 1907 年发表的《黄色房间之谜》，创造了年轻记者侦探乔瑟夫．鲁雷达比，更是长篇密室推理小说的早期经典。而在 1927 年逝世前，勒胡一共完成 62 篇小说，其中有两个系列特别著名，其一是以天才记者鲁雷达比为主角的侦探小说，另一个则是一个宿命论的苦牢犯 Chèri-Bibi 的悲情生涯。此外还有改编成歌剧，脍炙人口的《歌剧魅影》。