Prologue
THE STAGE OF PARIS OPÉRA, 1911
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(The contents of the opera house are 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).
AUCTIONEER
Sold. Your number, sir? Thank You.
Lot 663, then Ladies and Gentlemen: a poster from this house's production of 'Hannibal' by Chalumeau. 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 france still. Fifteen, thank you, sir. Fifteen I am bid. Going at fifteen. Your number sir?
PORTER
Showing here.
AUCTIONEER
Do I have ten franc? Five then. Five I am bid. Six, seven. Against you, sir, seven. Eight. Eight once. Selling twice. Sold, to Raoul, Vicomte de Chagney.
Lot 665, ladies and gentlemen: a papier-mâché musica; 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.
PORTER(holding it up)
Showing here.
(He sets it in motion)
AUCTIONEER
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 tot he Vicomte de Chagny. Thank you, sir.
The box is handed across to RAOUL. He studies it, as attention focuses on him for a moment).
RAOUL(quietly, half to himself, half to the box).
A collector's piece indeed...everydetail 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...?
(Attention returns to the AUCTIONEER, as he resumes).
AUCTIONEER
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 we may get a hint of what it may look like when reassembled. Prehaps 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 form the stage, finally hovering high above the stalls.)
