 An architect and designer, a composer and magician. He s a genius who must hide his facial disfigurement behind a mask and in the catacombs beneath Paris s Opera Populaire, known only as the Phantom of the Opera or Opera Ghost. His one companion is his young singing protégé, a soprano named Christine Daae who is drawn to and mystified but at the same time terrified of her Angel of Music whose rapturous voice sings songs in her head while she sleeps and whispers in her ear during day. Everyone at the opera house is used to the Phantom s deadly pranks when his demands are not met but when a canopy falls on top of her, nearly crushing her, the opera s leading diva: Carllota resigns. With no understudy, the mangers turn to Christine who at the time was no more than a chorus girl. The show casts her into immediate fame. But when Christine, whom the Phantom has fallen in love with, accepts a marriage proposal from her childhood sweetheart Viscount Raoul de Changy, the Phantom s heart is broken. His despair quickly turns to furious, jealous rage and is willing to do anything to win her, even if it means raising the stakes to the ultimate level in Christine s choice between her love for Raoul and her strange attraction to the Phantom.