The opening night of Il Muto finally came. Socks was the Countess, and Sarah was Seraphimo, the page boy. Jack stood in the hallway outside the box seats speaking with the Managers just before the curtain was to go up.
"Perhaps you would take your seats now?" Jack suggested. "It's about to start, it looks like. I'll be sitting in Box 5."
"Do you think that's wise?" Stress asked looking at the entrance to the box skeptically.
"Madame, it seems that there are no other seats available. I hope you enjoy the show."
She looked uneasy about that, as David led her into their box.
"We sold every seat in the house," he told her. "Think of the money that means."
"Greedy," Sunset commented. David looked at Specs with frustration in his eyes. Specs only shrugged, as if to say he couldn't do anything about her. The Managers and their ladies took their seats just as the curtain raised.
The scene revealed a canopied bed, in which one could hear Socks' voice, but could not see her, as the drapes around the bed were drawn.
Tunes, playing as the Countess's confidante, stood with several other chorus members on the stage as the music of the overture faded.
"They say that this youth, this page boy, has set my lady's heart aflame!"
"His Lordship would surely die of shock if he knew!" Holiday replied, playing a servant of the house.
"He's the laughing-stock of the town!" Snitch exclaimed.
"It's shameful!" Tunes sang with the music that had started.
"Shameful!" the three sang together.
"This faithless lady is bound for hell!" Hades sang, joining them, waving her feather-duster about.
The curtains around the bed parted, revealing Socks and Sarah, deep in private conversation.
"Seraphimo, your disguise is perfect. He will never know!" Socks told Sarah in a dramatic voice.
Sarah wiggled her rear, pretending to dust the room. There was a knock at the door.
"Whoever can that be?" Socks asked angrily.
Skittery could be seen at the side of the stage, behind a door. "Come in, my love," Socks called to him.
"My dear, I am called to England on affairs of State, and must leave you with your new maid." Aside to the audience, he said, "Though I'd happily take the made with me."
Socks said aside to the audience, "The old fool is leaving!"
"I suspect my young bride is untrue to me. I shall not leave but I shall hide over there to observe her!" Skittery revealed to the audience.
"Addio," he bid to Socks.
"Addio," she called back. Skittery then left the room, appearing to have left on his trip, but instead hid at the side-stage where the audience could see him.
Socks then walked over to Sarah, who was grinning impishly at her, and pretending to be a boy. "Seraphimo, away with this pretence," Socks sang. "You cannot speak, but kiss me in my husband's absence."
They danced around the stage once, then Socks stopped in the middle of the stage and began to sing again.
"Poor fool, he makes me laugh!
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!
Time I tried to get a better better half!"
The chorus began to chime in then, some members dancing about Sarah and Socks.
"Poor fool, he doesn't know!
Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho!
Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho!
If he knew the truth he'd never, ever go!"
Over the music, a voice floated through the hall. "Didn't I instruct you that Box 5 was to be kept empty?"
Autumn looked terrified. "It's him! It's the Phantom!"
Sarah looked fearful, and started to look around her everywhere. "It's Him, I know it! It's Him!"
Socks glared at her. "Your part is silent, little toad!" she hissed.
"A toad, Madame? Perhaps it is you who are the toad…" the voice said.
Socks looked uneasy at this. She walked over to the conductor, and instructed him to begin at her part once more.
"Seraphimo, away with this pretence!
You cannot speak, but kiss me in my husband's-Croak!"
Socks looked amazed at this happening. The rest of the cast is silent. The music continued once more, and over it the Phantom's laughing could be heard.
"Poor fool, he makes me laugh!
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!
Croak! Croak! Croak!"
Socks looked frantic as she found herself unable to stop croaking. The lights of the chandelier flickered as the Phantom's laugh rang through even louder than before.
"Behold!" he said. "She is singing to bring down the chandelier!"
Socks shook her head at the Managers in their box. "I can't go on! I can't!" she cried, beginning to sob.
Skittery rushed on. "I'm here, Socks. I'm here; it's alright," he reassured her.
The managers rushed onto the stage as Skittery ushered Socks off of it, howling.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the performance will continue in ten minutes' time," David informed them as chorus members exited quickly "It will continue with Sarah Jacobs playing the role of the Countess, and Aki O'Brien as the page boy."
"In the meantime," Specs continued. "We will give you the ballet from Act Three of tonight's opera." He looked down at the Conductor. "Maestro, the ballet, now," he instructed through clenched teeth.
The corps de ballet entered and began to dance, looking terrified as they did so. Behind the backdrop, there were shadows of the phantom showing. Autumn saw these, and fell out of step in the dance. Right at that moment, the body of Racetrack Higgins fell onto the stage with a rope around his neck. The ballet troupe on the stage let out a screech, and Tunes fainted dead away.
Sarah's eyes got wide. "Jack! Jack!" she called desperately.
"Come with me!" he told her, leading her off of the stage.
"No, up to the roof. We'll be safe there!" she told him, anxiously.
Policemen ran onto the stage as all the stage hands rushed down from their spots to see who had fallen onto the stage. David waved his hands at the audience, trying to placate them. "Please remain in your seats, ladies and gentlemen! It was an accident! Merely an accident! That's all!" The pandemonium in the Opera House was great.
Sarah and Jack rushed onto the roof, Sarah looking desperate, and Jack looking confused. "Why have you brought us here?" he asked her.
"Don't take me back there, Jack. Don't make me go back!"
"We have to go back!"
"He'll kill me!"
"Be still, Sarah, be still…"
"His eyes will find me there!"
"Don't say that, Sarah."
"They burn into my soul, Jack. And if he has to kill a thousand men, he'll do it!"
"Forget this waking nightmare! The phantom is a fable, believe me!"
"He'll kill again and again, Jack! He will!" She looked as if she were about to cry.
"Don't talk of it, Sarah. He doesn't exist."
"Jack, I've been there. He lives in a world where daylight dissolves into darkness! I've seen him! Could I ever forget that sight? I can never escape from his face. It was so distorted, so deformed… It was hardly a face at all…" She became thoughtful. "But his voice filled my spirit with a strange, sweet sound, and all that night, I had music in my head. And my soul began to soar because of his music."
"It was a dream. That was all it was, Sarah. Just a dream…"
Sarah didn't listen to him. "But in his eyes… I could see all the sadness of the world. Those… those pleading eyes, threatening, but at the same time, so adoring."
"Sarah…. Sarah…" Jack said softly and comfortingly.
"Sarah…" came an echo of the Phantom's voice.
"What was that?" Sarah asked, frightened.
"Sarah, don't talk of darkness anymore. Forget all your fears. I'm here. Nothing is going to harm you. Let me be your freedom. Let daylight dry your tears. I'm here beside you, I promise I'll stay here and guard you from all bad things."
"Jack, just say you'll love me every waking moment, and that you'll need me with you always. Promise me that what you're saying is true… that's all I ask of you."
"I do, Sarah, I do! Wherever you go, let me go, too. Just love me. That's all I ask." Sarah smiled up at him in a reverie. Jack leaned down and kissed her softly. Sarah hugged him close for a moment, and then pulled back.
"Jack, I must get back! They will wonder where I am… Wait for me, Jack!" She turned to rush down the stairs.
"I love you, Sarah!" he called.
She turned back and ran back over to him. "Order your best horses, be with them at the door as soon as I'm done."
"Then forever, you'll be with me!"
"And you can protect me from the night!"
They both turned and ran down the stairs back into the Opera House. The Phantom stepped out from behind the statue at that point. "I gave you your music, made your song live. And look, look how you have repaid me: You've denied me, and betrayed me. He was destined to love you when he heard you sing… Oh, Sarah…" He got very angry at that moment. "You will curse the day you did not do all that the Phantom asked you to do!" He shook his fist in the air.
Sarah finished out the performance of Il Muto as the Countess. The principals in the cast came out of the curtain for their bows. As they straightened, the lights of the chandelier began to flicker once again. Looking up, the Phantom could be seen rocking it perilously. He yelled and the chandelier descended some. He looked down at Sarah, his eyes full of jealousy. "GO!" he yelled to the chandelier and it plunged downwards. Half of it landed at Sarah's feet, the other half landed off of the stage, directly atop of Spadey Lawrence.
The headlines that filled the paper the next day caused great shock in the city: "Chandelier Falls on Replacement Opera House Dance Instructor, Dead Instantly". It was a performance that no one in the town would ever forget.
"Perhaps you would take your seats now?" Jack suggested. "It's about to start, it looks like. I'll be sitting in Box 5."
"Do you think that's wise?" Stress asked looking at the entrance to the box skeptically.
"Madame, it seems that there are no other seats available. I hope you enjoy the show."
She looked uneasy about that, as David led her into their box.
"We sold every seat in the house," he told her. "Think of the money that means."
"Greedy," Sunset commented. David looked at Specs with frustration in his eyes. Specs only shrugged, as if to say he couldn't do anything about her. The Managers and their ladies took their seats just as the curtain raised.
The scene revealed a canopied bed, in which one could hear Socks' voice, but could not see her, as the drapes around the bed were drawn.
Tunes, playing as the Countess's confidante, stood with several other chorus members on the stage as the music of the overture faded.
"They say that this youth, this page boy, has set my lady's heart aflame!"
"His Lordship would surely die of shock if he knew!" Holiday replied, playing a servant of the house.
"He's the laughing-stock of the town!" Snitch exclaimed.
"It's shameful!" Tunes sang with the music that had started.
"Shameful!" the three sang together.
"This faithless lady is bound for hell!" Hades sang, joining them, waving her feather-duster about.
The curtains around the bed parted, revealing Socks and Sarah, deep in private conversation.
"Seraphimo, your disguise is perfect. He will never know!" Socks told Sarah in a dramatic voice.
Sarah wiggled her rear, pretending to dust the room. There was a knock at the door.
"Whoever can that be?" Socks asked angrily.
Skittery could be seen at the side of the stage, behind a door. "Come in, my love," Socks called to him.
"My dear, I am called to England on affairs of State, and must leave you with your new maid." Aside to the audience, he said, "Though I'd happily take the made with me."
Socks said aside to the audience, "The old fool is leaving!"
"I suspect my young bride is untrue to me. I shall not leave but I shall hide over there to observe her!" Skittery revealed to the audience.
"Addio," he bid to Socks.
"Addio," she called back. Skittery then left the room, appearing to have left on his trip, but instead hid at the side-stage where the audience could see him.
Socks then walked over to Sarah, who was grinning impishly at her, and pretending to be a boy. "Seraphimo, away with this pretence," Socks sang. "You cannot speak, but kiss me in my husband's absence."
They danced around the stage once, then Socks stopped in the middle of the stage and began to sing again.
"Poor fool, he makes me laugh!
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!
Time I tried to get a better better half!"
The chorus began to chime in then, some members dancing about Sarah and Socks.
"Poor fool, he doesn't know!
Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho!
Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho!
If he knew the truth he'd never, ever go!"
Over the music, a voice floated through the hall. "Didn't I instruct you that Box 5 was to be kept empty?"
Autumn looked terrified. "It's him! It's the Phantom!"
Sarah looked fearful, and started to look around her everywhere. "It's Him, I know it! It's Him!"
Socks glared at her. "Your part is silent, little toad!" she hissed.
"A toad, Madame? Perhaps it is you who are the toad…" the voice said.
Socks looked uneasy at this. She walked over to the conductor, and instructed him to begin at her part once more.
"Seraphimo, away with this pretence!
You cannot speak, but kiss me in my husband's-Croak!"
Socks looked amazed at this happening. The rest of the cast is silent. The music continued once more, and over it the Phantom's laughing could be heard.
"Poor fool, he makes me laugh!
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!
Croak! Croak! Croak!"
Socks looked frantic as she found herself unable to stop croaking. The lights of the chandelier flickered as the Phantom's laugh rang through even louder than before.
"Behold!" he said. "She is singing to bring down the chandelier!"
Socks shook her head at the Managers in their box. "I can't go on! I can't!" she cried, beginning to sob.
Skittery rushed on. "I'm here, Socks. I'm here; it's alright," he reassured her.
The managers rushed onto the stage as Skittery ushered Socks off of it, howling.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the performance will continue in ten minutes' time," David informed them as chorus members exited quickly "It will continue with Sarah Jacobs playing the role of the Countess, and Aki O'Brien as the page boy."
"In the meantime," Specs continued. "We will give you the ballet from Act Three of tonight's opera." He looked down at the Conductor. "Maestro, the ballet, now," he instructed through clenched teeth.
The corps de ballet entered and began to dance, looking terrified as they did so. Behind the backdrop, there were shadows of the phantom showing. Autumn saw these, and fell out of step in the dance. Right at that moment, the body of Racetrack Higgins fell onto the stage with a rope around his neck. The ballet troupe on the stage let out a screech, and Tunes fainted dead away.
Sarah's eyes got wide. "Jack! Jack!" she called desperately.
"Come with me!" he told her, leading her off of the stage.
"No, up to the roof. We'll be safe there!" she told him, anxiously.
Policemen ran onto the stage as all the stage hands rushed down from their spots to see who had fallen onto the stage. David waved his hands at the audience, trying to placate them. "Please remain in your seats, ladies and gentlemen! It was an accident! Merely an accident! That's all!" The pandemonium in the Opera House was great.
Sarah and Jack rushed onto the roof, Sarah looking desperate, and Jack looking confused. "Why have you brought us here?" he asked her.
"Don't take me back there, Jack. Don't make me go back!"
"We have to go back!"
"He'll kill me!"
"Be still, Sarah, be still…"
"His eyes will find me there!"
"Don't say that, Sarah."
"They burn into my soul, Jack. And if he has to kill a thousand men, he'll do it!"
"Forget this waking nightmare! The phantom is a fable, believe me!"
"He'll kill again and again, Jack! He will!" She looked as if she were about to cry.
"Don't talk of it, Sarah. He doesn't exist."
"Jack, I've been there. He lives in a world where daylight dissolves into darkness! I've seen him! Could I ever forget that sight? I can never escape from his face. It was so distorted, so deformed… It was hardly a face at all…" She became thoughtful. "But his voice filled my spirit with a strange, sweet sound, and all that night, I had music in my head. And my soul began to soar because of his music."
"It was a dream. That was all it was, Sarah. Just a dream…"
Sarah didn't listen to him. "But in his eyes… I could see all the sadness of the world. Those… those pleading eyes, threatening, but at the same time, so adoring."
"Sarah…. Sarah…" Jack said softly and comfortingly.
"Sarah…" came an echo of the Phantom's voice.
"What was that?" Sarah asked, frightened.
"Sarah, don't talk of darkness anymore. Forget all your fears. I'm here. Nothing is going to harm you. Let me be your freedom. Let daylight dry your tears. I'm here beside you, I promise I'll stay here and guard you from all bad things."
"Jack, just say you'll love me every waking moment, and that you'll need me with you always. Promise me that what you're saying is true… that's all I ask of you."
"I do, Sarah, I do! Wherever you go, let me go, too. Just love me. That's all I ask." Sarah smiled up at him in a reverie. Jack leaned down and kissed her softly. Sarah hugged him close for a moment, and then pulled back.
"Jack, I must get back! They will wonder where I am… Wait for me, Jack!" She turned to rush down the stairs.
"I love you, Sarah!" he called.
She turned back and ran back over to him. "Order your best horses, be with them at the door as soon as I'm done."
"Then forever, you'll be with me!"
"And you can protect me from the night!"
They both turned and ran down the stairs back into the Opera House. The Phantom stepped out from behind the statue at that point. "I gave you your music, made your song live. And look, look how you have repaid me: You've denied me, and betrayed me. He was destined to love you when he heard you sing… Oh, Sarah…" He got very angry at that moment. "You will curse the day you did not do all that the Phantom asked you to do!" He shook his fist in the air.
Sarah finished out the performance of Il Muto as the Countess. The principals in the cast came out of the curtain for their bows. As they straightened, the lights of the chandelier began to flicker once again. Looking up, the Phantom could be seen rocking it perilously. He yelled and the chandelier descended some. He looked down at Sarah, his eyes full of jealousy. "GO!" he yelled to the chandelier and it plunged downwards. Half of it landed at Sarah's feet, the other half landed off of the stage, directly atop of Spadey Lawrence.
The headlines that filled the paper the next day caused great shock in the city: "Chandelier Falls on Replacement Opera House Dance Instructor, Dead Instantly". It was a performance that no one in the town would ever forget.
