Phantom of the Opera

The plot, if you're not familiar with it: The manager of the Opera Populaire is retiring, so he hired two men, Andre and Firmin, to replace him. They come in the middle of rehearsal and see Carlotta, the leading lady, almost get hit by a falling backdrop after singing an aria. Carlotta says that this has been happening to her for three years and she stuffily quits and walks out of the opera. With no leading lady and a show in an hour, the producers turn to Christine, who can sing the part. She does well, and her old childhood friend, Raoul, invites her to dinner afterwards. She accepts his request but then ditches him when the Phantom, the one who has taught Christine how to sing, takes her into his layer. He lives below the operahouse and his entrance into Christine's room is a mirror. When she is released, she falls in love with Raoul.

Meanwhile, the Phantom, who loves Christine, demands that she be the lead in the next opera. Instead, they cast Carlotta as the lead, so the Phantom causes a chandelier to drop on the operagoers.

Next year, Christine and Raoul are engaged, and Christine is trying to keep it secret. The Phantom tries to get her to come with him, but Raoul saves her. The Phantom then writes an Opera and Raoul suggests hat to catch the Phantom they should cast Christine as the lead. It doesn't work out quite as planned, because the Phantom kidnaps Christine onstage and leads her to his lair, where he asks Christine to marry him.

Raoul has followed them to save Christine, but when he goes into the Phantom's lair, the Phantom places a rope around Raoul's neck and offers Christine a choice: Marry me or let him hang. Christine kisses the Phantom and tells him that she's not disgusted by his face but by his soul. He is so moved that he lets them both go.

At the end, police are looking for him in his lair, but all they find is his signature white mask that hides his scar.

The play was amazing. At first I didn't like Raoul, who plays the main character's (Christine) love interest, but by the end I was in love with him just like Christine. There were a lot of elaborate sets and costumes too. They had opera boxes, a set of stairs, a fake elephant, and a boat. They also had the exploding chandelier, which was cool. Christine had a wonderful voice and so did Raoul. I thought the Phantom was a little iffy. He was very good at his awkward-in-love role though.

The phantom's lair was so cool; it was a bunch of candles glowing beyond a cage... and the boat ride there was made through mountains of fog and blue lighting (so cool!) It was like watching a movie play out on stage, because they did things I didn't think were possible without digital special effects.

Someone once said that people don't want movies, they want plays in their living rooms. And that is totally true.