The Point of No Return

Recently, one particular scene from the Phantom of the Opera has been replaying in my head. Kind of like a song stuck in your head, except this one comes with video.

When the phantom emerges in the Don Juan scene, covered in the cloak, and begins to sing "The Point of No Return". That's the scene. The phantom approaching Christine, playing a man playing a scene, but really singing a dream, a fantasy. He cannot persuade Christine, so he coerces the entire theatre to put on a production, just so that he may sing about her giving in to him, and she is forced to sing to him. When he sits on the bench next to her, reaching for her, but holding back, then pulls away when she reaches back, his head droops just the slightest amount as he turns away, betraying the pain, the despair that he has already succumbed to. He knows that Christine has already chosen Raoul over him, and the playacting of the song is the closest he will ever come to Christine willingly choosing him.

Oh, lyrics.

PHANTOM: You have come here
In pursuit of your deepest urge
In pursuit of that wish which till now
Has been silent
Silent.

I have brought you
That our passions may fuse and merge
In your mind you’ve already succumbed to me, dropped all defenses
Completely succumbed to me
Now you are here with me
No second thoughts
You’ve decided
Decided.

Past the point of no return
No backward glances
Our games of make-believe are at an end.

Past all thought of “if” or “when”
No use resisting
Abandon thought and let the dream descend

What raging FIRE shall flood the soul
What rich desire unlocks its door
What sweet seduction lies before us?

Past the point of no return
The final threshold
What warm unspoken secrets
Will we learn
beyond the point of no return?

CHRISTINE: You have brought me
To that moment when words run dry
To that moment when speech disappears
Into silence
Silence.

I have come here,
Hardly knowing the reason why
In my mind I’ve already imagined
Our bodies entwining
Defenseless and silent,
Now I am here with you
No second thoughts
I’ve decided
Decided.

Past the point of no return
No going back now
Our passion-play has now at last begun.

Past all thought of right or wrong
One final question
How long should we two wait before we’re one?

When will the blood begin to race
The sleeping bud burst into bloom
When will the flames at last CONSUME us?

BOTH: Past the point of no return
The final threshold
The bridge is crossed now
So stand and watch it burn
We’ve passed the point of no return.


PHANTOM:(soft and sort of saddened) Say you’ll share with me
One love, one lifetime
Lead me, save me from my solitude

Say you want me
With you here
Beside you
Anywhere you go
Let me go too
Christine that’s all I ask of…
(Christine tears the mask, showing his face to the audience)

Come on, where else in popular culture have you encountered another character who is a complete maniac, murderous psycho, lacking in any sort of social charm or skill, ugly to boot, but is so completely sympathetic. When he lets the lovers go, people cry, because it's somehow the saddest possible outcome. After all that has happened, the phantom crumbles when the first sign of compassion is shown. He gives them the easy way out, and they take it.

Ok, that's my two cents worth on the play. I think it's kind of a cool piece. Forget about the movie version. Go to Broadway and watch it.