Just when I think this couldn't get any worse, the managers announce that "Carlotta will be playing the lead". You have got to be kidding me. Anyone but her should play the role of Countess. Not hearing a word of this, Carlotta goes off on a tangent, Piangi having her back the entire time. "It's useless trying to appease me, you're only saying this to please me!" They start speaking Italian, so I can't understand what exactly they are saying.
Madame Giry, knowing what the Phantom is capable of, tries to warn them that those "Who scorn his word, beware to those ...the angel seeks, the angel knows" while Raoul is asking himself "Why did Christine fly from my arms?" Carlotta claims that "You have rebuked me, you have reviled me you have replaced me." News flash, Miss Giudicelli. You walked out and they needed someone to open the new show. So they turned to me. Had you not walked out, this conversation wouldn't be happening. The managers beg and plead with her "Signora pardon us, Please Signora, we beseech you". I hear Raoul say that "I must see her, where did she go?" Oh what I wouldn't give to see him right now. I could explain everything and clear up this misunderstanding. I hear Madame Giry say that "This hour shall see your darkest fears ... the angel knows, the angel hears". I suddenly feel chills shoot down my spine. They really should listen to the Phantom and not put everyone at risk.
Carlotta and Piangi continue their Italian tangent Abbandonata! Deseredata! O, sventurata! Abbandonata! Disgraziata!" The managers appealed more to her "Signora, sing for us, don't be a martyr". They call her "our star". Umm, remember gentlemen, she WALKED OUT! Carlotta says "Non vo cantar!" Having heard enough, Andre tries one last time to appeal to her, saying that "your public needs you." Firmin assures her, with a bit of skepticism in his voice that "we need you too". "Would you not rather have your precious little ingénue?" Carlotta asks. How dare she? As a final push of reassurance, the managers tell her "Signora, no. The world wants you." Have they not read the reviews? The public loves me.
I can't believe what comes out of their mouths next. They call Carlotta "Prima Donna, first lady of the stage". Andre tells her that "your devotees, are on their knees to implore you. Can you bow out when they're shouting your name?" Firmin encourages her to "think of how they all adore you." They don't adore her, they adore me, and the reviews prove it. They continue "Prima Donna enchant us once again. Think of your muse, and of the queues round the theatre. Can you deny us, the triumph in store? Sing Prima Donna once more." Underneath their adoration, I hear Raoul say that "Christine spoke of an angel". Carlotta starts a self-admiration, saying "Prima Donna your song shall live again. You took a snub, but there's a public who needs you." The managers encourage her, saying that "those who hear your voice like you to an angel. Think of their cry and undying support." Did they really just compare her shrill, full-of-itself voice to an angel?
I keep listening. Carlotta is clearly singing about herself, how she is a "Prima Donna" and how her "song shall never die." Raoul is trying to figure out whether the Phantom is an "angel or a madman". The managers seem satisfied that they will "get their opera and she gets her limelight." I assume they are referring to Carlotta because I'm playing the silent role, despite the fact that my voice is better than Carlotta's.
Raoul clearly understands, or at least I think he does. He keeps bringing up the "orders and warnings" that the Phantom wrote about in his notes. But the managers and Carlotta seem completely oblivious as Carlotta sings about how she'll shine "in that final encore". I can't understand what the managers are saying up until this point, but my gut tells me that they are supporting Carlotta. The managers really need a reality check, they forgotten that she left out of nowhere on opening night of Hannibal and they call the Phantom's orders 'lunatic'.
What really grinds my gears is when the managers say that "Who'd believe a diva happy to relieve a chorus girl, who's gone and slept with the patron? Raoul and the soubrette, entwined in love's duet! Although he may demur, he must have been with her!" Plot twist, I haven't seen Raoul since we were teenagers, and I wasn't even 'with him' last night. Oh how I wish I could explain this to them, maybe they would finally understand. They call it a "perfect opera' because it's sung "with a loud voice and in a foreign tongue." Ok, then, if that's what that's that they call perfect. I think I have definitely heard enough, but their charade continues.
YOU ARE READING
Inside My Mind: The Phantom of the Opera as told by Miss Christine Daae
FantasyA work of fan fiction. The haunting love story The Phantom of the Opera as told through the eyes of Miss Christine Daae. All lyrical and script credit to Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber.
