The Point of No Return

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Point of No Return is a song from the hit West End musical The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical), based on Gaston Leroux's novel The Phantom of the Opera. The song is sung towards the end of the musical, as a duet between the Phantom and Christine. It is a part of the Phantom's opera Don Juan Triumphant, which he composed for Christine. The Phantom sings as Don Juan. The song plays on the theme of committal, displayed in such lines as "Past the point of no return, no backward glances: the games we've played till now are at an end...". This line was also modified for later versions to read "...our games of make bealieve are at an end..."

Towards the end of the song another of the Phantom's murders is discovered, this time of Piangi Ubaldo, who was intended to sing as Don Juan at first. and the song tenses up with the phrase "the bridge is crossed, so stand and watch it burn!" After the song is finished, the Phantom sings All I Ask of You softly to Christine. When he is about to finish, Christine rips the mask from his face, exposing his deformed face. At this point, he activates the crashing of the Chandelier and opens a trapdoor that leads to his lair. On the way, he sings Down Once More.

However, it is only in the film version of the musical that the Phantom activates the crashing of the Chandelier at this point, instead of after All I Ask of You as in the original musical. The change is also kept for the modified version of the musical, Phantom: The Las Vegas Spectacular.