Synopsis

Prologue

On the stage of the fictional Op"ra Populaire in 1905, an auction of old theatrical props is underway. Lot 665, purchased by the elderly Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny, is a papier-m"ch' music box in the shape of a monkey. He eyes it sadly, noting that its details appear "exactly as she said". Lot 666 is a shattered chandelier that, the auctioneer explains, has a connection to "the strange affair of the Phantom of the Opera, a mystery never fully explained". As the chandelier is uncovered, its lamps flicker to life and it magically rises over the audience to its original position in the rafters. As it ascends, the years roll back and the Op"ra returns to its 1880s grandeur. ("Overture")

Act I

It is now 1881. As Carlotta, the Op"ra's resident soprano prima donna, rehearses for that evening's performance, a backdrop collapses without warning. "The Phantom! He's here!" the anxious cast members whisper. The Opera's new owners, Firmin and Andr", try to downplay the incident, but Carlotta refuses to continue and storms offstage. Madame Giry, the Op"ra's ballet mistress, tells Firmin and Andr" that Christine Daa", a Swedish chorus girl and orphaned daughter of a prominent violinist, has been "well taught" and could sing Carlotta's role. With cancellation of the performance their only alternative, the owners reluctantly audition Christine, and to their surprise she is equal to the challenge. ("Think of Me")

Backstage after her triumphant d"but, Christine confesses to her best friend Meg (Madame Giry's daughter) that she knows her mysterious teacher only as an invisible Angel of Music ("Angel of Music"). The Opera's new patron, Raoul, the Vicomte de Chagny, finds Christine, his old childhood playmate, in her dressing room. ("Little Lotte") Christine reminisces with Raoul about the Angel of Music stories that her late father used to tell them and confides that the Angel has visited her and taught her to sing. Raoul laughs at her fantasies and invites her to dinner. He exits and a jealous Phantom appears in Christine's mirror in the guise of The Angel of Music. ("The Mirror/Angel of Music (Reprise)") Christine begs him to reveal himself and The Phantom obliges, then guides her into a ghostly underground realm. ("The Phantom of the Opera") They cross a subterranean lake to his secret lair beneath the op"ra house. The Phantom explains that he has chosen Christine to sing his music and enchants her with his own sublime voice. ("The Music of the Night") Christine sees a mannequin resembling herself in a wedding dress, and when the mannequin suddenly moves, she faints. The Phantom picks her up and places her gently on a bed.

As the Phantom composes music at his organ, Christine awakens to the sound of the monkey music box. ("I Remember?") She slips behind the Phantom, lifts his mask, and beholds his real face. The Phantom rails at her curiosity, then ruefully expresses his longing to look normal - and to be loved by her. ("Stranger Than You Dreamt It")

Meanwhile, inside the op"ra house, Joseph Buquet, the Op"ra's chief stagehand - who, like Madame Giry, inexplicably knows much about the Phantom - regales everyone with tales of the Op"ra Ghost and his terrible Punjab lasso. ("Magical Lasso") Madame Giry warns Buquet to exercise restraint. In the managers' office, Madame Giry delivers a note from the Phantom: He demands that Christine replace Carlotta in the new opera, Il Muto, or there will be a terrible disaster "beyond imagination". ("Notes?") Firmin and Andr" assure the enraged Carlotta that she will remain the star, ("Prima Donna") but during her performance, ("Poor Fool, He Makes Me Laugh") the Phantom reduces her voice to a frog-like croak. A ballet interlude begins, to keep the audience entertained"but a series of menacing shadows can be seen on the backdrop. Suddenly the corpse of Buquet, hanging from the Punjab lasso, drops from the rafters. Firmin and Andr" plead for calm as the Phantom's diabolical laughter is heard.

In the ensuing m"l"e, Christine escapes with Raoul to the roof, where she tells him about her subterranean rendezvous with the Phantom. Raoul is skeptical, ("Why Have You Brought Me Here"/Raoul, I've Been There") but swears to love and to protect her always. ("All I Ask of You") The Phantom, who has overheard their conversation, is heartbroken. As he angrily vows revenge against Raoul, ("All I Ask of You (Reprise)") the Op"ra's mighty chandelier crashes to the stage as the curtain falls.



Act II

Six months later, in the midst of the gala masquerade ball, the Phantom, costumed as the Red Death, makes his first appearance since the chandelier disaster. ("Masquerade/Why So Silent?") He announces to the stunned guests that he has written an opera entitled Don Juan Triumphant. He demands that it be produced immediately, with Christine (who is now engaged to Raoul) in the lead role, and warns of dire consequences if it is not. He seizes Christine's engagement ring and vanishes in a flash of fire and smoke. Raoul demands that Madame Giry tell him about the Phantom. She reluctantly replies that he is a brilliant musician and magician born with a terrifyingly deformed face, who escaped from captivity in a traveling freak show and disappeared.

During rehearsals, Raoul hatches a plan to use Don Juan Triumphant as a trap to capture the Phantom, knowing the Phantom will be sure to attend its premi're. ("Notes/Twisted Every Way") Christine, torn between her love for Raoul and her gratitude for the Phantom's teaching, visits her father's grave, longing for his guidance. ("Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again?) The Phantom appears, again under the guise of the Angel of Music. ("Wandering Child") Christine nearly falls under his spell, but Raoul arrives to rescue her. The Phantom taunts Raoul, launching fiery missiles at him, ("Bravo Monsieur") until Christine begs Raoul to leave with her. Furious, the Phantom sets fire to the cemetery.

Don Juan Triumphant opens with Christine and Ubaldo Piangi, the Op"ra's principal tenor, singing the lead roles. ("Don Juan") During their duet, Christine suddenly realizes that she is singing not with Piangi, but with the Phantom himself. ("The Point of No Return") He expresses his love for her and gives her his ring, but Christine rips off his mask, exposing his deformed face to the shocked audience. As Piangi is found strangled to death backstage, the Phantom seizes Christine and flees the theatre. An angry mob led by Meg searches the theatre for the Phantom, while Madame Giry directs Raoul to the Phantom's subterranean lair, and warns him to beware his Punjab lasso.

In the lair Christine is forced to don the doll's wedding dress. ("Down Once More/Track Down This Murderer") Raoul arrives, but the Phantom captures him with his lasso. He tells Christine that he will free Raoul if she agrees to stay with him forever; if she refuses, Raoul will die. ("Final Lair") Christine tells the Phantom that it is his soul that is deformed, not his face, and kisses him. The Phantom, having experienced kindness and compassion for the first time, sets them both free. Christine returns the Phantom's ring to him, and he tells her that he loves her. She cries, forces herself to turn away, and exits with Raoul. The Phantom, weeping, huddles on his throne and covers himself with his cape. The mob storms the lair and Meg pulls away the cape?but the Phantom has vanished; only his mask remains.

((And you think I don't pay attention to subtle requests made in play or on forums. :) Here's where you can react, my lovelies - as always, please respect the setting and have fun with it!))

No one could argue. There was no better prima donna diva than Yas. She didn't even have to act to play the part of the demanding and belittling Carlotta. She "played? that everyday on her own.

But, to Yas, Carlotta's bold personality wasn't restricted to her character; it should also be evident in her vocal skills. Assuming Carlotta would feel as though she had to be very clear for her intellectually stunted crowds, Yas over-articulated each syllable she sang. Working hard to hit the high notes as high as she could, because nothing less would be acceptable for Carlotta, the mimic could have easily broken glass if she wanted but she always fell intentionally short as not to burst any eardrums. Throughout her songs, Yas would sing loud and proud, making sure to dwarf the voices of anyone but her own. Unlike Carlotta, Yas hated doing it but she never tried to let on.

After each show, she would sit backstage in her operatic face of full makeup and over-exaggerated features topped with her enormous curled wig. Though, for the shapeshifter, there was no makeup or wig - only her. And that was the problem. There was no wig to remove, no makeup to wash off, nothing to separate the diva she played from the diva....she was.

Her goal had become a success. She was fairly well known now and those that knew her, knew her as a diva, just as she always wanted. It was a hushed joke that Yas would be playing Carlotta, but she felt more like the Phantom. Maybe it wasn't her face that was deformed, but her soul.

It was strange, Eregor had told himself before the first rehearsal, that he should be so nervous after stepping onto the Shanachie stage so many times before. Still, this wasn't any other show....this was Phantom, and he held the title role, a long-unrealized dream.

Don't screw up, Gory.

* * *

For a character so focused on music, getting the voice right was all-important. The Phantom was a roller-coaster of emotion, from menace and fury to tender need, from seduction to despair. Eregor found much inspiration in his castmates, particularly the other points of the romantic triangle at the heart of the story, Christine and Raoul.

"Her voice is lovely, perfect for Christine," he said to Arandir in the dressing room before opening night while going through the final touches on the evening's makeup. "It's a joy to play off of her....but you know that already." Beat. "I swear I'm not actually trying to seduce her."

That got him a look, and he grinned back. "I'm sorry, I'm more than a little giddy. This is one of my dream roles, a meaty part....I just don't want the meat to turn out as all ham, you know? You two have been fantastic, and I thank you for that." Mask on, he rose from the makeup chair and drew a deep breath. "Almost curtain. Break a leg!"

Phen and Ebon were unabashed fans of theater, but duties being as they are, attendance was often a wished for thing and not a reality. Not this time. They had a Thursday evening with no fixed engagements. That meant a night out to see Phantom of the Opera. Just for Ebon, Phen wore the same gown she had for the Valentine's Disco Ball. She was not a fashionista by any means, but she did appreciate the reaction it had gotten from her husband. After fifteen years of marriage, it was delightful to see the spark still there.

They were able to find their seats with Ebon only being stopped for gubernatorial duties twice. And then they were swept up in the torment the Phantom, the blossoming romance of Christine and Raoul, and, most of all, the music of the night. Carina encapsulated the tremulous first steps into a larger world so beautifully, and the chemistry with her stage romance and real life husband was unmistakable. All the performances were wonderful, from grand gestures to intimate phrasing.

It was a most enjoyable evening.

Arandir was mostly quiet while he readied himself for that night's performance. There wasn't much for him to do really. His own good looks would carry him through, and with the help of a wig, a little makeup, and a costume, he would become the handsome, young Vicomte de Chagny - the Phantom's only rival for the heart and hand of the lovely, young ingenue, who just happened to be played by his wife.

He looked over at Eregor, whose handsome face was being transformed into something hideous, and wondered why the man was thanking him and Carina. He could not deny Carina was amazing, despite it being her first time playing such a role. Like Aran, she was half-elven and gifted with the art of song, so it was no great surprise that she had an extraordinary voice, but it was Eregor's own talent that had won him the title role, nothing Aran or Carina had done.

The truth was that a lot of what Eregor and the other cast members at the theater said didn't always make sense to a half-elf who hadn't been in Rhy'Din very long, though he'd learned not to take people too literally. Meaty he understood as meaning something with substance, and giddy meant happiness, but then his co-star mentioned ham, and Aran was completely lost. Before he had a chance to ask for an explanation, however, Eregor was taking his leave. The half-elf had never quite worked out why everyone was always telling their fellow cast members to break a leg before a performance. He knew it was supposed to be another way of saying good luck, but he couldn't understand what was so lucky about it.

"Break a leg, too!" Aran replied, though he thought perhaps he should be hoping for the opposite. Whatever happened, Aran knew his friend was going to be an amazing Erik - so long as he didn't actually break a leg.