Social Roundup: LOVE NEVER DIES Lyricist Glenn Slater Answers Fan Questions About the Show
By: Stephi Wild Apr. 26, 2020
Andrew Lloyd Webber's Love Never Dies streamed online this weekend, as part of The Shows Must Go On! In honor of the stream, lyricist Glenn Slater took to Twitter to answer some fan questions.
Read all of his answers below!
For that reason, the songs were actually relatively easy to write, since ALW did a marvelous job of capturing the emotional complexity of the dramatic high points. The hard part was the recitative - all the connecting tissue.
- Glenn Slater (@SlaterLyrics) April 26, 2020
This meant finding the simplest way to convey the info. Clarity was of the utmost importance - sometimes at the expense of emotional complexity, clever rhymes, or (sigh) grammar. Truly exhausting trying to squeeze round pegs into square holes for the sake of the bigger picture.
- Glenn Slater (@SlaterLyrics) April 26, 2020
God, I wish! They are truly glorious together. At the moment, I don't think there are plans afoot...but who knows? I think they'd both be open to it. https://t.co/Usj8yCYRrr
- Glenn Slater (@SlaterLyrics) April 26, 2020
Ultimately, though, we stuck with the story we started with. It was what inspired ALW in the first place, and his guiding star as he composed - the thread that kept him on track when he was unsure how to proceed. The final image - the phantom, the boy - really resonated with him.
- Glenn Slater (@SlaterLyrics) April 26, 2020
The Australia version moved needle back a bit - his plan is a little more devious, he's a little more dangerous, and he's a little more in line with the Phantom we know from the original.
- Glenn Slater (@SlaterLyrics) April 26, 2020
Arguably, we could have pushed that even further - but LND is, in lots of ways, HIS story, from his POV. And no one is the villain of their own story.
- Glenn Slater (@SlaterLyrics) April 26, 2020
As ar as I know, LND was always conceived as a tragedy - that's what it was when I joined the team, and we never really deviated from that plan, although we did entertain different ways it could play out. https://t.co/EeOcFr9PJl
- Glenn Slater (@SlaterLyrics) April 26, 2020
I actually wasn't familiar with the previous versions of what became "Love Never Dies" - I knew they existed, but that ALW had always meant to use the melody for LND and was "reclaiming" it. I purposely avoided listening to the other songs and wrote as if it were fresh music.
- Glenn Slater (@SlaterLyrics) April 26, 2020
So all the changes, I guess, were mine, since the music stayed unaltered. It's pretty fascinating to listen to the other songs though! A window onto how different lyricists approach the same material.
- Glenn Slater (@SlaterLyrics) April 26, 2020
I think he liked that I was challenging what was on paper rather than simply accepting it, and thought I was asking the right questions. Either way, he then played me some of the music he had been composing based on the outline - gorgeous, ravishing.
- Glenn Slater (@SlaterLyrics) April 26, 2020
He asked me to pick a spot, and to write a lyric to one of those melodies. Two days later, I sent him the lyric for "Til I Hear You Sing", pretty much exactly as it currently exists. And a few minutes after I hit "send", he called me to ask when I could start on the rest.
- Glenn Slater (@SlaterLyrics) April 26, 2020
The "book by" credit is for writing the actual dialogue. Sometimes there is also a "story by" credit, which is for coming up with the story. If the book writer does both, it's combined into the "book by" credit. https://t.co/Ug3QYYZEzv
- Glenn Slater (@SlaterLyrics) April 26, 2020
One is never bound by pre-conceived story - even shows based on movies sometimes deviate from the movie in major ways. On LND, we used the story as a basic guide...but also strayed from it quite frequently, if we thought we needed to strengthen the plot or character arcs. https://t.co/snVwbK1OJI
- Glenn Slater (@SlaterLyrics) April 26, 2020
Phantom of Manhattan was the first attempt at a sequel to POTO - and many elements from it are still part of LND - but it had a whole new cast of characters. Ben Elton came up with a tighter story that brought the familiar characters from POTO back. That's what sparked ALW. https://t.co/zjsaTSkMwQ
- Glenn Slater (@SlaterLyrics) April 26, 2020
At no point did anyone feel "bound" by something that already existed - the only rule was to try to make it better.
- Glenn Slater (@SlaterLyrics) April 26, 2020
The year is 1907. It is 10 years after his disappearance from the Paris Opera House and the Phantom has escaped to a new life in New York where he lives amongst the screaming joy rides and freak-shows of Coney Island. In this new electrically-charged world, he has finally found a place for his music to soar. All that is missing is his love - Christine Daaé.
Now one of the world's finest sopranos, Christine is struggling in an ailing marriage to Raoul. So, it is with excitement she accepts an invitation to travel to New York and perform at a renowned opera house. In a final bid to win back her love, the Phantom lures Christine, her husband, and their young son Gustave from Manhattan, to the glittering and glorious world of Coney Island, not knowing what is in store for them.
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