[MrMon]

I've seen Phantom twice, once in London, once with the touring company, and although I respect the performances, the songs, the sets, and I can see why people love it, I really don't. It has to do with the characters themselves and my interpretation of what's going on.

Women seem to love it because it's so romantic. But lets face it, the Phantom is a psycho that kills people because he's obsessed with the one he loves, and he wants to imprison her too. Unforgivable in my book, not romantic, I don't care that he's some wounded soul. I have no sympathy for anyone in the musical, so despite everything, I just don't like it.

Now, if one looks a little deeper at the musical and spins it into a tale of Christine's descent into madness, where the Phantom is all in her mind and her fiances love for her rescue's her from a prison of her own making, I could like that. The story doesn't quite fit, but I find it much more palatable.