Cameron Mackintosh Talks MARTIN GUERRE Rewrites, Mega-Musicals & PHANTOM Tour

The most successful theatrical producer in history, Cameron Mackintosh sheds some light on the new US national tour of his internationally adored mega-musical THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA as well as shares new details about a planned upcoming revival of Boublil & Schonberg's troublEd Martin GUERRE and also comments on mega-musicals themselves as part of a new interview.

Touching upon the oft-rumored revival of the Laurence Olivier Award-winning Best MusicAl Martin GUERRE, which itself toured America once upon a time (without ever reaching Broadway, unfortunately), Mackintosh relates, "We're still working on it. We've got new lyrics. I understand why it didn't work. It wasn't constructed well enough."

As for THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA and the enduring popularity of Mackintosh's mega-musicals in particular above the others of the era, the impresario says, "People tried in the '80s to say that my shows were big hits because of the scenery. That's absolute crap. Time has proven that the music and the librettos of these musicals work just as well in a classroom as they do on Broadway. That proves that it's nothing to do with the original staging."

Additionally, Mackintosh compares the new version of PHANTOM favorably to the iconic original production, stating, "The original creative team made a wonderful show, which attracts a new audience. Many of the people who come to see the show usually say they've never seen it before. So, it's not that the new version is better than the old one. It's just that it's different. What was extraordinary and original 25 years ago can no longer be. You want people to come see the show because it's still one of the greatest ever."

Mackintosh concludes, "I want to give audiences a new experience, not a piece of nostalgia. I want people who see the show to understand what the fuss was all about in the first place."

Check out the original article on the matter here.