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A Phantom Engagement
One of the troubles a female Phantom fan has is finding a man who can possibly match Erik. They have to be willing to put on a mask and cloak and live in a dark lair under the Opera House, not to mention being a passionate, sexy, talented, creative genius. Amazingly, I found one. Here's the account of our engagement I wrote for the Phantom list, in 1998: I went over to LA in December to spend Christmas with my boyfriend, who also loves Phantom, and knew he was arranging tickets for the show there. We also both knew we wanted to spend the rest of our lives with each other, but hadn't officially got engaged yet, partly because we thought we'd give our parents the chance to meet each other before springing the surprise on them. I knew that Paul was planning to combine the trip to Phantom with the actual proposal, but didn't expect quite the fuss they'd make of us! We got to the Pantages in Hollywood about an hour before the show on New Year's Eve, and waited in the foyer for the various friends we were meeting up with there (including Carrie Hernandez, Carolyn Rogoff, Front Row, and some other Phantom listers). A little later we were greeted by one of the ushers and someone from the Pantages Theatre management, who told us they had set aside a special area for us by the cocktail lounge, and would come and collect us at intermission. It was a bit like the V.I.P. service they offer at Her Majesty's, leading us to our seats as if we were special guests. We were in about the 5th row back in the orchestra section, on the aisle. I'll do a review of the show later, as it was the bits in between and after the show that were particularly special for me this time! At the interval, the usher who'd spoken to us before came down to our seats and announced that they had a special presentation for me upstairs, "to thank me for my work in promoting Phantom on the Internet" (I think I'll quote that in the web design section of my resume!). We were lead upstairs to the cocktail lounge, where they had an area marked off by ropes, with a poster welcoming us, and balloons. On a table was a bottle of champagne surrounded by a number of glasses, and a box. When we were all gathered (friends were coming from various areas of the theatre), they loudly announced to all the crowds waiting at the bar that we were their special guests for the evening, the Internet bit etc., and presented the box to me as a gift from them. I stood there feeling extremely embarrassed, opening the box, and unwrapping the tissue paper inside. I eventually got down to a small black velvet jewelry box. I was fairly sure what was in this, but I hadn't seen the ring yet, and had no idea it would be presented to me like this! As I opened the box, Paul took it from me, went down on one knee, held out the ring, and asked me to marry him. I stood there grinning like an idiot, and said "Of course I will". That was followed by a lot of photographs, champagne, kisses, and congratulations from friends, a couple more Internet Phantom fans, and a few perfect strangers.
 Photo by Juan Hernández. As we went back to our seats, they pointed to a little door at the end of a corridor, and told us to leave the theatre and meet them at it as soon as the curtain went down. So, we jumped up and rushed out there, and were led to the stage door to have our photo taken with Ron Bohmer in full costume and make-up. Apparently it had to be done the minute he came off after his curtain calls, because of dressers' union fees. The theatre took a couple of photos, and we were allowed one friend to take a couple too. After that we decided to wait to get photos of Ron as himself, and get our programs signed, so the whole group of us waited until everyone had come out. After that, we moved on to a hotel further down the road, where we saw the new year in with a group of Phantom fans. It was certainly the best new year I've celebrated! Someone commented that they hoped I'd keep my name... What I'll do is put Clemens on the end, but use one or the other depending on situations, so I'll still be Christine Daae in every day life. Of course, the true test of devotion would be whether he'd change his name to Erik, but I think a rose tattoo is quite enough! See also A Phantom Engagement, by Carrie Hernandez, which appeared in the POTO Magazine.
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