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The Phantom of the Opera By Numbers: Every song in the stage musical
Here’s your breakdown of every song on the West End soundtrack of The Phantom of the Opera
An obsessive ghost, a glamorous opera house backdrop and some ear-splitting high notes – all the ingredients you need for a West End hit. The Phantom of the Opera is the West End’s second longest musical, coming in just behind Les Misérables, and has been chilling and delighting audiences for nearly four decades with its particular brand of twisted, murderous romance. Its rock-opera score by Andrew Lloyd Webber is one of the most beloved in the musical theatre canon and well worth diving into, but it can be tricky to know where to start. Here’s your guide to every song in The Phantom of the Opera.
‘Prologue’
This prologue actually takes place about 50 years after the events of the musical. The Opéra Populaire has fallen into disrepair and the items inside are being auctioned off. An older Raoul bids for a music box, and the auctioneer also directs our attention to a broken chandelier which figures in the ‘famous disaster’ of the Phantom of the Opera.
Key lyric: “Will you still play, when all the rest of us are dead?”
‘Overture/Hannibal’
Following an overture in which we are introduced to some of the key musical themes in the show, we then hear part of the rehearsal for the opera house’s upcoming production of Hannibal.
Key lyric: “Hear the drums/Hannibal comes!”
‘Think Of Me’
The opera house’s primary soprano, Carlotta, begins to sing her aria, but she is interrupted when a piece of scenery falls on her. The frightened chorus girls blame the Phantom of the Opera, but Carlotta is furious with the crew and leaves. Meg, daughter of the ballet mistress, suggests Christine Daaé for the role instead so that the show will not have to be cancelled, and everyone listens to Christine sing the aria. As Christine performs the aria that evening, saving the show, her childhood friend Raoul, the opera’s new patron, recognises her.
Key lyric: “Think of me, think of me fondly when we’ve said goodbye”
‘Angel Of Music’
Backstage, Christine’s friend Meg finds her and begs to know who her new tutor is. Christine confesses that she feels the presence of an ‘angel of music’ who inspires her to greatness. Meg is concerned for her friend, who has gone pale and cold as she calls out to her angel.
Key lyric: “Somehow I know he’s always with me/He, the unseen genius”
‘Little Lotte/The Mirror’
Raoul visits Christine backstage and they reminisce about the games they played as children. When Raoul tries to coax Christine to come to dinner with him, however, the Phantom’s anger is aroused and he speaks. Christine begs him to reveal himself and he tells her to look into her mirror – she’ll see his face there. Christine is drawn through the mirror, much to Raoul’s confusion.
Key lyric: “Flattering child, you shall know me/See why in shadow I hide”
‘The Phantom of the Opera’
Christine meets the Phantom at last, and he shows her to his secret lair. He tells her that he has chosen her to sing his compositions. The duet they share emphasises a strong psychological bond that exists between the two of them, and reveals that the Phantom is speaking through Christine via the music that he has given her.
Key lyric: “The Phantom of the Opera is there inside your mind”
‘The Music of the Night’
When Christine faints, the Phantom covers her with his cloak and sings to her, asking her to give in to the music and leave her previous life behind. Shunned by the world due to his deformity and believing himself to have no place in the light, he instead expresses a wish for Christine to join him in darkness and embrace the shadowy side of her nature.
Key lyric: “Close your eyes and surrender to your darkest dreams/Purge your thoughts of the life you knew before”
‘I Remember/Stranger Than You Dreamt It’
Christine awakes and begins to piece her memories together. As the Phantom is composing at his organ, she steals up behind him and removes his mask. He is at first furious, but slowly begins to open up to her about his loneliness and longing for love. She gives the mask back, pitying him, and he returns her to the world above.
Key lyric: “This loathsome gargoyle who burns in Hell/But secretly yearns for Heaven”
‘Magical Lasso’
Meanwhile, stagehand Joseph Buquet is busy scaring the ballet girls with stories of the Phantom, but ballet mistress Madame Giry warns him not to speak of such things. This is our first indication that she knows more than most about the Phantom – she’ll later give Raoul key information about his past.
Key lyric: “Those who speak of what they know find, too late, that prudent silence is wise”
‘Notes/Prima Donna’
There is much speculation about why Carlotta left the production and where Christine has gone, but the managers reflect that the gossip is helping to sell seats. They receive note from the Phantom asking that his salary is paid and that Christine replace Carlotta in the upcoming show. Raoul receives a note telling him to leave Christine alone, whilst Carlotta receives one telling her that her role has been handed over and threatening her if she attempts to take Christine’s place.
Carlotta is incensed and suggests that this is a plot by Raoul to promote Christine and that the two are lovers. The managers, Firmin and André, attempt to appease her and convince her that she’ll of course be playing the lead.
Key lyric: “Far too many notes for my taste/And most of them about Christine”
‘Poor Fool, He Makes Me Laugh’
Il Muto, the show, begins well, but the Phantom becomes irate when he realises that none of his instructions have been followed. He enchants Carlotta’s voice to sound like the croak of a frog, and Firmin announces that Christine will take over the role. The ballet begins in the interim – and ends abruptly when Buquet’s corpse falls from the rafters, hanging on a lasso.
Key lyric: “A toad, madam? Perhaps it is you who are the toad”
‘Why Have You Brought Me Here?’
Christine and Raoul escape to the roof and Raoul attempts to convince Christine that the killer is not a ghost. Christine describes her journey to the Phantom’s underground liar, which Raoul believes was a dream. In her retelling, Christine is conflicted between presenting the Phantom as a monster and as an outcast.
Key lyric: “Yet in his eyes/All the sadness of the world/Those pleading eyes/That both threaten and adore”
‘All I Ask Of You’
Raoul asks her to forget this darkness and confesses his love to her. She asks him to promise her light and safety. The feelings expressed in this duet are of genuine love, and provide a contrast to what the Phantom offers Christine earlier in the show.
Key lyric: “All I want is freedom/A world with no more night”
‘All I Ask Of You (Reprise)’
Christine asks Raoul to ready his horses for their escape, but the Phantom has overheard and feels betrayed, believing that it’s the music he gave Christine that has cause Raoul to fall in love with her. He vows revenge on Christine. Act One famously ends with the chandelier crashing down during the Il Muto curtain call.
Key lyric: “You will curse the day you did not do/All the Phantom asked of you”
‘Masquerade/Why So Silent’
Act Two begins six months later, with a masquerade ball at the Opera house. Christine and Raoul are engaged, but Christine is afraid to make the news public, which confuses Raoul. The Phantom has not been seen since the chandelier fell, but now appears. He has written an opera that he demands to Christine star in, ripping the engagement ring from the chain around her neck and reminding her that she is still his.
Key lyric: “Masquerade, hide your face, so the world will never find you”
‘Notes/Twisted Every Way’
The managers receive further instructional notes from the Phantom. Carlotta is once again furious, but Christine refuses the part. The Phantom instructs that Christine return to her lessons with him, and Raoul sees an opportunity to entrap him. He begs Christine to play the part, so that the Phantom might be caught at the premiere. Christine is frightened that the Phantom will take a permanent hold of her and feels conflicted about betraying him. Nonetheless, she agrees to sing the part, and rehearsals begin.
At rehearsals for Don Juan Triumphant, leading man Piangi is frequently singing the wrong notes. When the piano begins to play by itself, however, the company are suddenly in tune with one another. Christine senses the presence of the Phantom.
Key lyric: “Can I betray the man who once inspired my voice?”
‘Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again’
Christine visits her father’s grave, feeling torn between decisions. She laments that she can’t ask his advice. She knows, however, that if she stays here dreaming of the past two long she’ll never take action.
Key lyric: “Dreaming of you won’t help me to do/All that you dreamed I could”
‘Wandering Child/Bravo, Monsieur’
The Phantom appears to Christine and she begins to fall under his spell again, but Raoul comes to rescue her. They leave, and the Phantom declares war upon them both. We are then transported to the opening of the opera, in which Christine is performing. The Phantom kills Piangi and takes his place, forcing Christine into a scenario where she has to express love for him through music.
Key lyric: “Wildly my mind beats against you/Yet the soul obeys”
‘The Point Of No Return’
During the performance, Christine realises that the Phantom has replaced Piangi in the role of Don Juan. He uses the music of the show to speak to her as the two duet, eventually addressing her by her real name. At the end of the duet, Christine rips the mask off the Phantom’s face, showing the entire Opera house his deformity. The Opera is plunged into chaos.
Key lyric: “Past the point of no return/No going back now”
‘Down Once More/Track Down This Murderer’
After Christine exposes the Phantom’s deformed face to the audience, he carries her off to his underground lair once more. Piangi’s body is discovered backstage and a vengeful mob pursues the Phantom. Meanwhile, in the Phantom’s lair, Christine has been forced to wear a wedding dress, something foreshadowed earlier in the show. The Phatom laments that Christine won’t choose to love him because she is disgusted by his deformity. She tells him that his face doesn’t frighten her – it’s what’s in his soul that she finds horrifying.
Raoul arrives to save Christine and the Phantom ensnares him. He tells Christine that in exchange for Raoul’s life, she must promise to stay with him. She instead chooses to show him kindness by kissing him. Moved, the Phantom, lets the lovers escape, telling Christine that he loves her and asking the lovers to keep his home a secret.
Key lyrics: “Pitiful creature of darkness/What kind of life have you known?/God give me courage to show you/You are not alone”
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