The Mirror 

(Ummmm, the Campaign would like to ask The Mirror just how far into the Guestbook you needed to dig for that quote you used?)  ;)
 

The Scurra
Date: 8/21/2003


 
TIME to raise the curtain on a superb row involving king of the musicals Andrew Lloyd Webber, a top Hollywood director and Michael Crawford' s army of fans.

The fuss focuses on the decision to cast Gerard Butler (star of the new Lara Croft movie) in the lead role of a movie of Lord Lloyd-Webber' s Phantom Of The Opera.

Crawford's fans are devastated that he wasn't given the part and have even taken out ads in showbiz trade magazines.

In response, Phantom director Joel Schumacher has issued a statement saying: "The decision not to use Michael Crawford is Lloyd Webber' s and his alone. All fans and friends of Crawford should please tell that to everyone from me. If you care to write to Lloyd Webber, it' s at the Really Useful Company in London."

One of Crawford's "phans" who has written to the peer is Erika from Minnesota. "Oh, Sir Webber," she writes. "When I found out that Crawford was not going to be the Phantom, I just broke down and cried for two hours. It felt as if someone took a rifle, pointed it straight at my heart and pulled the trigger..."