Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman performing the title song

Act I

Synopsis

Prologue. At the Paris Opéra in 1911, an auction of old props and items is underway. Lot 665, purchased by Viscount Raoul de Chagny, is a music box topped with a monkey; he eyes it fondly, noting that its details appear exactly as they were described to him. Lot 666 is a shattered chandelier which, the auctioneer says, has a connection to "the strange affair of the Phantom of the Opera...a mystery never fully explained." As the chandelier illuminates, reassembles itself, and slowly rises over the audience to its old position in the rafters, the years roll back and the theatre returns to its 1880s grandeur. ("Overture")

Thirty years earlier, as Carlotta, the Opéra's resident soprano prima donna, rehearses for that evening's performance, a backdrop collapses without warning. "The Phantom! He's here!" the excited cast members whisper. The Opera's new owners, Firmin and André, try to downplay the incident, but Carlotta refuses to continue and storms offstage. Madame Giry, the Opéra's ballet mistress tells Firmin and André that Christine Daaé, a Swedish chorus girl and orphaned daughter of a prominent violinist, has been "well taught", and could sing Carlotta's role. Rather than cancel the performance, the owners reluctantly audition Christine, and to their surprise, she is equal to the challenge. ("Think of Me")

Backstage after her triumphant debut, Christine confesses to her best friend Meg (Madame Giry's daughter) that she knows her mysterious teacher only as the "Angel of Music" ("Angel of Music"). Firmin and André introduce Christine to their patron, Raoul, the Vicomte de Chagny. Christine and Raoul take to each other immediately. ("Little Lotte") After Raoul leaves, the Angel of Music appears as an image in Christine's mirror. ("Angel of Music/The Mirror") Christine begs him to show himself. The Phantom guides Christine through the mirror and takes her below the Opera house. ("The Phantom of the Opera") He brings Christine to his secret lair, deep beneath the Opera House on the shore of a subterranean lake, an eerie place containing a pipe organ, a throne, and a life-sized doll resembling Christine, clothed in a wedding gown. The Phantom explains that he wants Christine to sing his music. ("The Music of the Night")

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

In the Opera House, Joseph Buquet, the Opéra's chief stagehand who (like Mme. Giry) seems to know a lot about the Phantom, regales everyone with tales of the "Opera Ghost" and his terrible Punjab lasso ("Magical Lasso"). Mme. 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. ("Notes...") Firmin and Andre assure the enraged Carlotta that she will remain the star, ("Prima Donna") but during her performance, disaster strikes. ("Poor Fool, He Makes Me Laugh") The Phantom reduces Carlotta's voice to a frog-like croak. The backdrop lifts to reveal the corpse of Buquet, hanging from the rafters by the Punjab lasso.

In the ensuing melee, Christine escapes with Raoul to the roof, where she tells him about her subterranean rendezvous with the Phantom. Raoul does not believe her ("Why Have You Brought Me Here?/Raoul, I've Been There"), but swears to love and 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 Opera's mighty chandelier crashes to the floor.

Дата добавления: 2014-11-06