©  C h r i s t i n e  D a a é  1 9 9 6 - 2 0 0 6 a l l    r i g h t s    r e s e r v e d e m a i l h o m e

She's seen the show 41 times. So what is the secret behind the Phantom's mask? The Independent, 9th October 1996. By DAVID LISTER, Arts News Editor. For a reputedly shy chap, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber does not do things by half. Tonight, to mark the 10th anniversary of The Phantom of the Opera, he will be giving a masked ball at a London hotel and even taking to the stage at Her Majesty's Theatre to do a surprise turn after the curtain calls. Sir Andrew and the musical's producer, Sir Cameron Mackintosh, have sent a stylised invitation to 10th-anniversary guests purporting to be from the Phantom himself. "Masks must be worn. Ignore this at your peril" it concludes. In the case of Messrs Lloyd Webber and Mackintosh, that is, one assumes, a tongue-in- cheek affectation. For others though the magical powers of the Phantom and his infatuation with his protege Christine Daae in the 19th-century Paris Opera House have been tangible enough to take over their lives. Take for example Miss Christine Daae herself. Not the fictional diva who inflames the Phantom to murder for her love in the swirling Gothic romance, but the 22-year-old PA from who changed her name from by deed poll. Miss Daae of Hertfordshire has seen the show 41 times, once travelling to Canada to do so, and has spent around £6,000 on tickets and merchandise. The show, she said yesterday, "totally took my breath away. I felt completely carried away to another world, caught up in the hypnotic power he has over Christine". She explains the change of name in appropriately romantic style. "Unconsciously it was that if the Phantom came back today he would have a Christine Daae who would stay."