With a burst of fireworks, we learn that a masquerade is in progress and that the Phantom has been absent for three months. The general joy—one of the extraordinary set pieces Andrew Lloyd Webber is famous for
—is marred only by Madame Giry's wry comment of the whole thing, "And what a masquerade."
Raoul and Christine have become secretly engaged, although with a ring on a chain around her neck and her eager lover stealing kisses, it is not perhaps quite as secret an attachment as Christine hopes. Swept up in the whirl of the ball, the happy pair dance with all the others, until, dressed in red, the Phantom makes his appearence down the grand staircase.
He has been busy in his absence, and has composed an opera, Don Juan Triumphant, that he demands the company perform. He tears the ring from Cristine's neck, but says he will tutor her once more if she will return as his pupil. As all of this is happening Raoul has left Christine with a reassuring touch on the arm. He returns, buckling on his sword, to confront the Phantom, who plunges through a trapdoor concealed by decorative design on the floor.
Raoul plunges after him, only to find himself in a chamber of mirrors, attempting to fight reflections, until Madame Giry touches him on the shoulder and leads him out. He demands she tell what she knows, and she eventually yields, revealing it is she, as a young girl, who brought the Phantom to the Opera Populaire, where he has become a master of its many arts. It is clear that she is mesmerized by the tragic romance of the artist who dare not show his face.
Raoul rebuts that, though the Phantom may be a genius, he is also clearly mad.
(to be continued)