#maria björnson

[noppan]

The countess. Act 1. Il Muto. The Phantom Of The Opera.

[aemiliuslives]

Daily Challenge 2023, Day 28. This is my 3D sculpture of Christine Daae in her Masquerade costume from "The Phantom of the Opera", in honor of the end of its 35-year run on Broadway.

[ninakoll]

WHERE is the story in which for a stage adaptation of phantom of the opera mayoi is cast as RAOUL instead of the phantom and goes thru a whole identity crisis in which he was not cast as the monster he thinks he is and instead has to play an arrogant and heroic buffoon? 🗣️ where!!!

[bestmusicalworldcup]

The Phantom returns to the USA!

Cameron Mackintosh has announced that The Phantom of the Opera will begin a new North American tour in November 2025 at Baltimore's Hippodrome Theatre.

This tour will use the current London staging with direction by Seth Sklar-Heyn based on Harold Prince's original, choreography by Gillian Lynne, adapted by Chrissie Cartwright, and production design by Maria Björnson.

While the London staging is not quite the same as Harold Prince's original production, it's also considered a step up from the previous US tour that operated before 2020, which used Laurence Connor's heavily maligned direction. Regardless, theatergoers across the country are sure to be delighted by the return of the Phantom.

[behindthemirrorofmusic]

For #womenshistorymonth a look at some of the most important women in the history of The Phantom of the Opera.

Number 5. Maria Björnson

Maria Bjornson was regarded by her peers as Britain’s most inspired set and costume designer for theatre, opera, and ballet.

For The Phantom of the Opera she designed what is known as the most elaborate and complicated set in theatre history, including the famous chandelier and proscenium. She also designed the famous mask plus the magical and intricate costumes we all know so well.

[jeremyonthelair]

So after ten years of watching the show only from bootlegs, I eventually got chance to see it in person, started with the Chinese and then the Korean production this year. And luckily it was the Brilliant Original in its entirety in Korea.

Playout is always one of my top favourite moments from the musical, so I made this compilation as a memory of my very first experience.

And this way, my 2023 Phantom Journey came to a curtain call.

--------------------

This video is to pay tribute to the Brilliant Original Production itself, to the original creative team as a whole, and to the genius designer Maria Björnson in particular, whose vision has been testified by a standing ovation from phans all over the world throughout the years.

This compilation contains:

• My recordings from the 2023 Chinese Production in Shanghai, and the 2023 Korean Production in Seoul

• A clip published on Weibo by @天酱_

• A clip published on Twitter by Conductor Yang Juin (Musical Director of Phantom Korea)

Available on YouTube at:

[fdelopera]

I’m glad that Laird got to come back to Phantom to help close out the show. He’s been with Phantom since the old sit-down Toronto production, and he’s one of the OG OGs.

I know that things are ending on an absolutely batshit note (how could it be any other way for an ALW production?) but at least an old school Phantom is there to bring down the curtain (and Maria Björnson’s chandelier).

[roadtophantom]

Phantom of the Opera Korea dates have been revealed

Busan at Dream Theater from March 30 to June 18, 2023

Seoul at Charlotte Theater on July 14, 2023

The sets and costumes of the Korean performances are said to be produced on the original design and scale at the time of the West End and Broadway premiere and reflects the upgraded technical elements of Maria Björnson's original Vienna stage set made in 1988.

[nessie665]

At this point, I think we should just call it Maria's Björnson Phantom of the Opera because I genuinely believe the play falls apart without her costuming

[thesarahfiles]

On June 5, 1988, Sarah attended the 42nd Annual Tony Awards at the Minskoff Theater in New York City. She was snubbed, but "The Phantom of the Opera" won for Best Musical, Michael Crawford won for Best Leading Actor in a Musical, Judy Kaye won Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical, Hal Prince won for Best Direction of a Musical, Maria Björnson won for both Best Scenic Design and Best Costume Design, and Andrew Bridge won for Best Lighting Design. Sarah and Michael Crawford performed the title song and "Music of the Night" at the ceremony and they were introduced by Angela Lansbury, who hosted the gala. 

[phantoonsoftheopera]

Testing out some lighting ideas for Vault Palais Garnier. The lighting options in this game are so meager and this atrium is so big that I think I'll fall back on Maria Björnson's concept of highlighting important details and leaving the rest in shadow.

[noppan]

Thats all for now! Time to move on to Il muto!

[glassprism]

Do you know why they didn't get Hal Prince to directed the 25th anniversary concert and the tour? It would make a lot more sense given that he made the show along with Gillian Lynne and Maria Björnson.

The answer given by Hal Prince in this interview is that he was busy working on Prince of Broadway and so was not available to work on the 25th anniversary concert.

Unofficially, part of me wonders if Cameron Mackintosh and co. would even have wanted Prince to direct the concert. I've said before that the concert was a prototype of several changes they would make in the restaged UK and US tours - all directed by Laurence Connor (and associate directed by and produced by Seth Sklar-Heyn, who would direct the changes made in the modified UK tour that would then go to the reopened London and Broadway productions), and that the concert, whether intentionally or not, seemed to be made to fit in with the sequel, Love Never Dies. Prince has always said the equivalent of "no comment" when it comes to the sequel, so I can't see him having any interest in doing a concert that would incorporate those aspects.

Furthermore, Hal Prince technically did do a production set for a much larger audience and stage - the Las Vegas version. And you can tell from watching that that his changes are relatively minor, mainly things that make it more bombastic (a more massive chandelier, a mirror bride bursting from the glass, a stupid cage for Raoul) without changing the spirit of the show. I would think that him doing the 25th anniversary concert would just be retreading the same thing.

And while this was after the concert was made, I've definitely heard rumors that Hal Prince was not happy when the Las Vegas production closed (his somewhat terse comments in this interview seem to speak to that). So when you consider that, and the rumor that the Vegas production was closed so it would not compete with the upcoming restaged US tour - you know, the version made to be different from Prince's version so no royalties would be paid to him - and that the restaging was partially based off the concert... Well the question now is less, "Why didn't Hal Prince work on Phantom more" and more, "Why would Hal Prince ever want to work with Cameron Mackintosh on Phantom ever again?"

[theunicornandtheraven]

Pouring one out for Maria Björnson tonight lads

[marleneoftheopera]

So when they said “upgraded technical elements of Maria Björnson's original Vienna stage set made in 1988”, they meant a circular chandelier a la West End Revival right?

Aside from that, what were the other upgraded elements for the original Vienna production (besides the rather odd proscenium placement)?

I think the big unique features in Vienna were the circular chandelier, the detached proscenium, and some great orchestrations.

To be quite honest, I really think that they are taking big liberties with that phrasing. Similar to when the London production reopened and they included a whole page about how the changes made were from Maria Bjornson's ideas that didn't pan out back in 1986. Sure you can say that, but where is the proof to back it up?!

Because Maria designed a circular chandelier for Vienna (even though it was the original chandelier but just circular instead of oval-shaped) and had a detached proscenium, it really allows them to say "hey look, Maria herself did things differently so this is really her idea!" So the new circular chandelier from London and their new "broken" proscenium can fall under that category while still marketing it as being a Maria Bjornson idea.