Final Curtain (1957)

[Music] the [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] after hours in the theater when the cast and crew have gone long after the last of the audience has left a new world appears that of the spirit and the Unseen ever since I had taken the staring role as the vampire and had entered this theater I knew some unseen object was beckoning me it was somewhere in this theater I know I must find that object even though I don't know what it is I seek I also know I fear I will find that object this night the calling is stronger than it had ever been before this night was to be the night I had looked forward to with fear knowing all the time it had to come sooner or later and there was nothing I could do but heed that call this was to be the night this the last night of our play this night when all the others had [Music] gone I leaned against the frame of my dressing room door looking out across the long darkened stage high in the catwalks aboard Creeks is it just aboard or perhaps some unseen figure gliding there a small guide lamp dies it appears to were burned out after many long nights of continuous use but has the ball burned out couldn't it have been that some unseen thing has probed a hole through the frosted glass to let in the Infectious air a gust of wind pours through my open dressing room window is it the [Music] wind perhaps another Spirit entering for a night of pleasure in the lonely darkness that is this the theater after ours after the final curtain has come down a cat screams why do I pay so much attention to the scream of a cat it is outside I only want to know the sounds from within perhaps it has come from within again it screams like someone in Mortal Terror in horrible unbearable pain the cries Echo angry Echo throughout the building or are they echoing in my own mind alone [Music] I clasp my hands over my ears to shut out the sound suddenly I realize I must have screamed for my throat feels raw from a sudden [Music] violence what is this this Blackness I face here in the theater long after all others have gone this Blackness that permits a new world to appear a new world of the spirit and the Unseen the Unseen that hides in high Lofts and dark Corners during daylight hours the Unseen that comes from hiding to parade and Frolic in the mass expanse of the auditorium when it is dark and they are alone I had heard that after the witching hour had struck these unseen Spirits would return to die and redy live and relive their experiences that they had witnessed during the time of their mortal existence I wanted to experience these happenings to undertake the spine Ling Sensations that were sure to be [Music] [Music] there midnight the witching hour [Music] I leave the comforting lights of my dressing room and move to stand on the dark empty [Music] stage [Music] [Music] I look out over the darkened Auditorium [Music] the seats out front are as I have seen them night after night while doing my lines on this side of the foot [Music] lights now empty they appear like squatty little fat men standing row on row like soldiers in formation there was a movement in the balcony perhaps a seat has fallen on its hinges then a Creek in the galleries under the guide lamp goes out as had its counterpart before a chill passes through my [Music] body something races past my foot a rat suddenly a rattling in pipes somewhere overhead what is it faint startling almost impossible surely it must have been some water that had become lodged in the pipes caught by something that had finally dislodged itself I strain my eyes to pierce even deeper into the darkness but I can see nothing nothing but the Blackness the outlines of the seats the high ridges that are the balcony hanging like a dark Thundercloud over an even darker Sky I cannot tell where space ends and the auditorium walls begin but do I really want to know something deep from within my very being draws me from this stage I want I must explore further into the deep Blackness I must go up that spiral staircase I must see the floors above to enter into the costume rooms the scenery rooms the makeup rooms all those rooms where one may change his appearance to any character [Music] namable and unnamable [Music] I hesitate but a moment to look back once more across the stage and into the darkness of the auditorium then cautiously I make my way through the darkness to the spiral staircase from somewhere high above the faint light of the Moon drifts through a [Music] window the Rays give a bluish tent to the guide rail I take the metal of the guide rail in my hand it is called like the cold of the Dead the moisture from my hand causes it to feel clammy unearthly it is moving in my hand like a cold slimy snake I jerk my hand away [Music] quickly for a long moment I stand staring at the metal then I let my hands slowly return to the railing this time it does not move it couldn't have before but I climb [Music] slowly the stairs ring against my weight louder than I have ever heard them ring before or is it just my imagination impossible the sound is echoing and re-echoing throughout the stage and the auditorium below I find myself wondering why it sounds so much louder in the night than during the day this was another strange thing that only the Knight can answer and I must [Music] [Music] learn nothing but the dance rehearsal studio with its long rectangular floor I stop at a moment then I continue on the Wind howls outside I become suddenly cold for the moment it felt as if I had nothing on at all I know I should think of other things but I can't how can I think of other things of pleasant things when I'm in a hallway surrounded by shadows and objects that can take any shape here in the darkness any shape my mind wants them to take 10 rooms each with a different setting of costumes wigs and scenery the shadowing effect of this passage and its evenly spaced doors makes a deep impression on my mind and Beads of sweat on my forehead the knob on this door feels the same as the rail on the staircase but this time I am ready for the clammy sensation the door opens easily without a sound the window at the back lets the Moonlight filter through to permit me to see the silhouette of a woman with long silk-like hair I am startled unable for the moment to move I speak to her there was is no answer again I speak then I realize it is only the dummy of a vampire in her long flowing gowns which we have been using in the play these many months I stand in the doorway staring at this creature this vision of loveliness the face beautiful alive her eyes wide eyes staring Straight Ahead at me I walk into the room close to her the folds of her dress brushes against my hand I lift the flowing gown and caress it with my hand then rub the smooth material against my cheek inwardly I know I am smiling enjoying this New Sensation Could It Be Love some strange love for this Earthbound unearthly creature who cannot move nor speak I let the material drop back into place for a moment I let my hand run over the smooth cheek of this beauty then I move back to the door in the doorway I turn for one last look is she smiling she is smiling her lips are drawn Apart Her white teeth shine like fos forus her hand moves beckoning me to return return return to what I slammed the door I have to break this evil spell of the night which seems to have captured my body I stand out of breath panting against the door I couldn't have imagined it it had been too real she had smiled she had beckoned me to return to her it had happened I look and hunger to look still more I know I not as yet found what I am seeking I am not so frightened now I know that for which I look must soon be in the offing as I have only one last room to [Music] enter I push the door inward I stand in the doorway looking across this last room my eyes try to force themselves to look downward but I cannot permit myself to do this not yet I want to look to where the Moonlight hits the floor but am I ready a cloud crosses the path of the moon's rays and as the shadow Falls my eyes fall with it at the back wall is a big even darker Shadow I can't make it out for the moment but I know I know it is the object of my search the reason for this night's Adventure the real reason my eyes light up with sudden eagerness for at the back wall is the form of a big black [Music] coffin I walked across the room do it and slowly ever so slowly I raised the lid I know in this moment that I am going to climb into this cushioned box and permit the lid to close over me forever [Music] [Music]