Prologue

MADAME GIRY:
(Spoken)
'Phantasma! City of Wonders!' 'Mr. Y. presents marvelous astonishments! Human prodigies!' Humph. 'The Oh-la-la girl. Five performances daily.' 'Christine Daaé. The soprano of the century.' Gone. All gone!

FLECK:
Yes, there's nothing left, nothing but ghosts. But I knew you'd come back, Madame Giry.

MADAME GIRY:
You? You're still here?

FLECK:
Of course we're still here! The freaks, the monstrous, the bizarre. Where else could we exist but here? And, after the tragedy, after the master disappeared with the child, after the fire that consumed everything!

MADAME GIRY:
His dream- our dream!

FLECK:
Remember how it was? Remember?

(Singing)
Coney Isle
Glistening and glimmering.
Rising bright,
Drenched with light.
See it smile?
Beckoning and shimmering.
All agleam
Like a dream.

FLECK AND MADAME GIRY:
Every fantasy set free,
Sodden, rising by the sea.

MADAME GIRY:
Coney Island,
Miracle on miracle.
Speed and sound
All around.
Mile by mile
Loud and lewd and lyrical.
Thrill on thrill,
Never still.
All America was there,
Beggar next to billionaire.

In they came
Chasing sensation and romance.
Eyes aflame,
Desperate for pleasures yet unknown.
Night and day
Pouring in by the hundreds of thousands.
Swept away
As their every desire was made real.