The Phantom of the Opera is there.
He is hideously deformed, he wears a mask and lurks beneath the stage of the Paris Opera House. He exercises a reign of terror over all of its occupants. He falls fatally in love with a young soprano, Christine Daaé, and he devotes himself to making her a new star of the opera.
He is the tragic hero of the musical The Phantom of the Opera, directed by Harold Prince and based on the classic novel, Le Fantome de l' Opéra by Gaston Leroux.
When unmasked, he is also Mr. Peter Karrie, a London West End performer. He will perform the role Phantom in Hong Kong.
This is the first time Mr. Karrie has visited Hong Kong.
Said he: "I am proud to have the chance to perform in the Far East. Hong Kong is so famous all over the world. It is an exotic and exciting city with the blend of ancient and modern cultures. I have longed to dine here. I consider this trip an adventure."
Mr. Karrie has starred as the Phantom for 18 months in London's West End. In 1991, he began making a series of guest-starring appearances as the Phantom in Toronto and donned the Phantom's mask full-time there in the spring of 1994.
"No matter who my colleagues are and where I am acting, the Phantom is still the same. I cannot adjust or betray his personality," said Mr. Karrie.
In other words, the Phantom in Hong Kong will be the same one as in London or Toronto, without any change in the presentation style to suit Asian audiences.
Despite the fact that Mr. Karrie has to perform as the Phantom eight times per week on average, he finds no difficulty keeping himself involved in the Phantom role.
"I live the role on stage as well as off stage. When I perform what is said on the script, I am totally indulging in the role.
"Feelings naturally come out on their own and I just let them take my part. Thus, the Phantom and I become one. It is a self-perpetuating process, so I do not feel tired," said Mr. Karrie.
"Off stage I am still the Phantom. It is impossible to forget the role immediately after every performance.
"Of course, I have to be very careful about my private life so as to keep my voice. For instance, I have to go sleep and not to go out to enjoy myself too often," he said.
Identifying himself as the Phantom even off stage, help Mr. Karrie to read his mind.
"I have read the novel before I was asked to perform this role, and I know him quite well.
"His behaviour is a little bit nonsensical and dramatic but on the whole he is still a complete romanticist, a gentleman who is willing to sacrifice anything for the sake of love."
Having performed as the Phantom more than 1,000 times, he was voted the "all-time favourite Phantom" by the world-wide Phantom Appreciation Society in London. One fan reportedly has seen his performance 107 times.
Nevertheless, this "all-time favourite Phantom" never received any formal training in music.
"I started as a rock singer," said Mr. Karrie, "and became an musical actor just by accident."
Mr. Karrie is now 48. Born and educated in Wales, he discovered his talent in music at the age of 9.
When he was 16, he was a soloist in a band that performed in sports clubs. He enjoyed it, but in the mid '70s, the band members decided to do something else.
"While worrying about my future, I was asked to attend an audition," Mr. Karrie explained.
He then became Angelo in the musical Fire Angel in 1976.
But it was his role as "the American" in Chess that made him known to fans of musicals.
Roles like Che in Evita, Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar and James Dean in Dean, just to name a few, led to international recognition.
"The great success of The Phantom of the Opera is not the turning point of my career. Rather, I would describe the Phantom as the most challenging and satisfactory role.
"It is challenging because the Phantom has a hard and intense character. With the mask on, I cannot use facial expressions. Only body language and emotions can be used to touch the audience. The fame of this musical further adds pressure on me."
On the other hand, the extensive make-up takes him a lot of time. On average, it takes two hours.
After the make-up, he can still eat. However, he must be very careful or he has to do the make-up over again. The make-up is indeed terrifying.
"Once there was a riot in London outside the theatre. During the break, I looked outside the window with the mask on. The crowd was frightened by me. They screamed and ran away," said he.
Despite all this, Mr.Karrie said that the Phantom is his most fulfilling role.
"The Phantom is not pleasing to the audience at the beginning, but later his emotional pains and rejections in life make people sympathize with him.
"It is wonderful to make the audience cry. I also feel sexy when I am on stage," said he.
All the characters he has played have different attractions to him, said him. Thus, there is no such thing as "the character I like most" to him.
Apart from theatres, one can also find Mr. Karrie on television, radio and albums in Britain. He is now composing his own new musical and preparing his part in Pride and Prejudice as Mr. Darcy.
Despite his tight working schedule, he has not forgotten about his family.
His 7-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son often come to the theatre to see his rehearsals. They are used to sitting in the fourth row and waving their hands when he is performing.
"I will not oppose them if they want to follow my footsteps. In fact, I have already discovered my son's interests in acting and music, whereas my daughter wants to be an ice-skating ballerina," said Mr. Karrie.
According to him, the main attributes of a successful actor are commitment, a strong will to succeed and a willingness to sacrifice.
"Talent is not that important, because training can help," he added.