Chapter 26: Three Leads

The first day of auditions went over quite smoothly. It was a long and gruelling day with many singers to weed threw, many of which were no where near capable of carrying a tune, let alone to the standards that the Phantom of the Opera would hold. Erik watched over the process from the quiet confines of box five. He was very pleased to, once again, hear the hall filled with song. His ears were so finely tuned, to the music, that he could pin point each singer in the larger groups, that he wished to keep, which wasn't and easy task. One would have to strain to hear the good singers in among the bad, but Erik managed it with ease. To hear them made his heart beat faster. Soon a time would come when he would hear his music once again. It was a prospect that he had longed for and would, finally, achieve.

Andre was the only person to set eyes one the Phantom. He had found a note had fallen from the box above him. The note was addressed to him and within it he was summoned up to box five. Cautiously he made his way to the second level of the theatre and fearfully he pushed open the box door. Erik sat before him calm and silent. He motioned for Andre to take the other seat that occupied the box and it was here that the Phantom finally spoke to him.

"You will follow each and every one of my orders," Erik said in a soft, calm voice, "all of the singers will pass over this stage but not all of them will be allowed to sing in my opera. I can only stand for the best and the brightest. The new and the talented. They will be the once I shall mould into my master piece. Is this understood?" he ask.

"Oh yes," Andre said as he looked up at the white mask that covered the Phantom's face.

"No one else is to see me," Erik said as he turned his face away from Andre, "I will stay in this box and between groups you will come to me and only you."

Andre nodded in understanding of the Phantom's plan and left once again, just as monsieur Reyer was entering the performance space with the orchestra.

After the short, but informative meeting, Andre obeyed every order the Phantom had given. Many of his tasks were listed in the short note and he followed them with renewed dedication to the performance that was beginning. Once a group had finished, they were ushered off the stage and into a room found back stage. There they waited as Andre rushed up to box five. Erik listed off who was to stay and Andre was sent off running once again, while the next group entered to take the stage.

The morning pressed on in this fashion. While Meg remained in the sun drenched foyer with the painters, she watched as the singers, that were not chosen, moved solemnly out of the theatre. As she stood posing she could see that others were being oriented to the space that would become like a second home for them. Great groups of singers were brought into the orchestra hall and to the practice spaces and soon these spaces were filled with singing. The Phantom was wasting no time in commencing the preparations for this great work. Meg longed for the night to come once again. It was a time that she would find the silence and the darkness as welcoming as she had once found the quite empty theatre. The singers did not remain in the theatre, in the evening, like the dancers did. Only stars of the show could stay if they so chose, or if they were interested in learning to dance they would be welcomed into the ballet dormitories, otherwise people were sent on their way when the practices and performances were finished.

More and more singers came and went, as did the dancers. Meg was happy she wasn't in the ballet hall. It would have been even more crowded than usual, with all the new comers. She had never seen so many dancers coming, but the list for the ballet troop was huge. There was no way that the small troop, that they had, would be able to cover all the dancing. It called for massive choruses of dancers and singers. Groups and trios and duets for dance and voice. It would be quiet the spectacle once everything came together. These were things that Meg didn't have to worry about, but for some reason she couldn't help but feeling some sense of panic when these thoughts came to her mind. All she really had to do, for the show, was her own dances. The choreography for the rest of the ballets would be left to her mother and it would be Madame Giry facing the great tasks of readying the dancers. Once they were accepted into the troop, for the show, they would have to answer to the ballet mistress. Madame Giry had never had trouble with her girls before. They were, like any other students, fussy with each other at times and caused problems for each other, but they all showed a great respect for Madame Giry. Now, however, new dancers would be coming into the theatre's troop and many of them had never studied with the ballet Mistress. It would be for her to win them over and to govern over them all. It would be a great task for her, indeed.

It wasn't until late in the afternoon that the painters were really interrupted. Andre had come running out of the theatre and into the foyer after a very handsome young man. He managed to stop him just short of where Meg had been posing.

"Monsieur Roi," Andre had yelled, "please may I have a quick word with you?"

The young man had stopped, smiled at Meg and looked back toward Andre, "how may I be of service, Monsieur?" he smiled and bowed.

"Your singing, today, has caught the attention of the composer,"Andre said, out of breath, as he finally stopped running after the young man.

"Is that so?" Monsieur Roi laughed, "then why was I denied a place in the chorus?" he asked.

"Because the composer would prefer to hear you audition in the lead Tenor roll," Andre said with a smile.

A look of great surprise covered the young mans face, "but I am just a chorister. I don't know anything of playing leads," he said a bit nervously.

"That will please the composer even more," Andre said with a hint of excitement in his voice, "he wants to mould the new talent, into his vision of the future. You will have no bad acting that the Phantom will have to force out of you. You'll only have the inexperience to learn the way the new art should be. And learn it you shall from the master!" he smiled.

The young man smiled back and glanced around the theatre. "It is a very tempting offer, Monsieur Andre, but I dare say I probably have no choice in the matter, if the Phantom of the Opera is involved," he said

Andre's smile grew wider

"He's already made his decision, hasn't he?" Monsieur Roi asked.

"He has," Andre nodded, "he will have no one else play the roll of Adair in his opera."

"Very well then," Monsieur Roi said as he reached out to shake Andre's hands, "you can tell the composer that I will take the roll and that I will return tomorrow to audition for the part," he said, turned to Meg and bowed and then walked from the theatre.

"Ah the excitement," Andre said turning to Meg, "our three leads have been cast. And now the composer would like to see your work," he said to the painters, "bring what you have into the theatre and arrange the canvases on the stage," he said.

The painters did as they were told and quickly left the foyer, carefully moving the wet canvases. None of the paintings had been finished, but many had been started and with quiet a bit of progress. There were at least ten wet canvases for the Phantom to view. From these he would either pick one that he liked or Meg would be forced to pose for another day. Her legs now ached and she was beginning to feel hunger set in. She had hardly moved all day and had nothing else to think about but the way she felt about the Phantom's plans for Christine. It was now true that the three lead rolls of the performance were chosen. Christine Daae would play the angel, Meg the devil and Monsieur Roi would play the unsuspecting love interest. She sighed to herself when she realised that the real roll was being played by the Phantom. It was a terrible trio that would now have to unfold for his decisions had been made.

Once the painters were out of sight, Andre turned back to Meg, "he would like to see you in his box." he whispered.

Meg snapped out of her dream like state as she stood before the theatre's manager, "why?" she asked as she looked to her feet.

"He would not say," Andre shrugged, "but as you are his prima ballerina I would only guess he would be looking for your input on the situation."

"What situation is that?" Meg asked feeling a little startled.

"Oh of you supporting characters I would imagine," Andre laughed, "what did you think of that handsome young man. It shouldn't be hard to pretend to fall in love with him," he smiled and winked at Meg

"I suppose it wouldn't be," Meg said half heartedly.

"Well he's waiting for you," Andre said and motioned up the stairs. He then turned on his heals and left once again.

Meg looked up the grand stairs toward the second level of the foyer. She sighed to herself sadly and began her slow ascent to meet the third in her trio.