William A. Stricklin
Mademoiselle Mary Eliska and the Phantom of the Opera © 2022 TXu 2-298-864 Case No. 1-11064158121 by William A. Stricklin USA. Mademoiselle Mary Eliska The book tells the story of a masked figure who lurks beneath the catacombs of the Paris Opera House, exercising a reign of terror over all who inhabit it. On September 23, 1909, the first installment of Gaston Leroux’s novel Le Fantôme de l’Opéra was published in the Paris newspaper Le Gaulois. Installments continued through January 1910, and the novel was first published in book form in March 1910. Since the 1880s, the Palais Garnier Opera House is believed to be haunted by an entity known as the Phantom of the Opera, or simply the Opera Ghost. From his hideout beneath the opera house, the brooding Phantom schemes to get closer to vocalist. The Phantom, wearing a mask to hide a congenital disfigurement, strong-arms management into giving the budding starlet key roles, but Christine instead falls for arts benefactor Raoul. Terrified at the notion of her absence, the Phantom enacts a plan to keep Christine by his side, while Raoul tries to foil the scheme. At a gala performance for the retirement of the opera house’s two managers, a young, little-known Mlle. Mary Eliska in our version, is called upon to sing in place of the Opera’s leading soprano, Carlotta, who is ill, and her performance is an astonishing success. The Vicomte Raoul de Chagny, was present at the performance, recognizes her as his childhood playmate and recalls his love for her. He attempts to visit her backstage, where he hears a man complimenting her from inside her dressing room. He investigates only to find it empty. At Perros-Guirec, she meets with Raoul, who confronts her about the voice he heard in her room. She tells him she has been tutored by the Angel of Music, whom her father used to tell them about. Her choice evolves between her love for Raoul and her strange attraction to the Phantom. Will Mary Eliska ask everything of Raoul or listen to the Music of the Night?
