#box 5

i walked up to the door of Box 5 that day, and saw it was open! the staff must have forgotten to close the door after cleaning. back in the early 2000s, the Palais Garnier administration put a plaque on the inside and outside of La loge n°5 that reads "Loge du Fantôme de l'Opéra". it is officially Erik's Box.

here's what Erik's plaque on Box 5 looks like from the outside. note all the fingerprints from phans (some of which are mine).

here's where Box 5 sits in the auditorium. contrary to popular belief, Erik didn't choose the Emperor's Box (the large, ornate box close to the stage) or even the box next to it. Erik chose the plain box on the other side of the column. Erik is Emperor's Box-adjacent. he's gotta keep some semblance of humility!

i immediately went and sat in Erik's seat (the second seat on the left side of Box 5). i also knocked on the column, like Gaston Leroux instructed us to do. the marble column itself appears to be solid, but the metal base is hollow. (Leroux claimed this was where Erik hid when he performed his ventriloquist tricks, like making poor Carlotta croak like a toad)

this is the view of the stage from Box 5 (what Erik would have seen when he watched Christine perform)...

aaand here's Erik's view of the chandelier, as he dreamed of dropping it on the audience... ("Erik no! don't do it!" –the Daroga, probably)

Phantom of the Opera - Hamburg 2013

Mathias Edenborn as the Phantom of the Opera in Hamburg, 2013.

“The Phantom and the Soprano”