In The Wings

Act V Scene II

The second act of the show had been going on for quite a while - Christine found herself shocked that everything was going as well as it was. Everyone sounded good, no one forgot their lines, and most of all the Phantom didn't seem to have anything to say. This was all she could've ever hoped for, but it also meant that she had to make sure to continue having a good show.

She glanced down to her white dress, waiting for her cue to run out on the stage from the wings. Clara's wedding dress shone a nearly golden color with the lights from the other side of the stage. Christine did love this dress - it was white and puffed out, making her feel like some sort of angel from the fifties. But, of course, she needed to make sure people were paying attention to what she was singing instead of what she was wearing.

Clara's Interlude had once been a very short song. But the Phantom had written line after line of music to extend the part where Christine vocalized. She had already been struggling with it before that point, but the Phantom's new music just added a whole new challenge onto it. Now that Christine was performing it, she had to hope that the practice she had gotten was enough.

She was afraid of messing it up, so afraid. Her voice was capable enough to do it, she knew that much at least, but nerves of every sort were getting the better of her. She tried to push them out of her head in an attempt to prepare herself, a task she barely accomplished before the opening notes to Clara's Interlude came on.

Christine rushed to the stage, starting to run around as if she were lost. All the way her hands shook wildly, the way she had chose to express Clara's distress all that time ago. Finally she forced herself to walk straight up to the front and center of the stage, opening her mouth in an "ah" in order to vocalize.

The vocalizing went on for several minutes, and all the while Christine had to be at the top of her game. Without words, she had to portray all of the emotional pain that Clara was going through and make it thoroughly clear. While the Phantom's music accomplished this on its own, if she didn't nail the performance it wouldn't come across to the audience.

Christine sung her heart out, the very best that she possibly could. Clara's Interlude had always been the song she had the most trouble with, but now she felt the need to please the Phantom with all of the additions.

It wasn't because she wanted him to be happy with her or with anything else, but she wanted him to be content enough not to cause some horrible disaster.

But coming up next was Love to Me. Oh, she knew that Phantom hated this song. He had never spoken a word against it, but it would be Paul expressing his love to Christine and confirming that it was returned. The Phantom would be furious, even though he knew that it was coming. Christine was expecting something bad to happen.

Standing there, she felt tears pressing at her eyes. Good. She was getting into character. Christine forced herself to take in a shuddering breath, shaking her hands as she began to walk back towards upstage left - she would stand there as Paul came out from stage right and began to sing to her.

As the orchestral music began to soften and turn into a far more romantic tune, she continued to shake her hands but made sure to make everything else she was doing far less intense. The last thing she wanted to was to attract attention away from Paul during this solo.

Then she heard the footfalls against the floor, coming right towards her. No matter how badly she wanted to turn around, she knew that in order to give the character justice she had to continue looking straight ahead and away from Paul. Then he began to sing.

"The day we meet,

The way you lean against the wind,

And do not know that you are beautiful," sang Paul. He had sounded good in the rehearsals, but never as good as this. Maybe he was finally singing full out because of the performance. She wished that she could turn around and see his face and expressions while he sang, because coming from Paul they would be real. His voice was smoother and clearer with a better vibrato than before.