I saw the musical, "Phantom of the Opera" for the third time last night.

It was a fabulous performance with incredible scenery, props, and makeup.

The gentleman who played the Phantom had a voice that went from softly angelic to powerfully demonic in his singing.

I was in tears at the end when he finally let the innocent Christine free to go to be with her true love, Raoul. This only came about as she tenderly accepted her "Angel of Music" as a man and not a monster.

On the way home I began to think about the "Phantom" in each of us. Even with his deformity and "ugliness", there was a beautiful person inside wanting to be exposed and acknowledged. He had the gift of his music to share, but no one to accept him and connect with his soul. Thus, he was imprisoned in his own mind.

People can be so judgemental at times without taking the time to really "see" the true person inside. First impressions can, unfortunately, set the tone for how we may ultimately treat each other.

Adding to that, we are now living in a world of "instant beauty" as a large percentage of our population work on their "outer" selves through plastic surgery, etc. We are all looking to slow down the aging process by tightening and plumping and enlarging and reducing and sucking and tucking whatever we can. Unfortunately, we may be producing a generation of pretty people who are lacking the authentic, inner character traits to match.

Although we are frightened by some of the Phantom's horrific antics, the musical slowly allows us to see a glimpse of the gentle soul deep inside this pained and tormented man. When it comes down to it, all he is wanting is to love and be loved.....

Those simple realities are pretty much true for all of us, aren't they?