Ooh! I read that one about 10ish years ago after seeing Phantom on Broadway for the second time. I remember the book having some enlightening moments (the hand at the level of your eyes as mentioned by Madame Giry is because the Phantom might throw a noose over over head and hang you, which is not elaborated on in the show, and I think the book shows Meg as Madame Giry's daughter, which I don't remember the show touching on, but it's also been 10 years...I really should bust out the dvd). But overall, I enjoyed the show more than the book.
Side note: The show you watched on Youtube is available on DVD. So is the sequel, Love Never Dies, which I watched on Youtube over the weekend and did not like, although a few of the songs are still haunting my brain.
Watched the sequel too and didn’t really like it either although the little boy who played Gustave is adorable, but some of the songs are beautiful. Did buy the Phantom of the Opera on iTunes so am happy there. I agree with your points there with respect to Madame Giry and you’re right it isn’t really mentioned in the musical that Meg is her daughter (although I think the sequel alludes to it)
Yep, in the sequel, it's mentioned over and over that Meg is Madame Giry's daughter. And I agree that Gustave was adorable. Quite the singing voice on him too! I was utterly impressed!
So, my last book was:
A Whole New World: A Twisted Tale by Liz BraswellWhat if Aladdin hadn't been the one to take ownership of the lamp? What if Jafar's plan to trick Aladdin into retrieving it from the Cave of Wonders had worked the way he wanted it to, with Jafar taking possession of the genie from the start? This story explores that scenario and gets pretty dark fairly quickly, with lots of gruesome deaths and some truly twisted turns of events. From the start, Jafar is able to make himself sultan and then the most powerful sorcerer in the world. He throws Jasmine's father off a balcony right then and there, murdering the true sultan in cold blood, then sets his sights on breaking the laws of magic to try and make Jasmine (and all the kingdom) love him. With the help of good old fashioned fear, greed, and an army of the undead (he breaks the laws regarding not being able to bring people back from the dead), he wages war on the city, and Jasmine, who escapes the palace and allies herself with Aladdin and an army comprised of Street Rats...
