Sunday 12 October 2008

The Phantom of Manhattan is a 1999 novel by Frederick Forsyth, intended as a sequel to The Phantom of the Opera (the Lloyd Webber musical, not the original book). The beginning of The Phantom of Manhattan is narrated by an ailing (=dying) Madame Giry, and set in the early 1900s. Famous individuals of the time, such as Theodore Roosevelt, make appearances. According to the story, Christine has married Raoul, and the couple have a son named Pierre. The Phantom has become a very rich theatre owner in New York and writes an opera hoping that Christine will play the main character. The story also provides details about the Phantom's past and his relationship with Madame Giry which were not contained in the original novel and musical. There is also the introduction of a new character called Darius, a greedy man who often assists the Phantom, and to whom the Phantom has promised to leave the opera house after his death. That promise is tested by Christine's arrival in New York, but Darius is determined to own the opera house himself. If you want to know how this wonderful novel finishes, you have to read it! Andrew Lloyd Webber is currently at work on a stage sequence to The Phantom of the Opera. It will be called Phantom: Love Never Dies, and it is said that it is partially based on The Phantom of Manhattan. (Adapted from Wikipedia)