Overture Lyrics

Overture Text

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AUCTIONEER: (spoken)
Sold. Your number, sir? Thank you.
Lot 663, then, ladies and gentlemen.
A poster for this house's production of Hannibal by Chalumau.

PORTER: (spoken)
Showing here

AUCTIONEER: (spoken)
Do I have ten francs? Five then. Five I am bid.
Six? Six. Do I see seven? Seven.
Against you sir seven. Eight?
Eight. Eight once, selling twice. Sold to Raoul Vicomte de Chagny.
Thank you very much.

Lot 664, ladies and gentleman
A wooden pistol and three human skulls
From the 1831 production of Robert le Diable by Meyerbeer.
Ten francs for this. Ten thank you.
Ten I am bid. Ten francs.
Fifteen, thank you, sir. Fifteen I am bid.
Going for fifteen.
Your number sir? Thank you.

Lot 665 ladies and gentlemen.
A papier mache musical box in the shape of a barrel organ.
Attached, the figure of a monkey
In persian robes playing the cymbals.
This item, discovered in the vaults of the theatre
Still in working order, ladies and gentleman

PORTER: (spoken)
Showing here.

AUCTIONEER: (spoken)
May I commence at twenty francs?
Come, come ladies and gentleman fifteen then.
Fifteen, I am bid. thank you very much.
Yes, twenty from you, sir.
Thank you very much.

MADAME GIRY: (spoken)
Twenty-five.

AUCTIONEER: (spoken)
Twenty-five on my right.
Thank you, Madame. Twenty-five I am bid.
Thirty? Thirty.
Selling at thirty francs then, thirty once, thirty twice.
Sold, for thirty francs to the Vicomte de Chagny.
Thank you very much, sir.

RAOUL: (sung)
A collector's piece indeed
Every detail exactly as she said
She often spoke of you, my friend
Your velvet lining and your figurine of lead
Will you still play, when all the rest of us are dead?

AUCTIONEER: (spoken)
Lot 666, then: a chandelier in pieces.
Some of you may recall the strange affair of the Phantom of the Opera
A mystery never fully explained.
We are told, ladies and gentlemen that this is the very chandelier
That figures in the famous disaster.

Our workshops have restored it
And fitted parts of it with wiring for the new electric light
So that we may get a hint of what it may look like when reassembled
Perhaps we may even frighten away the ghost of so many years ago
With a little illumination. Gentlemen!