Mark Shenton on Love Never Dies

Although I’m usually quite dozy about getting unwanted emails (I just cancel them), even I have managed to notice that regular missives have been arriving to my mailbox about Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies, his follow up to Phantom of the Opera, which opened last year. Equally slowly, I haven’t really understood what the fuss has been about until Mark Shenton’s blog, for The Stage newspaper yesterday, told me a good part of the story. His informative post offers a neat defence of his lordship’s classic work, as well as spreading the news about the gang of Phantom of the Opera fans who have dedicated a huge amount of time and energy to attacking the new show, presumably because they don’t want there to be a successful sequel to the original. Apparently, this cult-like band of manic fanatics, led by the Toronto-based husband and wife team Jeff and Rebecca Timmons, seem determined to harass the show, often without having even seen it. This example of a fanaticism bordering on crass stupidity and mental dysfunction might seem incredible to any regular blogger, and the suspicion struck me that maybe Mark Shenton was exaggerating. But then I saw the miles and miles of messages responding to his post! Yep, these people are mad, bad and really have too much time and energy on their hands… couldn’t someone find something really harmless for them to do? Like growing vegetables on a tranquil patch of land somewhere? Surely, all the bile they are spitting can’t be good for their health?

© Aleks Sierz

Andrew Lloyd Webber Jeff Timmons Love Never Dies Mark Shenton musicals Phanton of the Opera Rebecca Timmons The Phantom of the Opera The Stage

3 Comments

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  Erin commented

  on Thursday 17th March 2011 at 5:18 pm

  The funniest bit about this is that you, and Shenton, and so many others seem to miss that the Timmons aren't the leaders of anything. They volunteered to pay for the webhosting, so it's in their name. They aren't leading anything.
  
  If people are missing a point as evident as that, than what else are they getting wrong?

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  Christine_Marie commented

  on Wednesday 19th October 2011 at 1:40 am

  Fine. not leaders, but adamantly trying to close a show they've never seen for themselves with negative propaganda and false reviews isn't any better. It doesn't matter whether or not they paid for the webhosting if they are using it for such purposes. What the Timmons have done is commit fraud and if Webber and the Really Useful Group so choose, they have plenty of legal grounds for which to sue the couple. To dislike a show is one thing, but to do so much without even having seen it for themselves, and in the process of doing so ruining things for those who do like it or for those who would like to be able to form an opinion of it on their own is just plain old rudeness!

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  Jade commented

  on Sunday 23rd October 2011 at 10:15 pm

  When a group is based around a website - and said website contains faked blog reviews and a lot of other negative nonsense deliberately targeting a piece of creative work in order to CLOSE it.... and that website is administrated, paid for and hosted by Mr Jeff Timmons he IS leader of the pack in anyone's terms.
  I have seen statements published by HIM inciting people to spam journalists, newspapers and the like and more chilling heard a rant by him that sounds like some sort of crazed religious leader who believes Leroux wrote a bible against which Andrew Lloyd Webber and Love Never Dies is a blasphemy.
  Leader he is - obsessed he is - and trying to distance himself now - yes he is. Erin knows well he is leader but she is one of his staunchest deputies!