I May Or May Not Have A Problem. lol. @overdramaticpoto - Tumblr Blog

opera-ghost

ashleyslorens

KANISHA MARIE FELICIANO as Christine Daaé in The Phantom of the Opera costume design by Maria Björnson

kattesmoon

Passion, love, and utter desperation

thecollectibles

Fan art by Tasia M S

potoconfessions-blog

There’re plenty musicals, where race doesn’t matter, but I’m totally against color-blind casting in POTO, Les Mis and other shows where it harms the historical authenticity.

ninjagiry

Wow. Really on point there. I mean, it’s not as if France has been interacting with the African continent since the 8th century, ESPECIALLY not to the point where French is listed as an official language for several large countries. And as we know, there was absolutely NO cultural mingling between Africa and France, especially none where Africans were integrated into French society. And CERTAINLY not to the point of being of high historical, social, and political status.

Hell, it’s not like there were any black artists of any kind in the 19th century. The idea of black people being artists just hadn’t even been invented yet! And as we all know, there were absolutely no POC in the original Phantom of the Opera novel by Gaston Leroux, most definitely none that played major roles and altered the course of the plot.

Good on you, OP. Truly you stand to uphold the gold standard of historical accuracy!

potoconfessions-blog

There’re plenty musicals, where race doesn’t matter, but I’m totally against color-blind casting in POTO, Les Mis and other shows where it harms the historical authenticity.

rjdaae

There is so much wrong with this that I literally don’t even know where to start. So instead I’ll go with a nice concise gif:

operafantomet

Oh jeeeez. So many lame things in that confession. One, isn’t POTO all about “looks doesn’t matter”? Talk about missing the main message of the musical. Especially since the Phantom’s main issue is that he DOESN’T look like everyone else. Irony much? Second, why do people still cling to the myth that France was all caucasian in the 19th century? Or further back, for that matter. Africans has been present in Europe since forever, both as unfree and free people, though French colonies and through freed slaves from America. Having a black servant was the height of fashion. The Medicis had a black duke ruling Florence. Not to mention how Paris was the city to visit for diplomats and royalties, also African ones. And: “Unofficial figures indicate that up to 50,000 free blacks emigrated to Paris from Louisiana in the decades after Napoleon sold the territory to the United States in 1803.[1]” (…) “Many black GIs decided to stay in France after having been well received by the French, and others followed them. France was viewed by many African Americans as a welcome change from the widespread racism in the United States.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Americans_in_France Or what about Sara Forbes Bonetta, one of queen Victoria’s goddaughters? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sara_Forbes_Bonetta And here, have some portraits of African from European art history: http://surprisedbytime.blogspot.no/2012/12/africans-in-renaissance-europe-2-black.html “A black musician is a status symbol in French family” http://www.theroot.com/articles/history/2014/03/blacks_in_western_art_a_black_musician_is_a_status_symbol_in_french_family.html I think the element of ridiculous here is someone trying to dictate how the world should be based on very subjective preferences. Trying to claim there would not have been any black people in 19th century France is ignorant at best, and trying to make up rules about white and black people not performing together is… scary stuff. Best regards, a historian.

potoconfessions-blog

There’re plenty musicals, where race doesn’t matter, but I’m totally against color-blind casting in POTO, Les Mis and other shows where it harms the historical authenticity.

ninjagiry

Wow. Really on point there. I mean, it’s not as if France has been interacting with the African continent since the 8th century, ESPECIALLY not to the point where French is listed as an official language for several large countries. And as we know, there was absolutely NO cultural mingling between Africa and France, especially none where Africans were integrated into French society. And CERTAINLY not to the point of being of high historical, social, and political status.

Hell, it’s not like there were any black artists of any kind in the 19th century. The idea of black people being artists just hadn’t even been invented yet! And as we all know, there were absolutely no POC in the original Phantom of the Opera novel by Gaston Leroux, most definitely none that played major roles and altered the course of the plot.

Good on you, OP. Truly you stand to uphold the gold standard of historical accuracy!

kellizredd

I think the point is that there wouldn’t be an African American constable in Revolutionary France. Good day.

rjdaae

Well of course there wouldn’t be an African American constable in Revolutionary France.

How silly.

He’d be French African, obviously.

fdelopera

Sigh. The only thing worse than a troll is a racist, ignorant troll.

Let’s talk about Le Fantôme de l'Opéra, the novel that ALW’s musical was based on, for a moment, shall we?

In Leroux’s novel, the Persian was obviously a person of color, that much is undeniable. So there goes the OP’s argument that there should be no people of color in Phantom. Despite the fact that the Persian was whitewashed in the musical and turned into a Caucasian Mme Giry (it is not clear whether she is Caucasian in the novel – see below), this does not erase the fact that Leroux didn’t intend for this character to be white.

So OP, stop making racist comments about the Phantom being played by a black actor, and start making legitimate complaints about how ALW’s musical does not represent the people of color in Leroux’s novel.

Next, Erik’s skin color in the novel and in the musical is not white or black – it is yellow (“Like yellow parchment is his skin…” etc.). So by the OP’s logic, only people with jaundice can play the role. Smh.

Finally, based on Gaston Leroux’s description, Meg Giry was a person of color – that is to say, she probably had African or Middle Eastern heritage (we don’t get a clear enough description of Mme Giry’s complexion to know whether this came from her side of the family, from her husband Jules’ side, or both).

Leroux writes: “la petite Giry, – des yeux pruneaux, des cheveux d’encre, un teint de bistre”

This means: “Little Giry – with prune-dark eyes, hair like ink, a brown complexion”

And yet, despite this clear description, this is how Meg Giry is portrayed in ALW’s musical:

Whitewashed much? If one wants to make the argument that the characters in the musical should be like their book counterparts, why isn’t Meg black?

So my advice to you, OP, is educate yourself before you go making racist and ignorant comments about topics that you clearly do not understand. Or if you do want to spout off like that, go talk to your friends offline and stop clogging up the Phandom with your hate.

operafantomet

…it’s over now, the music of the night…

(Throne and mask from the original West End production, by Clive Barda. My scan, please credit if reposting elsewhere)

operafantomet

Hi, and first of all, thank you so much for your wonderful posts here! I was wondering if you have any photos of Michael Crawford's Phantom without the Valentino wig (i.e. how he looked after the unmasking in PONR/Final Lair)? Thanks so much!

I have a handful. The most informative one is the step-by-step photo series from "The Complete Phantom of the Opera":

But there's also to fairly good ones from his LA days, with Dale Kristien as Christine:

operafantomet

And just like that, Michael Crawford turned 80…

Despite having seen an amazing array of different Phantoms since I became a fan in 1992, Crawford still remains a definite favourite. He made the role what it is today, and did it so well. So lemme say it like ABBA. Thank you for the music.

operafantomet

Ten costume details I think the original West End production did better or more interesting than today (in no particular order) (also, some of these features are occasionally brought back, like redhead Meg and perfectly fitted masks… but still)

Making the pointe shoes matte to give the perfect illusion of bare feet:

Redhead Meg Giry:

Actual Rococo looking Il Muto costumes, with smaller and neater silhouettes, gorgeous antique details and spot-on makeup. Basically, less theatrical and not so overblown.

Michael Crawford’s mask. Utter perfection. So beautifully sculpted to his face, so porcelain looking. And also splitting the face into a perfect half instead of letting one side dominate. Bonus for the curved hairline, and of course the “glass eye” contact lenses.

Dead Buquet being closely modeled and sculpted after actor Janos Kurucz, and also wearing the exact same costume made of the same materials. Makes the whole thing super eerie:

Ditto for the original Mirror Bride double and Mirror Bride dummy, which basically WAS Sarah Brightman. The Mirror Bride double one is from Broadway as it was the only including Brightman on the floor (double eerie):

Larger-than-life bushy Christine wigs of doom (bonus: front-closed wedding dresses made of antique-looking fabrics and expensive French lace):

Ornate soutache embroidery on the Wishing bodice, accented by spangles. A nice period flair in general, really.

So very ornate details in Raoul’s gala costume. Raoul’s costumes did in general have more going on in the early days, with mask and gloves in Masquerade, different ties, more details. Most of it was eventually cut. On the other hand, his suspenders has become a theme of its own, especially in the US…

Michael Crawford’s intentionally short sleeves and trousers, to always make sure the focus was on his hands and movements. Something many versions today has totally lost, drowning the actor’s hands and feet.