Album: The Phantom of the Opera

Prologue



THE STAGE OF PARIS OPERA, 1905

(The contents of the opera house is being auctioned off.
An AUCTIONEER, PORTERS, BIDDERS and RAOUL, seventy now, but still
bright
of eye.
the action commences with a blow from the AUCTIONEER's gavel)


Sold. Your number sir? Thank you.
Lot 663, then, ladies and gentlemen: a poster for this house's
production of
'Hannibal' by Chalumeau.

Showing here.

Do I have ten francs? Five then, Five I am bid. Six, seven. Against
you,
sir, seven. Eight.
Eight once. Selling twice. Sold, to Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny.
Lot 664: a wooden pistol and three human skulls, from the 1831
production of 'Robert le
Diable' by Meyerbeer. Ten francs for this. Ten, thank you. Ten
francs
still. Fifteen, thank
you, sir. Fifteen I am bid. Going at fifteen.
Your number, Sir?
Lot 665, ladies and gentelmen: a papier-mache musical box, in the shape
of a
barrel organ.
Attached, the figure of a monkey in Persian robes, playing the cymbals.
This
item, discovered
in the vaults of the theatre, still in working order.

Showing here. (He sets it in motion)

May I start at twenty francs? Fifteen, then? Fifteen I am bid.

(The bidding continues. RAOUL eventually buys the box for thirty
francs)

Sold, for thirty francs to the Vicomte de Chagny. Thank you sir.

(The box is handed across to RAOUL. He studies it, as attention
focuses
on him for a moment)

A collector's
piece indeed ...
every detail
exactly as she said ...

She often spoke of you, my friend ...
your velvet lining
and your figurine of lead ...

Will you still play, when
all the rest of us are dead ...?

Lot 666, then: a chandelier in pieces. Some of you may recall the
strange
affair of the Phantom
of the Opera: a mystery never fully explained. We are told, ladies and
gentlemen, that this is
the very chandelier which figures in the famous disaster. Our workshops
have
restored it and
fitted up parts of it with wiring for the new electric light, so that
we may
get a hint of what
it may look like when reassembled. Perhaps we may frighten away the
ghost of
so many years ago
with a little illumination, gentlemen?

(The AUCTIONEER switches on the chandelier. There is an enormous
flash,
and the OVERTURE begins.
During the overture the opera house is restored to its earlier
grandeur. The
chandelier, immense
and glittering, rises magically from the stafe, finally hovering high
above
the stalls)