Character of the Month

Hi everyone and welcome to a new monthly article called ‘Character of the Month’ where I’m going to talk about my favourite character and why I love them.

First up we have Christine Daae from The Phantom of the Opera. Christine has the most fantastic growth during the musical, she starts off so scared and naive but ends a strong female who can stand up for herself. We first see Christine during the Hannibal rehearsals where her best friend Meg suggests that she takes over from the lead after the Prima Donna quits leaving the show without its lead. Christine auditions and starts the song timid and scared but then with help from her Angel of Music aka The Phantom, she comes alive and amazes everyone so much so that she gets the part. After her first performance, we meet her childhood friend Raoul and these two develop a really secure and sweet relationship. However, Christine soon meets the Phantom, whilst scared she is intrigued and wonders if this man is the ‘Angel of Music’ her deceased father used to tell her stories about when she was a little girl; but the Phantom uses Christine’s kindness and naivety against her. Not giving any spoilers but at the end of act1 Phantom scares Christine back into her shell. At the start of the second act, we see a more timid Christine who is scared of this manic man until about half way through where she sings a song called ‘Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again’ which for me is a real turning point. Here she decides she is done being the scared girl and is moving on from that, whilst still scared of the Phantom, she is done playing his games and is going to stand up for herself. Especially during The Final Lair where she truly stands up to the Phantom which I don’t think would have happened if she didn’t have that turning point in Wishing.

3 Things, I Love about Christine Are:

Her Heart: Christine has SUCH a big heart and she loves all of her friends. There is not a bad bone in her body, she treats everyone with kindness – even The Phantom, even though it might not be the best decision for her

Her Growth: She goes from being this scared little girl to a woman who can stand up for herself and save the ones she cares about the most

Her Strength: This goes hand in hand with the last one but Christine goes through so much trauma throughout her life and then more so within this musical, going through even one of the events she goes through in the musical is traumatic enough but Christine keeps going, never once gives up which goes to show how strong she is.

Overall

Overall I think Christine is one of the strongest females in Musical Theatre. Her heart is to be applauded as well as her growth throughout. I think she is incredibly well written as well. It is for those reasons that Christine is one of my all-time favourite musical characters

Here are some Christine’s I’ve met!

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