San Diego’s Jack O’Brien Directing ‘Phantom’ Sequel

The long-time artistic director for The Old Globe, Jack O’Brien, is currently working with famed composer Andrew Llyod Webber on the sequel to Phantom of the Opera, entitled Love Never Dies. the preimire show features a book by Ben Elton and songs by Lloyd Webber and lyricist Glenn Slater. O’Brien is directing.

The sequel takes place in Coney Island, where the mysterious Maestro who runs the local theater announces a one-off concert with legendary Parisian soprano Christine Daaé. After Daaé arrives in New York with husband Raoul, Victome de Chagny and son Gustave, their subsequent meeting with the Maestro sends the cataclysmic events that happened at the Paris Opera a decade ago crashing back into their lives.

“The Phantom has been so extraordinary in my life — the biggest musical I’ve been involved with so far. Somehow, after nearly 25 years, to come back to it again, it releases a lot,’” Lloyd Webber told The Daily Mail.

“A vast repository of his [Lloyd Webber’s] own life and themes are coming back and being newly re-explored,” added director O’Brien. “He’s not phoning this in — it’s all new stuff.”

Shortly following the London premiere, productions of Love Never Dies will open at Toronto’s Royal Alexandra Theatre and in Shanghai, China – according to a report on Broadway.com. The Broadway production, which was originally announced for the fall of 2009, will then premiere in April 2010, likely featuring the cast from the Toronto production.

O’Brien served as artistic director in San Diego from 1982 through 2007. He still holds the title Artistic Director Emeritus.