On January 9, 2001, the following was published in the Albemarle of London's West End Theatre News concerning Starlight Express.
"It was thought that the production was going to be revised again: The writer Ben Elton tells the story that when he first met Andrew Lloyd Webber in 1998 Andrew asked him if he could have a go at revising Starlight Express, but Ben said no: "Quite frankly, I had no ambitions to be the man who risked screwing up one of the most successful stage musicals in history. So I reminded Andrew of the old adage 'If it ain't broke don't fix it' and declined the offer."
On September 17, 2000, in London's The Sunday Times:
"Elton is adapting Phantom of the Opera for the screen and says: "It's a ridiculous story really, but it's brilliantly told through Andrew's music."
And in The Sunday Express on September 24, 2000, Ben Elton additionally had this to say…..
"In the film version, the mask, he hints, will come off, so the face matters."
So what does the composer himself, Andrew Lloyd Webber, have to say about the smash hit and largest grossing show of all time, The Phantom of the Opera? While a guest on The Charlie Rose Show, September 25, 2000, Lord Lloyd-Webber told the show's host that The Phantom of the Opera, "is really a bit of hokum, quite honestly."
Lord Lloyd-Webber also expressed in The Daily Mail on December 13, 1999, that "The Phantom also did amazing repeat business…...though I have no idea why." He went on to state that, "it is one musical that I feel we got absolutely right from the start. The staging by Hal Prince was not changed at all from rehearsal."
On May 10, 1990, trade ads were taken out in Variety and The Hollywood Reporter "proudly" announcing that the Phantom film would be released in 1991, and would star Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman, directed by Joel Schumacher. At the time, Warner Bros. had this to say, "All of us at Warner Bros. are thrilled that we are the studio which will bring "The Phantom," an international stage phenomenon, to the screen. We are also delighted that by working with Andrew Lloyd Webber, Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman, the integrity of the original will be carefully maintained…"
So what happened? Well, according to the then director Joel Schumacher in a story out of The Ottawa Citizen on July 5, 1991.…..
Director Joel Schumacher says he was already on his way to Europe to start production when he got the fateful call from Lloyd Webber.
"He said that we needed to postpone Phantom because he was going to divorce Sarah Brightman (who was to star in the movie) and it was just too complicated," recalls Schumacher. "I understood."
They had already worked on the project for a year and a half when it was halted. "All the models of the sets were built, all the costume (designs) were painted, Andrew and I had worked on the music, the script was finished, most of the casting was set in our minds. The entire movie was story-boarded, every shot. We were absolutely ready to start filming."
To date over 60 million people have now seen the original musical, The Phantom of the Opera. It is the biggest show of all time, beating out the hit film Titanic and grossing almost f2billion worldwide.
In 1990 there was a promise made to the loyal fans of The Phantom of the Opera, the very millions who have supported it for well over a decade and made it the largest grossing show ever in history.
We are still awaiting the promise…… The question is, will Ben
Elton and Andrew Lloyd Webber deliver the dream?
Have Ben Elton and Andrew Lloyd Webber changed this???