Here phandom have some of my 2am phantom thoughts from last night
I have so many thoughts about Point of No Return regarding what follows in Final Lair and what it means for Erik and Christine's relationship in general, and I was thinking about at what point in the song Christine works out that it's him and not Piangi.
Here's what the actual score says about it:
That first one makes me think that the intent was always for Christine to work it out as soon as he starts singing. But more often I see the interpretation that she has no idea until right at the end of the song when she touches his mask under the cloak. I kinda don't buy this for a couple of reasons, namely that I think she would recognise his voice or at the very least wonder where the hell he has got to if he isn't on stage, or why Piangi is so into it all of a sudden. Also, his hands are not covered, I have to think that after all the Handβ’ in first lair Christine would recognise that ring. But here are a few options for your consideration:
1. Christine knows even before she sets foot on that stage, because when she reads the score and all the directions for the sexy blocking of ponr she thinks hmm. Well Erik got extremely upset when Raoul lovingly kissed me once so I can't imagine he would be terribly happy about Piangi sticking his hands up my skirt. He certainly would not be deliberately directing for that to happen. He ain't gonna be watching in a fit of jealousy in box 5 while someone else gets handsy with me, he's gonna be right there on stage doing the handsy-ing. Et voilΓ ! As far as Christine is concerned her pet ghost is rather predictable.
100% ship e/c with this interpretation, she knows her depressed basement boyfriend too well how can they NOT end up together. I have never seen this interpretation but I imagine it would go something along the lines of Christine making a "not surprised, just disappointed" expression at him when he inevitably turns up there with her.
2. Christine thinks that Piangi will be the one performing with her until Erik turns up on stage and opens his mouth. Doesn't matter if he tries to sound Italian or not, she has heard this particular voice every single day for months, she knows it's him the second she hears the first word. Lots of scope for different Christine reactions after that! She might be terrified but try to hide it, she's a professional after all and she has 3-ish minutes to work out a plan. Or as @mysticscorpia so brilliantly suggested maybe Christine is kinda enticed by the danger of it all. Or perhaps she's just horny as all hell and doesn't have any thoughts going on beyond sexy song, actually.
There's still so much opportunity for different trajectories with this approach and personally I like it best out of all of them, I think it's the closest to what's indicated by the score as well as being the most believable.
3. She doesn't twig straight away, but throughout the course of the first verse or so she realises something's up - maybe it's the ring, or the fact that Piangi wasn't quite this height, actually, and he's also not usually nervous on stage, and hmm, he really finessed those whole-tone scales since the rehearsal. Best when our boy Erik at least tries to imitate Piangi and convinces everyone else, but he can't quite fool Christine (or Carlotta for that matter, who I imagine is watching from the wings and also thinking, hmm, that doesn't seem like my beloved, what is going on).
Most delectable when served with a shocked reaction from the managers and everyone else when she pulls the hood off, but Christine is just a cool cucumber about it. If the actress playing Christine wants to go the "I deserve to be nasty to him because of everything he's done to me" route (which I can like, but it has to be done a certain way or it just annoys me and feels out-of-character) I personally think this is the best way for that to happen.
4. Poor girl has no clue until she touches his mask and freaks out about it. I see this a lot and, like I said above, I do find it a bit hard to believe that she really doesn't suspect something. Is she not glancing around the auditorium looking for him? He smells like mouldy basement, how does she not pick up on that? His voice? The ring? The fact that he is visibly crashing out for most of the song? Anyway. It does give a good opportunity for contrast, I suppose, between her being happy to play the part in this plot to catch the Phantom versus her freaking out when she realises it isn't going to plan. The horniness is all an act, which she suddenly forgets about upholding when she thinks she's in real danger; it does show that she is just trying to do her job as a singer/actress. (Unless she's genuinely getting horny over Piangi?! Possible analysis there for sure)
I see this interpretation a lot and from an acting perspective there's certainly nothing wrong with it, but it does require a bit of suspension of disbelief about the similarity between Erik and Piangi even under the cloak. That, or asking the audience to believe that Christine is just too dim to notice the difference, which imo is a real disservice to her character.
This turned into an essay, oops. Thoughts, contributions, anyone? Any personal favourite Christine takes on this scene?
