History Awesome / ThePhantomOfTheOpera

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qIQzvmtBBw This high school]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IA5y-cJE1_M performance of the musical.]] It's utterly fantastic for a high school performance and the actors are brilliant in their acting and singing.

* Christine's performance in "Don Juan". She starts out playing a naive girl with "no thoughts inside her head but thoughts of love". The narrative tells her that she is merely an object to be seduced (which is arguably how Christine herself is treated throughout the film). But then when we come to Past the Point of No Return, Christine flips the narrative. Instead of being seduced, she's the one doing the seducing, which, judging by both the Phantom and Raoul's reactions, ''no one'' expected her to be capable of. Whether she's taking charge of her sexual desire for the Phantom or manipulating him into the line of fire is unclear and often depends on the adaptation, but either way it's awesome.

* The Phantom and Christine's duet. Her showing off the beautiful voice she's garnered thanks to his lessons, him showing off HIS singing chops, aand them affirming their love for each other via the "Anges Pur, Anges Radieux" duet from ''Faust''.

* Carlotta herself gets one at the end of "Prima Donna" in the 25th anniversary. After being singled out as a target for the Phantom's ire, with the threat of "a disaster beyongd your imagination!!!" still ringing in everyone's ears, she gives [[http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/Ingonyama/Carlotta%20Bitchface_zpsuyncq9ru.png this]] incredible expression before leading the entire assembly in one last, defiant, "ONCE MORE!!!"

* Raoul really SugarWiki/NeedsMoreLove--especially for the graveyard scene, where he faces down an angry out-for-blood Phantom and calls him out on the whole "trying to force someone to love you via threats and kidnapping" thing. Oh yeah, did we mention the Phantom is ''hurling fireballs at him'' through all this? Who says the Vicomte de Chagny isn't {{Badass}}? Not to mention swimming across the underground lake in order to rescue Christine, as well as begging her not to sacrifice herself for him. In other words, he was willing to die to ensure her safety.

* The unmasking scene. Lon Chaney's self-applied makeup was so incredibly well done, that some audience members in 1925 were reported to have fainted upon seeing his face. Still scary today, in a JumpScare sort of way.

** Come to think of it, during the ENTIRE FREAKING MUSICAL, Raoul is the only character who never has any of the Phantom's shit.

* That high note Christine hits at the end of the title song.
** Her cadenza at the end of "Think of Me" is also quite spectacular.
* The Overture is one - the SET rises from its collapsed form on the stage ([[RunningGag as well as "something about a chandelier" doing the same]]).
** 'Perhaps we can frighten away the ghost of so many years ago with a little ILLUMINATION! GENTLEMEN!'

* Raoul really SugarWiki/NeedsMoreLove--especially for the graveyard scene, where he faces down an angry out-for-blood Phantom and calls him out on the whole "trying to force someone to love you via threats and kidnapping" thing. Oh yeah, did we mention the Phantom is ''hurling fireballs at him'' through all this? Who says the Vicomte de Chagny isn't {{Badass}}? Not to mention swimming across the underground lake in order to rescue Christine, as well as begging her not to sacrifice herself for him. In other words, he was willing to die to ensure her safety.

* The unmasking scene. Lon Chaney's self-applied makeup was so incredibly well done, that some audience members in 1925 were reported to have fainted upon seeing his face. Still scary today, in a JumpScare sort of way.

* After spending the balance of the show as the DistressedDamsel, Christine turns the Phantom at his StalkerWithACrush worst to a shivering wreck and prompts him to turn his ScarpiaUltimatum into a [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy heartbreaking self-sacrifice]]... with a ''single kiss''. ThePowerOfLove (or at least compassion) at its most potent.

** Christine doesn't just sit by and weep either; she practically ''snarls'' back at the Phantom "The tears I might have shed for your dark fate/Gor cold, and turn to tears of ''hate!"'' showing him clearly that she's not going to be a pushover for him any longer.

*** That one line gave me the impression for years that the auctioneer could somehow be the Phantom in disguise.

* Raoul really NeedsMoreLove--especially for the graveyard scene, where he faces down an angry out-for-blood Phantom and calls him out on the whole "trying to force someone to love you via threats and kidnapping" thing. Oh yeah, did we mention the Phantom is ''hurling fireballs at him'' through all this? Who says the Vicomte de Chagny isn't {{Badass}}? Not to mention swimming across the underground lake in order to rescue Christine, as well as begging her not to sacrifice herself for him. In other words, he was willing to die to ensure her safety.