PROLOGUE: THE AUCTION
Июль 1985 г. |Автор Ричард Стилго.

(The scene begins part-way through an auction of the
contents of the opera house. Raoul is an old man)

AUCTIONEER:
Lot 665, a papier-mache jewel box,
containing a variety of gloves
and pink jewellery used in the
1858 production of Faust.

PORTER:
Showing here.

(The Porter holds up the box)

AUCTIONEER:
May I start at a thousand francs?

(Bidding ensues)

AUCTIONEER:
Five hundred then.
Seven hundred.
Nine hundred.
A thousand.
Two thousand francs!
Selling once, selling twice,
to the Vicomte de Chagney!
Thank you once again, sir.

(Raoul looks at his new purchases)

RAOUL:
(quietly to himself) Through the Jewel Song in Faust,
She ran this through her fingers as she sang...
And the lights that made them look,
Like the Shah's prize collection.
All illusions... change...

AUCTIONEER:
Lot 666, a chandelier in pieces.
Some of you may remember the old legend
Of the Phantom of the Opera founded
some years ago.

This is believed to be the very
chandelier, which figured in the
disaster from which the legend sprang.
Our workshops have restored it
and fitted parts of it with wiring
for the new electric light so that
we may get a hint of how it
may look like when reassembled.

Perhaps we may frighten away the
ghost of so many years ago
with a little illumination.

(The Overture begins)