The audience cheered madly. Ramin Karimloo waved them off and bade them goodnight, trying to get offstage so he could get ready for the gala. But then, he felt a pair of arms playfully grab his waist. He laughed and turning around, saw Sierra Boggess, laughing back with her luminous smile, Ramin swept her off her feet and held her like a princess. The audience roared and the two friends left the stage as Sierra waved goodbye.

I paused the DVD and popped it out into its case. Em had bought me the Phantom of the Opera Live at the Royal Albert Hall in Celebration of 25 years for my birthday making this the 5th DVD in my Phantom collection with the 2004 adaptation, the 2012 sequel filmed in Australia, the 1990 television mini series, and my own high school production. I also had been given the original novel and the Susan Kay novel that year. The VCR clock (yes, my parents still own a VCR) read midnight. I had waited until my parents went to bed to watch the performance because watching it with them was uncomfortable for me. Phantom was my own private world and its message of compassion and embracing the dark and light inside you had come at a very turbulent time in my life.

Yawning, I shut off the TV and went to bed. While praying, scenes from the show kept nudging into my head. I switched off the light and tucked myself in. Wouldn't it be wonderful to live in that world? I thought, In Paris? To sing for joy and be adored by Parisian elite? To fall in love? To be loved and appreciated? "I wish I was with the Phantom," I murmured, "I wish I was Christine DaaƩ." My eyes grew heavier and fluttered shut in sleep.