BROOKE

(to ZEKE) Ok. Put on your listening ears for five minutes. Got them on? Good. Now just LISTEN.

(We see the story play out upstage as BROOKE begins to tell it.)

BROOKE

LONG AGO, THERE LIVED A MAN,

HIS NAME WAS CARLO, AND HE RAN

AN ANCIENT THEATER WHERE HIS DAUGHTER WAS THE STAR.

With me?

ZEKE

Karla’s the star, yeah.

BROOKE

No! HIS DAUGHTER’S NAME IS

ESMERELDA, AND SHE’S FAMOUS,

PEOPLE COME TO HEAR HER SING FROM NEAR AND FAR.

ZEKE

Got it.

BROOKE

Good.

NOW, THERE’S A RUMOR GOING ROUND

THAT IN THE TUNNELS UNDERGROUND,

THERE LIVES…

ZEKE

Wait, I know, can I guess?

BROOKE

SURE, IF YOU CAN.

ZEKE

A mysterious phantom! Me! Right?

BROOKE

RIGHT, WELL, MOSTLY,

BUT THE TWIST IS THAT THIS GHOSTLY

EVIL PRESENCE ISN’T MONSTER, BUT MAN.

NOW, THIS MAN HAD BEEN BLESSED

WITH A GIFT HE POSSESSED:

MUSICAL TALENTS COMPLETELY UNMATCHED.

BUT, AS YOU OFTEN WILL FIND

IN EPIC TALES OF THIS KIND,

THIS GIFT CAME WITH A CURSE ATTACHED:

A FACE THAT WAS HIDEOUS

AND SO JARRING

HE WORE A MASK TO COVER ALL THE SCARRING

ZEKE

Cool!

BROOKE

AND LIVED UNDERGROUND INSIDE A HOLE.

ZEKE

Wait, a hole? Why a hole?

BROOKE

ALL HIS LIFE, HE’D BEEN TORMENTED, TEASED, AND TAUNTED,

BUT NOW HIS HUNTERS WOULD BECOME THE HAUNTED.

THE WORLD THAT ALWAYS MADE HIM FEEL UNWANTED WOULD HEAR THE TOLL:

THE SOUNDS OF A TORTURED SOUL.

ZEKE

Ok, so I was born with a lightning scar, got it.

BROOKE

No, no. Your typical, everyday scar.

ZEKE

Ohh, Scar like Lion King!

BROOKE

You know, you are actually the worst. Listen up, you’re gonna need to know this.

BROOKE

ONE DAY AT HIS PIANO,

DISTANT SOUNDS OF A SOPRANO

DRIFTED TOWARDS HIM FROM THE THEATER ABOVE.

ZEKE

K, so this hole has a piano?

BROOKE

(ignoring him)

SWEETER THAN A BIRD,

IN ALL HIS LIFE HE’D NEVER HEARD

A SOUND LIKE THIS, AND HE WAS INSTANTLY IN LOVE.

THE VOICE, OF COURSE, WAS CARLO’S DAUGHTER,

AND THE PHANTOM WENT AND SOUGHT HER

TO BECOME HIS SECRET STUDENT, AND HIS MUSE.

AND IF YOU THINK SHE FOUND THIS OH-SO-

ENIGMATIC VIRTUOSO

KINDA CREEPY, THEN I’VE GOT SOME SHOCKING NEWS:

BECAUSE SHE FELL, AND FELL HARD.

HE WAS BATTERED AND SCARRED,

BUT SHE COULD SEE THAT INSIDE, THERE WAS MORE.

SOMETHING ALLURING, SHE’D FIND

IN THE SADNESS BEHIND

THAT TERRIFYING MASK HE WORE.

ZEKE

Wait a minute, I’m your boyfriend? Are we gonna have to kiss? That’s gross, you’re like my sister.

BROOKE

Zeke, it’s called acting.

AND THOUGH HE WAS HIDEOUS,

AND SHE WAS PERFECTION,

THROUGH MUSIC, THEY FOUND THEIR CONNECTION,

A BOND BEYOND THEIR OWN CONTROL.

ZEKE

You better not get sick, I am NOT kissing Tina!

BROOKE

AND THOUGH HIS FACE TORMENTED HER AND CHILLED HER,

HIS COMPOSITIONS HAUNTED HER AND THRILLED HER.

HIS MESMERIZING MELODIES FULFILLED HER, MADE HER WHOLE…

THE SOUNDS OF A TORTURED SOUL.

ZEKE

She was beautiful, and he was hideous…ok so this IS Beauty and the Beast?

BROOKE

Zeke, less talking. More listening. ‘Cause here’s where it gets interesting.

BROOKE

EZZY HAS ANOTHER MAN, SOME

GUY NAMED RAOUL WHO’S TALL AND HANDSOME,

AND NOT ALL THAT PLEASED ABOUT HER LATEST BEAU.

ZEKE

Ah, always a triangle.

BROOKE

ANGRILY, RAOUL TRACKS HIM

TO HIS LAIR, WHERE HE ATTACKS HIM,

AND THEY BATTLE IN THE PASSAGEWAY BELOW.

ZEKE

Awesome!

BROOKE

AND WHEN HE TOOK HIS LAST BREATH,

THE PHANTOM WELCOMED HIS DEATH;

HE’D RATHER DIE THAN LIVE APART.

WHEN IT WAS OVER AND DONE,

RAOUL HAD KILLED HIM—HE’D WON,

BUT HE’D LOST ESMERELDA’S HEART.

‘CAUSE THOUGH HE WAS PRETTY, YES,

AND A KEEPER,

THE PHANTOM’S LOVE WAS SO MUCH DEEPER.

A LOSS THAT NOTHING COULD CONSOLE.

NO MORE, SHE’D SEE THAT FACE THAT ONCE HAD CHILLED HER.

NO MORE, SHE’D HEAR THAT MUSIC THAT FULFILLED HER,

AND PEOPLE SAY THAT THAT’S THE THING THAT KILLED HER, ON THE WHOLE.

She ran away and was never seen again. But get this:

WHEN THEY RETURNED TO FIND THE PHANTOM AND UNMASK IT,

THEY NEVER FOUND A BODY FOR THE CASKET.

THEY SAY HE HAD, DEPENDING WHO YOU ASK IT, ONE LAST GOAL…

ZEKE

One last goal?

BROOKE

TO THIS DAY, INSIDE THAT THEATER, OR NEAR IT,

IF YOU LISTEN VERY CLOSELY, YOU CAN HEAR IT:

THE SONGS OF A TORTURED SPIRIT’S FINAL ROLE.

THE SOUNDS OF A TORTURED SOUL.

That’s the basic plot, anyway.

ZEKE

So it’s about a person who died at a theater and then haunts it forever?

BROOKE

Yes.

ZEKE

Brooke! That’s just like the story Ms. Walker told! This play is just like the story of our school. That is so… meta. Man.