Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom 'suffers' from Asperger's

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sinsboldly
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10 Oct 2009, 11:25 pm

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The Phantom of the Opera's tormented leading character suffers from Asperger's syndrome, according to the stage actor who plays him.

By Anita Singh, Showbusiness Editor
Published: 7:12PM BST 08 Oct 2009

Ramin Karimloo said he believed the Phantom showed clear signs of the condition, which is a form of autism. Sufferers often have difficulties with communication and social relationships.

According to Karimloo, who joined the West End production two years ago, the syndrome would explain the Phantom's eccentric traits, his musical talents and an inability to interact with others which led him to hide away beneath the Paris Opera House.

Phantom of Opera sequel "I saw a documentary on Asperger's syndrome and it made a lot of sense to me," Karimloo said.

The Iranian-born tenor was speaking at the launch of Love Never Dies, Andrew Lloyd Webber's long-awaited Phantom sequel. It opens in March 2010 at London's Adelphi Theatre. A Broadway production will open in November 2010, and the show will reach Australia in 2011.

The story begins 10 years after The Phantom of the Opera ended and is set in Coney Island, New York.

"Coney Island today is nothing at all, but at its height 100 years ago it was the eighth wonder of the world," Lloyd Webber explained as he showed a film of Coney Island's heyday, when thousands of Americans flocked to its seaside amusement arcades and end-of-the-pier freak shows.

"The Phantom arrived there as one of the freaks, but built himself up to be the absolute A1 man who controls the island. But, of course, he is pining for the love of his life."

His great love, Christine, will be played by Sierra Boggess, who has appeared in a Broadway production of The Little Mermaid and the Las Vegas version of Phantom.

Lloyd Webber has spent the past 17 years working on the Phantom sequel. "I thought there was unfinished business," he said. He initially enlisted the help of Frederick Forsyth, the author, who produced a novella called The Phantom of Manhattan. However, Lloyd Webber did not feel the story was right and decided to work on a different plot.

Love Never Dies has a great deal to live up to. The Phantom of the Opera is the most successful musical in history. Over 100 million people have seen the show since it opened in 1986. It has been translated into 15 languages and staged in 25 countries.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... rgers.html


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Seanmw
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14 Oct 2009, 3:08 am

well i figured as much. i read an alternately even better written take on the story in which it even seems for more obvious than the original. i forget the author but the book is titled simply "Phantom" and it was by a female author


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