How Does the "Phantom of the Opera" Plot Unfold?
The Opening
The Phantom of the Opera begins with an auction at the Paris Opera House. An elderly man named Raoul bids on a music box. The pieces of a huge chandelier are on display. As the auctioneer asks for a demonstration of the new wiring, the chandelier rises and time goes back to 1881 when Raoul was young.
During a rehearsal of a new opera, the opera manager announces he's retiring and introduces the new managers. While singing for the new managers, the show's star, Carlotta, barely avoids death when a backdrop falls. The ballet girls whisper that it must be the phantom, and Carlotta refuses to perform until the mystery is solved.
Left without a leading lady, the managers discuss canceling the show, but Meg Giry, a member of the ballet chorus, convinces the managers to let her best friend, Christine Daae, sing for them. Impressed with her voice, the managers give Christine the lead role. Meg is happy for her friend, but wonders how her singing developed so quickly. Christine tells Meg about her teacher, the Angel of Music, who was sent by her dead father. She's never seen him, but he's taught her to develop her voice.
The Love Triangle
Raoul is a new patron of the opera and enjoys Christine's performance. When they meet, they realize they were childhood friends. Christine agrees to go out to dinner with Raoul, and he leaves her dressing room to get his coat. A mirror slides open to reveal the Phantom, Christine's Angel of Music, wearing a mask over part of his face. He takes Christine through the maze of waterways under the theatre to his home. He explains he tutored her so she can sing music he has written.
The Phantom has a power over Christine that causes her to fall into a trance. When she wakes up in the morning, the Phantom is composing music at his organ. Christine sneaks up behind him and pulls off his mask. He chases her, shouting, and she runs, afraid of his anger. When he breaks down, Christine feels sorry for him and gives him back his mask. He returns her to the theatre, and sends notes to the managers. He wants Christine in the lead role and wants Box Five reserved for him.
The managers refuse to believe in the Phantom and Raoul sits in Box Five while Carlotta plays the lead. The Phantom makes Carlotta croak like a toad when she tries to sing, so the managers send Christine to change for the lead role. The ballet performs as they wait, but the body of the stage manager hanging from a lasso is found behind a backdrop. Christine and Raoul run to the roof, where the Phantom overhears them saying they love each other. He vows to get revenge as the show resumes. During the curtain call, the huge chandelier crashes to the stage at Christine's feet.
"It's oOver Now--the Music of the Night"
Six months later, a recently engaged Raoul and Christine go to a masked ball at the theatre. Christine wears her ring around her neck to hide the engagement. The Phantom disguises himself as Death and gives a copy of his opera to the managers, insisting that Christine play the starring role. He takes the engagement ring from Christine's neck, shouting that she belongs to him.
Christine wants nothing to do with the opera, but Raoul convinces her to play the part so he can trap the Phantom. During a rehearsal Christine realizes she doesn't want to betray the Phantom, and she leaves to visit her father's grave. The Phantom shows up and sings to her, but as she begins to fall under his power, Raoul finds them and the men argue. When the Phantom shoots fireballs at Raoul, Christine and Raoul run away.
Onstage, Christine is playing the starring role when she realizes she's singing with the Phantom, not the leading man. He gives her a ring, but she tears off his mask so everyone can see his face. He drags her away as the body of the leading man is found. When Raoul follows, the Phantom catches him and tells Christine if she chooses to stay he'll let Raoul go. Raoul tells her not to think of him, but she stuns the Phantom by kissing him. The Phantom is so overwhelmed by his first human contact that he lets them both go.
Christine realizes she still has the Phantom's ring and goes back to return it. He asks her to overlook his scarred face and stay with him, but Christine tells him it's not the scars on his face that scare her, but the scars on his soul. He shouts her name as she leaves, then sings mournfully, "It's over now--the music of the night." He pulls his cape around him as an angry mob finds his home. When Meg arrives looking for Christine, she pulls back the cape to find only the Phantom's mask.
