but is being turned into twentieth-century computerized tech-
nology, and this is smart thinking about the craft of theatre.
With mysterious staging effects constantly in view, and with
a large orchestra in the pit exercising its total knowledge of the
show and driving toward the through-sung final scenes, Phan-
tom of the Operais loaded with systems of omniscience. There
is no escape from these intertwined systems of authority, the
set and the orchestra. The Phantom himself, with his ability
over the apparatus of the Paris Opera, his ability to appear and
disappear at will, and his dreadful fireballs, sometimes stands
in the position of omniscience within the plot. Yet he sings a
lot (he does not dance). This show does not care about this ex-
cess of authority, and of course the Phantom does not have the
power he desires, the power of being loved, because his face is
disfigured. Perhaps this is why many theatregoers sympathize
with him.^20
Otherwise, the plot lies beyond the control of the charac-
ters. The heroic decisions of Christine, first to unmask the
Phantom (act 1) and then to unmask him again and go on to
kiss him full on the lips (act 2) are meant to be turning-point
moments of decisiveness, but these gestures fade into insigni-
ficance as soon as they are made. They are outclassed by the
technological power of the Phantom and the staging. That is
finally the problem with the integrated musical. It is attained at
the cost of human agency. The quasi-Wagnerian synthesis of
music, staging, and plot in a genre which counts on disjunc-
tions between the elements is attained by dismissing the dou-
bleness of time and character by which human agency is repre-
sented.
Look at these moments of Christine’s assertiveness. When
she removes the Phantom’s mask and sees his disfigured face
for the first time, in act 1, a theme that runs through Phantom
is reaching a crisis point. Masks of various kinds are worn by
normal people in Phantom of the Opera, an idea given elaborate
demonstration in the “Masquerade” that begins act 2. Is the
NARRATION AND TECHNOLOGY 167
(^20) Behind the role is an adolescent male fantasy about being unlovable, as
Jerrold Hogle argues in The Undergrounds ofThe Phantom of the Opera.