Mikael Karlsson

Mikael is a supporting character in A Performer's Life Beyond the Drapes, and is an initial love interest for Mackenzie Fanheart. He later transfers to a prestigious music school back in Sweden.

Appearance
Mikael is a lanky young man of roughly average height. He has pale skin, unkempt raven-black hair, and reddish-brown eyes, and is considered fairly attractive.

He mostly dresses in dark-colored clothes (a few people note that the only bright color they've seen him wear is the Red Death masquerade costume during the Phantom production).

Personality
Mikael has a somewhat quiet and reserved personality. He prefers his own company and is usually seen hanging out by himself. Because of this (and due to his preference of dressing in dark-colored clothes), people assume he is an emo and tend to avoid him. However, he will join people if invited, and he can be surprisingly social when doing so, often cracking jokes and making snarky, sarcastic comments.

Due to his mother having feminist views and raising him with such, Mikael understands the value of males relying on their friends for emotional support. Because of this, he quickly becomes friends with Tim, Austin, and Johnny, who follow the same belief but don't really show it. He also doesn't believe in gender roles, respects women, and is quick to call out people for their racist/sexist/homophobic behavior, which makes him fairly well-liked among many of his fellow Phantom cast members.

Having grown up with music from Luciano Pavarotti, Andrea Bocelli , and Boris Christoff , Mikael has a dream of becoming a professional opera singer. He owns several records from various opera singers, which he plays on a record player his mother bought him. He also auditions for Phantom, even though he doesn't have much interest in Performing Arts.

He is openly asexual, not having any interest in sexual relationships. That being said, he is very much interested in romantic relationships. During his short relationship with Max, he is seen to be a doting boyfriend, buying her flowers, talking about her with his friends a lot, supporting her dreams, and giving her his fair share of emotional support.

However, he can also be very shy when actually expressing his feelings to a crush, stuttering a lot and becoming easily flustered (when he confesses his feelings to Max, he stays in character as the Phantom in order to avoid this, but reverts back to his normal flustered self after Max reveals she can't tell if he's being serious or not). He is also very respectful when confessing his feelings, giving his beloved space when telling her and accepting a rejection without a second thought.

Mackenzie Fanheart
During the initial auditions for Phantom, Mikael only sees Max as a friendly fellow cast member, though they eventually become good friends. Overtime however, he begins to fall deeply in love with her, impressed by her dedication to the show, and charmed by her kindness and humor. During rehearsals, he learns he has been invited to join a prestigious music school back in his mother land of Sweden; though initially excited about this, he later becomes saddened as it would mean he wouldn't be able to develop a romance with Max.

Despite this, he confesses his feelings to her during intermission of opening night, though he states that a relationship between them wouldn't work because he'll soon be moving back to Sweden to join the music school. Nevertheless, she reciprocates his feelings, and they decide to make the most of a relationship before he moves.

During this time, he is very doting toward Max; he continually buys her flowers for the production (a few before the show, and a bouquet for after), talks about her with his friends a lot, and gives her emotional support. She also begins spending the night in his room a lot.

After he moves, she is noticeably upset, but eventually accepts it and moves on.

Austin Abram, John Rodriguez, and Timothy Harris
Mikael is shown to have a strong friendship with Austin, John, and Tim. He is shown to enjoy teasing John about his crush on Greta. Though they aren't shown hanging out together that often in the novel, they are shown together in the last chapter of the Sophomore Year segment, where they are shown to be bothered by the prospect of Mikael leaving (though they try to remain positive). They are shown to be supportive of Mikael's relationship with Max, as they console him about his leaving and having to break up with her.

Darius Anderson
The two don't share very many interactions throughout the Sophomore Year section; mostly, Mikael often gives him words of support if he ever notices Darius is feeling down. Unbeknownst to him, Darius feels an intense hatred towards Mikael, jealous because Max loves him. He even reveals later to Max that he wanted to kill Mikael, and was about to do so, but couldn't because he moved back to Sweden.

Performances

 * The Phantom of the Opera - The Phantom

Trivia

 * The name Mikael is the Scandinavian and Finnish form of Michael, which is from the Hebrew name מִיכָאֵל (Mikha'el) meaning "who is like God?", or "gift of God". The surname Karlsson means "son of Karl".
 * His favorite movie and book is Let the Right One In.
 * Mikael doesn't like the idea of long-distance relationships because he finds the thought of not being near your beloved and wondering when you're next going to get to see them very depressing, hence why he doesn't opt for a long-distance relationship with Max.
 * Mikael's Swedish heritage is a reference in and of itself to Phantom of the Opera, as Christine Daae is Swedish.
 * Mikael gets his first name from Swedish film director and screenwriter, Mikael Håfström, who is best known for the films Evil , 1408 , and The Rite.
 * Throughout the book, Mikael is seen speaking small bits of Swedish, whether it be cursing in Swedish or calling Max pet names in Swedish. These include:
 * För fan i helvete : For the hell
 * Knulla: Fuck
 * Fan: Damn
 * Skithuvud: Shit head
 * Åh Herre Gud : Oh my God
 * Tack gud: Thank you God
 * Min älskling: My Darling
 * God morgon: Good Morning
 * Käraste: Dearest
 * Dumjävel: Idiot
 * Jag älskar dig : I love you