Love Never Dies

 

Synopsis

 

Setting – Coney Island 1907

 

Act I

Ten years after the events at the Paris Opera, the Phantom is now a well-known tycoon and the mastermind of Phantasma, a Coney Island amusement park. Despite his success, he is tortured by the absence of Christine Daaé in his life and longs to hear her sing again (“Til I Hear You Sing”). At Phantasma, a trio of freak show performers (Dr. Gangle, Miss Fleck, and Mr. Squelch) introduce the wonders of Coney Island (“The Coney Island Waltz”). Meg Giry, Christine’s friend from the Paris Opera, has become “The Ooh La La Girl” in The Phantom’s vaudeville show, which Madame Giry produces. Meg and the Phantasma cast win the crowd over with their performance (“Only for You”). Madame Giry has read in the newspaper that Christine is coming to New York to sing for Oscar Hammerstein I at the opening of his new Manhattan opera house. She expresses concern that Meg has lost the attention of the Phantom and reminisces about how she and Meg smuggled him from Paris, France to New York City ten years ago. Meg ignores her mother’s warnings and looks with joy towards her old friend coming to visit after such a long time (“Ten Long Years”).

Christine, Raoul and their ten-year-old son Gustave arrive in New York and are met by crowds of paparazzi (“Christine Disembarks”). They are greeted by Gangle, Fleck and Squelch, who arrive in a horseless carriage (“Arrival of the trio”) to take them to Coney Island. Raoul is angry at the reception (“What a Dreadful Town!”) and upsets Gustave by not playing with him. When Raoul departs in response to an invitation to meet Hammerstein in the hotel bar, Gustave asks Christine why his father seems not to love him. Christine encourages Gustave to look past the surface to try to help him understand (“Look With Your Heart”). When Gustave goes to bed, the Phantom appears on the balcony and Christine faints in shock, having believed him dead. He carries her to a chair, where she awakens and the two recall a night of passion before Christine’s wedding, and the Phantom explains why he felt compelled to leave her side afterwards (“Beneath a Moonless Sky”). Moving to the balcony, the pair sadly remember how they once thought their love had a chance of succeeding (“Once Upon Another Time”).

The Phantom offers to pay Christine twice Hammerstein’s price if she will sing just one song that he has written for her, but Christine refuses. Gustave wakes up screaming from a nightmare and interrupts them (“Mother Please, I’m Scared!”) and Christine introduces him to the Phantom for the first time. The Phantom promises to show Gustave all of Phantasma the next day. After Gustave returns to bed, The Phantom threatens to abduct the boy unless Christine agrees to sing for him again. A shaken Christine relents, and the Phantom leaves her with the sheet music for the song he has written.

In the rehearsal studio for Phantasma, Meg is dismayed and hurt to learn that Christine has been assigned the “leading lady slot” in the show. Raoul encounters Madame Giry and discovers that the Phantom is the mysterious Mr. Y for whom Christine will be singing now (“Dear Old Friend”). Gangle, Fleck and Squelch bring Gustave to the Aerie, where he is greeted by the Phantom. Child prodigy Gustave sings and plays a melody on the piano (“Beautiful”) that leads the Phantom to suspect he is Gustave’s father (“He plays like me! He’s just ten years old…ten years old”). The Phantom questions Gustave as he shows him around the dark wonders, illusions, and freaks of Phantasma and discovers that they are kindred spirits. He unmasks himself, believing Gustave will accept him, but Gustave screams in horror and flees (“The Beauty Underneath”).

Christine comforts Gustave and then asks Meg to take him back to the hotel. When pressed by the Phantom, Christine confesses that Gustave is his son (“The Phantom Confronts Christine”). The Phantom makes Christine promise to never tell Gustave that Raoul is not his real father. Christine gives her word and vows to sing for him once more, and then leaves him alone. Stunned by what has transpired, the Phantom declares that everything he creates and owns will be inherited by Gustave. An eavesdropping Madame Giry becomes enraged at the realization that all she and Meg have done for the Phantom over the years has been for nothing (“Ten Long Years”).

Act II

In a gloomy bar, Raoul contemplates his relationship with Christine. He is joined by Meg, who tells him she swims each day to wash away the stress of working. She tells Raoul that he must leave with Christine and Gustave and runs out of the bar (“Why Does She Love Me?”). Raoul says he is not afraid of the Phantom. Suddenly, the Phantom reveals himself to Raoul and they make a bet that if Christine sings, the Phantom wins and if she doesn’t, Raoul wins. If Raoul wins the bet, the Phantom will pay his debts and Raoul can leave with Christine and Gustave. However, if the Phantom wins, Christine and Gustave will remain in America with him and Raoul must return to Paris alone. The Phantom also leads Raoul to question Gustave’s paternity (“Devil Take the Hindmost”).

Fleck, Squelch and Gangle appear to advertise Christine’s appearance at Phantasma (“Invitation to the Concert”). That night, Meg performs a striptease about her choice of swimming costumes (“Bathing Beauty”). She successfully impresses the audience, but Madame Giry reveals to Meg that the Phantom did not watch the performance, saying it was for nothing (“Mother, Did You Watch?”).

In Christine’s dressing room, Gustave helps his mother get ready for the show. Raoul arrives and Christine asks Gustave to wait for his father backstage. Raoul begs Christine not to sing, and to leave New York with him if she really loves him. Christine asks for some time and Raoul leaves. The Phantom enters and tells Christine that Raoul’s love is not enough, and that she must sing for him and embrace her destiny (“Before The Performance”). Christine recalls the events at the Opera where she had to decide between Raoul and the Phantom (“Twisted Every Way”). Madame Giry, Raoul and the Phantom wonder whether Christine will sing (“Devil Take The Hindmost” (Reprise). The curtain opens on Christine, with Raoul and the Phantom watching from the wings at either side. As the long musical intro comes to its end, Christine makes the decision to sing. Raoul leaves just before Christine finishes to thunderous applause (“Love Never Dies”). Backstage, Christine is greeted lovingly by the Phantom and the two share a kiss. She then finds a letter from Raoul informing her of his departure (“Ah Christine”).

Suddenly realising that Gustave is missing, Christine recalls that she had asked him to wait backstage for Raoul, but she does not want to believe that Raoul may have taken the boy. Furious, the Phantom vows to kill the “drunken fool”, but Squelch informs him that he saw the Vicomte leave alone. The Phantom then suspects Madame Giry, because of her attitude towards him before Christine’s number, and proceeds to threaten Giry when she is brought to him by Squelch and Gangle. Madame Giry confesses that she knew about Gustave’s true parentage but denies abducting the boy. Fleck reports that she passed Meg’s dressing room, where she saw that the mirror was shattered, and Meg is now nowhere to be found. Christine fears for her child’s life, but Madame Giry assures her that Meg would never hurt Gustave. The Phantom believes he knows where Meg has gone (“Gustave, Gustave”).

At the pier (Streets of Coney Island) Meg prepares to drown Gustave, who cannot swim, when the others arrive to confront her. She reveals to the Phantom that the resources Madame Giry has afforded him came from Meg’s working as a prostitute to influential men. She expresses her hurt and resentment that the Phantom never took any notice of her or appreciated her singing and dancing. After sharing her feelings, Meg decides to let Gustave live and releases him. She produces a gun and holds it to her head, intent on ending her misery. The Phantom tries to apologise and console her, but when he unthinkingly mentions Christine’s name, Meg becomes agitated once again. When the Phantom tries to take the gun from her, Meg accidentally shoots Christine (“Please Miss Giry, I Want To Go Back”).
After Madame Giry and Meg are dispatched to find help, Christine reveals to Gustave that the Phantom is his real father, and the shocked boy flees (“Look with Your Heart” (Reprise)). Christine tells the Phantom that her love for him will never die, then they share a final kiss, and she dies in his arms (“Once Upon Another Time” (Reprise)). Gustave returns with Raoul, who looks on silently and sadly, and Gustave lays his head on his mother’s lap. The Phantom surrenders Christine’s body to Raoul, then moves to the edge of the pier and collapses to his knees in grief. Gustave goes to the weeping Phantom, who sings a line from the song his mother just sang to console the boy, and Gustave embraces his real father for the first time (“Love Never Dies” (Reprise)). Gustave then removes the Phantom’s mask and gently touches the Phantom’s face in an act of acceptance. Gustave and the Phantom gaze at one another as the curtain falls.

Characters

The Phantom
Former Phantom of the Paris Opera, now an important New York impresario.

Christine Daaé, Vicomtesse De Chagny
A famous soprano, and the Phantom’s main love interest. She is married to Raoul and has a son Gustav.

Raoul, Vicomte De Chagny
Christine’s husband.

Madame Giry
Former ballet mistress of the Paris Opera rescued The Phantom from a circus when he was a child, and years later helped him come to the United States. Mother to Meg

Gustave
Young son of Christine and the Phantom. Assumes Raoul is his father but doesn’t know his biological father.

Meg Giry
Madame Giry’s daughter, a former ballerina at the Paris Opera

Dr Gangle – Master of Ceremonies
Miss Fleck – Aerialist Extraordinaire
Mr. Squelch – The World’s Strongest Man

A trio of freak show performers at Phantasma

Additional characters throughout the show

Audition Pieces

Dropbox link to all the accompaniments:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/e3exxly9v1f3tqvjscbvz/h?rlkey=edfn7hra5pjhbmyymopwqk0yp&dl=0

Phantom (Tenor) – 01: ’Til I Hear You Sing Bars 28 – 129

Christine (Top Soprano) – 24: Love Never Dies Bars 21 – 104

Raoul (Tenor). – 17. Why Does She Love Me? Bars 32 – 98

Meg (Soprano) – 27. Please, Miss Giry Bars 11 – 68

Giry (Alto) – 03B. Only For You – Section B Bars 131 – 178

Gangle (Baritone) – 02. Coney Island Waltz
Bars 1 – 26 (Sing lower part of harmony Bars 17-20)

Squelch (Tenor) – 02. Coney Island Waltz
Bars 9 – 26 (Sing upper part of harmony Bars 17-20 Please sing opt. 8va Bars 9 – 16)

Gangle & Squelch will be auditioned together.

Fleck (Soprano) – 02. Coney Island Waltz
Bar 29 – 44 (Sing Trio)
Bar 45 – 53 (Sing Bridge Soprano – no higher than F!)

Gustave (Boy Soprano)
3. Beautiful Bars 40 – 55
14. The Beauty Underneath Bars 85 – 148

COMPANY AUDITION PIECES

Chorus
02. Coney Island Waltz (Bars 127 – 142)
Dancers
03. Only For You

Cast Recordings