The Exposition:

"Gabriella, you know better than to test me like this!" Monsieur Philippe Fauxvoix yelled, "First you cried bloody blasphemy to Handel's Messiah, in London and now you carry out false allegations toward the beauty of Lully's Armide! Now if you don't become serious this instant..."

"You'll take me out of this god forsake opera and finally send me home rather than treat me like a caged animal Monsieur?" Gabriella screamed as hot tears began to pour down her cheeks, "no, that would never happen, you are a monster greater than any the world has seen!"

"That is no way to talk to the man who, plucked you out of obscurity and flung you into the spotlight!" Fauxvoix laughed, "now sing my pet, from the top of Armide's aria if you please."

"Someone should write an opera about you, you wicked old man!"

"Now you listen to me you little rat," Philippe said as he walked up onto the stage and violently grabbed her skinny arm as if it were a twig he was ready to break. He hushed his voice and twisted her arm until her tears of anger became tears of pain and horror, "your voice belongs to me. You will sing when I tell you, for as long as I tell you and you will put on a happy face for the public and press. Do you understand me, wretch?"

Gabrielle nodded fearfully.

"Good," he paused, took a deep breath and turned away from her, "Maestro, Armide is ready," He smiled and walked off stage with an air to him as if he had beaten an animal into submission.

Gabriella could hardly hold back her sobs as the music erupted from the orchestra. Monsieur Philippe glared from his seat next to the director and she knew she could do nothing but obey her captor.

Little Gabriella was one of the leading Opera Divas, although she despised the term. Her name was known globally and her pure bell like voice and stage presence was being credited for the return to popularity of the classical opera. Never was there an empty seat at a theatre that Mademoiselle Gabriella Angelique was the leading lady for a performance, though she never saw any of the money that she had allegedly made. All matters of finance went through her manager and she was continually being assured that her mother was well taken care of.

Gabriella had been touring Europe for nine years under a manager that should have been terminated eight years prior but whenever matters of management would come up M. Fauxvoix became angry and violent and on occasion he became so abusive to the little woman he had nearly silenced her for good, leaving only a private nurse, who also feared him more than anyone, to attend to the broken and battered woman. Gabriella's biggest fear was not death itself but that she would live her life with this man who held her so tightly in everyway that she was simply a pet on a leash.

Her family was pour and non musical when at the tender age of six a hidden virtuosic talent was discovered in the only child of, the now deceased, Monsieur Ralph Angelique and his wife Melanie, a shimmer of hope was visible through the darkness of their poverty. Her mother had been left destitute when her husband died. He had gambled his life away only to be so in debt that he flung himself into the St. Laurence river and drowned when Gabriella was only four. Melanie could hardly keep providing food for her daughter let alone shelter when word of her work places foreclosure. Opera in Montreal had become nearly unseen, the music of the generation had taken over and the populous that did attend cultural entertainment was aging. The need for a full opera house was no more and therefore the building would not need to be cleaned. It would be demolished to make room for yet another paved paradise.

On an evening in late February, a young Gabriella joined her mother at work to escape the cold winter winds the were felt in Montreal. It was on this night that the angels had smiled and the little girl and her mother, for it was in this place that Gabriella's voice was discovered. Her mother had spoken a lot of the almost certain closure of the theatre and the little girl could feel her mothers despair. Gabriella had decided to do the one thing that always brought hope to her mother, she knelt down at her side and took a wash cloth from a pail of cold soapy water and as she cleaned the floor alongside her one remaining parent she sang a soft hymn of praise and hope to comfort the heartache that they had this far escaped. The soft bell tones rang in the hall of the theatre as tears mixed with the dirty water on the floor. The man who believed his theatre to be a thing of the past was struck by the voice of an angel.

Gabriella, as well as her mother, were flung int a great commotion. The theatre owner, Monsieur Jean Soulin, had gather all his last resorts and through them into the theatre. He put all his faith in the young, unknown, virtuosic singer. The theatre was cleaned and prepared for a great gala, which should little Gabriella fail, would be turned over to the government for destruction and not only would Gabriella and her mother be put to the street so would pour M. Soulin. The success of this giant risk layed on the shoulders of a now seven year old unknown.

M. Soulin worked tirelessly with the little singer to ready her for her stage debut. Melanie and Gabriella had taken up residence in a small dressing room in the theatre. It wasn't much but it was away from the cold winter and did give both of them all the time need to devote to the theatre.

As the time of the performance grew nearer the publicity from the small opera house was praising the little singer as 'the first real child prodigy since Mozart' and claiming that 'the heavens had opened to smile on the stage once more'. But the opera house was not letting the child be seen till the night of the gala. The building anticipation brought in record breaking sales of tickets. Not a seat was left empty in the theatre by the night of the performance.

Finally, on the evening of the gala performance, the theatre shone with all the splendour of when it was first opened. This was to be a rebirth of the small opera house if the little girl could rise to the occasion. The evening saw the arrival of more of the wealthiest patrons and the cultured musical elite then Montreal had ever seen, filling the theatre to capacity. The theatre was filled with the anticipation of the guests and chatter of excitement was heard on and off stage. The brilliant blue velvet curtains locked in the excitement until the audience had reached a breaking point. The music erupted from the orchestra and the curtains parted for Montreal's first glimpse at the little miracle.

The sky opened and smiled upon Gabriella that night and the little girl was granted her wings. She shone in a roll meant for a woman twenty years her superior and her voice filled and resounded in the theatre. For Gabriella it was like magic, nothing she had ever experienced before. The shear joy that surrounded her, she felt as though she could fly into the heavens carried by her own voice and before she knew it the two hour performance was over. She was met with great ovations and deafening applause. It was the greatest performance this opera house had seen in all its years of productions and little Gabriella felt as thought she had seen and felt heaven on earth.

The media storm to follow the little divas debut was astronomical. She was being hailed as the 'theatre baby' and in true media fashion the young girls poverty was set aside to tell a more mysterious and fictional story:

"A child was born of musical grace and majesty. Released from heaven, the angels voice took the stage at the Montreal Opera. This babe in swaddle, tiny as a star; became greater than life itself. Born to the world as a musical masterwork contrived of the genius mind of a heavenly composer with a flash of innocence, the purity of the whitest winter snow, she is a child of perfection."

Gabriella was flung into a world of musical offers to attend the finest conservatories, to see the world in all its wonder and bring her voice to millions upon millions of unworthy listener. And all the while Gabriella stay devoted to her little theatre and the man that inspired and believed in her voice. M. Soulin would remain Gabriella's primary teacher in the arts of the theatre and performance, however she did attend musical training for two hours a day at the conservatory, she was happiest in her little theatre. Her mother was promoted, with her daughter success to a management potion and was able to move the little girl out of the theatre dressing room and into a flat but Gabriella preferred to spend her time in her make believe kingdom where she was always the glorious and ever praised Princess de L'opེra.

By the age of ten Gabriella had already performed in over forty operas, developed a great love for ballet, fencing and horse back riding and had produced her first professional recording of a hand full of her favourite opera arias. Her popularity only grew as she got older. Her mother finally had achieved financial stability and they lived a life, though fast pasted, that was very comfortable. Gabriella vowed that for the rest of her life she would be sharing her voice with all the world.

It wasn't long after her eleventh birthday that little Gabriella was faced with one of the hardest decisions of her life. M. Soulin was becoming quite old and though the last year of his opera life had been very prosperous he was looking at selling the opera and eventually did. The opera was sold and, although it was greatly fought by the public, the building was demolished and Gabriella had to say goodbye to her palace. The opportunity arose very quickly for Gabriella to find a manager. One day M. Soulin was set to have tea with her mother and when he brought with him a cousin on his wives side who had done great things with singers in the past. It was the first time that Gabriella had met Monsieur Philippe Fauxvoix.

In the beginning M. Fauxvoix was very kind and encouraging to the little child. Her mother began to fancy the man and soon Gabriella's mother had signed the child's first contract with M. Fauxvoix. They vowed to take things slow for the little girl starting with smaller opera venues and privately done concerts but soon her reputation spread and she was being shipped off to the united states for concerts. The contract that was signed, though not fair in the least, enabled M. Fauxvoix to have full creative control over the young ladies career up until she was twenty one and able at last to make her own choices. Her mother, not having any experience with managing a musician was more than happy to allow Philippe to take control and all was well and kept safe in the mothers home. The money that the young girl was making kept a very comfortable life for her mother and a happy Gabriella believed her dreams of global popularity to be coming true. On her twentieth birthday Gabriella got word that she would be taking Europe by storm with her manager at her side. They left for Europe with a small entourage of keepers and fate seemed to be smiling on the pretty little singer.

It was in Europe that the chains on Gabriella became life threatening. She was not able to communicate with her mother back home, being told that if she did both her and her mother would be in great danger. Gabriella's mother was also captured by the fear of the power hungry M. Fauxvoix who, upon arriving in Europe, set to the aging woman threatening messages of his power over the both of them and that, should she try and involve the police, he would send her back to the streets and kill her only means of life support, Gabriella. Both women fell into great desperation and guilt. Melanie feared for her daughter and believed that she would never see her again. Gabriella spent all her time in the presents of her manager, who if she disobeyed him would scold her and beat her. She was told that the money was keeping her mother alive and well, and that she needed nothing to do with it. She was locked away during the day time, when she was not free in the theatres for rehearsal. She had been signed to opera contracts at different theatres and worked non-stop for many, many months. Soon her twenty first birthday had come and gone and she had no way of proving that her contract was finished with a man who now told her that she was his. There were times when no amount of makeup could cover the bruises on the small woman body. She had never had to deal with this violence and although she had been trained in theatrical combat styles nothing could protect her against a man twice her size. All of the keepers and hired help were also deathly afraid of M. Fauxvoix and even though they all disagreed with what he was doing to Gabriella they would not dare to defy him.

Performances where the young woman only escape. While she was on stage singing M. Fauxvoix couldn't touch her but once the opera was over and she was back in his possession he did what he pleased with her. She fell into great despair and believe she would never know the freedom that she once knew in the little Montreal Opera house. The one thing that she once dreamed about was slowly killing her and although she didn't fear death she feared the amount of time she would have to live under the cast shadow of Philippe Fauxvoix.