Putting everything that happened in the Phantom of the Opera summary can be challenging. There is so much happening around Christine, OG and Raoul. Carlotta is more like an annoyance easy to put away. And Piangi is simply Carlotta’s shadow. And OG got it right on the money when he called Firmin and Andre as fools. They have nothing better to do in the opera house itself. But what really went on in the Opera Populaire?
As much as this is the Phantom of the Opera summary, it would be incomplete without mentioning the prologue. Vicomte de Chagny just won the bidding for the music box. According to the Vicomte de Chagny, the music box was exactly as how she described it. Who is she? Further what unsolved mystery is the emcee referring to?
Flashbacks at the beginning of our Phantom of the Opera summary begin as the chandelier is unveiled. The stage switches to a dress rehearsal. Piangi constantly forgets suppressing his Italian accent. The stage director chastised him for it. Carlotta is visibly not pleased. Whether it’s about Piangi’s incompetence or the stage director being meddlesome. That perception is left for the audience to fuss over. Some things falls at the distant part of the stage. Meg then exclaims that it’s the Phantom of the Opera.
Firmin and Andre enter the stage as the opera house’s new owners. The previous owner scampered away. It was as if he was running for his life. The new owners then asked for Carlotta to sing “Think of Me”. It was one of the songs in the fictional opera “Hannibal” in our Phantom of the Opera summary. Halfway through her song, some debris fell at the back. The rumbling sounds of the falling debris were loud enough. Loud enough to scare Carlotta.
Firmin and Andre chose to ignore the ruckus that occurred. It was at this point in our Phantom of the Opera summary where Carlotta snapped. She was upset at how Firmin and Andre handled the situation. She walked out. She refused to go back until the new owners would avoid another ruckus.
It was a bad time for Carlotta to walk out at this point. And the new owners were too clueless to know what to do. Meg then presented backup dancer Christine Daae as a last minute replacement. Albeit nervous and shaking, Christine mustered enough confidence to sing “Think of Me” and bag the part. A new prima donna is born as presented in our Phantom of the Opera summary.
One of the esteemed guests on Christine’s opera debut, Raoul, recognized her as his childhood friend. He would usually call her Little Lotte. It was the same name he called her as he entered her dressing room. And for this part in our Phantom of the Opera summary, the Phantom was upset. With the prodding of Christine to finally see him in person, the Phantom relented by opening the mirror. Christine got in the mirror before Raoul could catch up to her.
The part where Christine was fetched by the Phantom through a mirror was so surreal. It made Christine question her own sanity. Could the Phantom of the Opera really just be in her mind? Or he is for real? This makes the Phantom of the Opera summary a little challenging to write. Some analysis into the consciousness of our heroine is unavoidable.
Upon arriving at the Phantom’s lair by the sewers. The Phantom revealed to Christine the reason behind the master class sessions involving voice culture. Christine is trained to give life to his music. It’s a focal motivation in our Phantom of the Opera summary.
Christine fainted at the sight of the doll wearing the bridal gown. She then wakes up the morning after at the sound of a music box. Still skeptical as to whether the Phantom is just a figment of her imagination or not. She then pussyfoots her way to the Phantom. The latter was then busy fussing over his libretto. And so she removed the mask out of curiosity in finding out how he really looked like. The Phantom was furious. He then declared Christine as captive. A punishment as presented in this Phantom of the Opera summary for letting her curiosity get the better of her and pry into his face.
A few days later in our Phantom of the Opera summary, Raoul, Carlotta and the opera owners, Firmin and Andre, received notes. Raoul thought that the note was from Firmin and Andre. Carlotta thought the note was from Raoul. And Firmin and Andre were clueless as to the notes sent. Madame Giry served as the messenger for the rest of the plan that the Phantom laid out for Christine. He wanted Christine to play the role of the countess in the next opera “Il Muto”. The non-speaking role of the pageboy would be designated on Carlotta. A furious Carlotta threatened to storm out.
Firmin and Andre had to catch up to her caprices. While they don’t have a problem with Christine. They don’t want to offend their main prima donna either. They showered her with platitudes. Implored her with the claim that her audience needs her. The whole nine yards. Carlotta enjoyed playing hard to get. Certain aspects of her narcissism are worth discussing indeed in our Phantom of the Opera summary. Eventually she relented and assumed the role of the countess in “Il Muto”.
The role of the pageboy was then assigned to Christine. “Il Muto” was then staged with the casting that Firmin and Andre approved of. The Phantom was enraged. Box 5 was not even vacated for him to foresee the casting he commanded. With his voice loud and booming on the halls of the opera house, he declared his displeasure over the casting change. As you will further discover in our Phantom of the Opera summary, Carlotta’s professional jealousy with Christine was such that she called her a toad. And that did not get away from the Phantom’s watchful eye.
In our Phantom of the Opera summary, it could not be explained what happened next. The next thing that Carlotta realized, she could not sing. And the only sounds coming out of her mouth were croaks. The Phantom could not contain his laughter at shaming Carlotta.
Firmin and Andre tried to remedy the situation by going onstage themselves. Piangi comforted Carlotta for the meantime. The opera house owners then declared a new casting. Christine as the countess and Carlotta as the pageboy. They put the dance numbers as intermission for the meantime. In the middle of the dance number, some sounds from the attic were heard. Lo and behold! Joseph Buquet fell from the ceiling suspended by a rope around his neck. This turned out to be too much for Christine to bear. In the ensuing pandemonium, she ran to the roof with Raoul.
Raoul doesn’t believe in the existence of the Phantom. It was the idea that he tried to instill in Christine as the latter trembled. She was so scared of the Phantom. What further weakened her explanation was how the Phantom is inside her mind. Raoul loved Christine too much to pay attention to how messed up her mind has become. He chose to comfort Christine instead. He even offered to take her away. It was a plan that the Phantom overheard. Lurking from the shadows, he declared Christine as only his. This can sum up best in our Phantom of the Opera summary how obsessed the Phantom has become of Christine.
Half a year into our Phantom of the Opera summary. Opera Populaire hosted an opera ball. Everyone including Carlotta and Piangi attended the ball. Raoul would like to take advantage of this event to declare his engagement to Christine. Christine would rather keep it a secret for the meantime. She is still having difficulty explaining the gravity of the situation to Raoul. Still, Raoul took the high road and chose to avoid an argument with Christine.
The Phantom chose to make his presence felt physically. The opera ball was a masquerade party. It gave him the perfect excuse to don a mask and dress the part of Red Death. He mocked the attendees’ silence. Everyone thought that he was gone. And he arrived to debunk that perception. It was here where he bluntly shoved a libretto, Don Juan Triumphant, he finished down the throats of Firmin and Andre. The part of Don Juan would be played by Piangi. Don Juan’s lover would be played by Christine. Carlotta was again relegated to a supporting role. It shattered her hopes of reclaiming her prima donna status in our Phantom of the Opera summary.
Raoul is fed up with the misdemeanors. And finally, he saw the Phantom for himself. He then orchestrated an entrapment operation. Firmin and Andre helped by pushing through with the opera Don Juan Triumphant. He convinced Christine to take the lead soprano role as bait for the Phantom. Piangi would play the role of Don Juan. And everyone would act as if the production is pushed through in accordance to the Phantom’s demands. Or so the Phantom thought in our Phantom of the Opera summary.
Our Phantom of the Opera summary starts getting bloody at this point. There was a part in the libretto where Don Juan would come in wearing a caped cloak. And the lead characters in Don Juan Triumphant had a duet. It took sometime for Christine to notice how her duet partner is not Piangi but the Phantom. Must be the absence of an Italian accent.
Christine had to confirm first her hunch that the tenor in a caped cloak is the Phantom. First, she removes the hood. Then she removes the mask, exposing the horror that she could barely call a face. Piangi was later showed as hanging from behind the theater trappings. The audience was roused into an angry mob for witness a live murder onstage. In the Phantom’s panic, he abducts Christine away.
Raoul himself was panicking at the thought of Christine under the spell of a dangerous man. He pressed Madame Giry for information of the Phantom’s whereabouts. And who the man really is. What is his motivation? What really is his relationship with Christine? Madame Giry was too scared to share more than the Phantom’s location. Too many “accidents” have happened. And she didn’t want any of those unfortunate “accidents” to fall on her as well. Our Phantom of the Opera summary has mentioned what happened to Joseph Buquet. Madame Giry made sure to mention about the punjab lasso though.
We reach the point in our Phantom of the Opera summary where Raoul confronts the Phantom for Christine’s freedom. The infamous punjab lasso has caught Raoul, much to Christine’s horror. As much as she is horrified at the Phantom, she partly understood the inner turmoil.
The Phantom thought that he has become incapable of compassion. He tried to justify his actions by judging how the world denied him any compassion itself. Christine concluded that it’s not the Phantom’s face that’s really deformed. What is really deformed is his soul. And Christine implored God for the courage to do the unthinkable. Christine kisses the Phantom. His first taste of compassion itself. Hatred was replaced with pity. The emotions that engulfed the Phantom were so strong. It pushed him to let go of Christine and Raoul. Before the angry audience could reach the Phantom in his lair, he disappeared in his throne.
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