#eva malmgren

[operafantomet]

I'm not sure if this is a hard ask, but do you have any photos of Carlotta and Christine's Elissa dress from the original production in Antwerp (1999)? I remember seeing at least one of Carlotta back in the day - I think on your old costume site.

I don't think I've ever seen one single photo of the Elissa skirt used by Susanne Duwe, Inneke van Klinken or the other Antwerp Christines. Utterly frustrating too!

But CARLOTTA'S Elissa skirt. Oh boy. So many photos. Partly because it was photographed in Belgium, as seen here on principal An Lauwereins 1999-2000:

...and partly because this particular skirt travelled on to Denmark, where it was used 2000-2003 and again in 2009 - which resulted in a gazillion photos. It was first used by Rita Saxmark and Eva Hess Thaysen 2000-2001:

Then by Vera Borisova in 2002:

Then by Eva Malmgren Karin Fridh in 2003:

And again by Eva Malmgren plus Malin Landing in 2009:

And yes, it was also photographed in with the backdrape in the end pose of the Hannibal scene many times:

And in elaborate backstage photos, as her from the Copenhagen Cultural Night costume exhibition:

So yes, a well docomented skirt! As a stark contrast to the Belgian Christine Elissa skirts. And one I missed in the Danish 2018-2019 production. They had retired this skirt and featured a new green West End one instead. It was a nice skirt in all aspects, but the above skirt is one of my favourites with its insane gold decorations.

[operafantomet]

I have had this photo on my desktop for ages now so I’m just posting it without any specific context or occasion:

Steen Springborg (Firmin), Morten Staugaard (André), Eva Malmgren (Carlotta) and unidentified Lefèvre, POTO Denmark

[operafantomet]

ok so I’m a cosplay nerd and I just discovered the spider dance costume and I’m... obsessed. I just have one question: are the wings meant to resemble demon wings or bat wings? I can’t quite tell

That is awesome! I’ve seen some very good replicas of this costume lately, and it reminds me of just how much I love it. All the details!

In the original costume design there is a note about Lola Montez and her infamous “Spider Dance”. The gimmick was that the dancer discovered spiders in her clothes and shed one and one garment when dancing (I.E. a form of striptease). So when Carlotta’s costume is studded with spiders and cobweb, it is a humorous nod to this. But the costume also seems like a general depiction of night and of darkness, from colours to motifs. I guess a demon could have been proper, but the bat theme is strong in the costume in general:

Painters of the Renaissance wrote that to create a good fictional beast you had to take elements of existing creatures:

"You know that you cannot invent animals without limbs, each of which, in itself, must resemble those of some other animal. Hence if you wish to make an animal, imagined by you, appear natural. Let us say a Dragon, take for its head that of a mastiff or hound, with the eyes of a cat, the ears of a porcupine, the nose of a greyhound, the brow of a lion, the temples of an old cock, the neck of a water tortoise.” (Leonardo da Vinci) 

A demon would in art and culture be depicted as a composite creature too, part human, part beast, and will often get bat wings because of the assumed need to fly. So it’s not hard to read the wings in Carlotta’s costume as a sort of demon theme. But the mask and smaller decorations are definitely showing a bat, so I assume the wings in the back and on the headgear is reflecting on this. As a bonus... Here’s Elena Jeanne BATMAN wearing the costume in Vegas:

[operafantomet]

Was Anna Vaupel the understudy or alternate Carlotta in the Copenhagen revival?

Quoting myself from an earlier post:

“Although technically an understudy, she went on some 50 times, or around 1/3 of the total performances. She also got a photo in the brochure, unlike the other u/s Carlotta. As a comparison, one of the Christines featured as principal/alternate only went on for a handful performances between September and December 2018, and never got an official performance photo. So where they drew the line between understudy and principal/alternate this time around seems more blurred than before.”

https://operafantomet.tumblr.com/post/184148934457/anna-vaupel-as-carlotta-giudicelli-in-poto

(”More blurred than before” is a reference to the 2009 Copenhagen production, where they had two equally featured principal Carlottas. But while Eva Malmgren was off when she wasn’t performing as Carlotta, Malin Landing was in the ensemble doing the Madame Firmin track - just like Anna Vaupel was when not going on a UNDERSTUDY Carlotta. So they technically did the same track and around the same amount of Carlotta performances, but even so Malin Landing was (shared) principal and Anna Vaupel u/s)

[operafantomet]

Things that might have inspired the POTO costume design 19/30: 

I haven’t managed to find the origin of that awesome ca. 1900 bat costume. But it sure looks like a direct inspiration for Carlotta’s masquerade costume, with a dash of Lola Montez’s “Spider Dance” flair on top. The winged bat headdress and bust decoration in particular, and also the wings on her back.

[operafantomet]

From a wall of hair and Carlotta tiara of doom, to a smaller wig and a Christine tiara. Looks very much the one Johanne Brochmann wore in Stockholm:

[operafantomet]

I have seen multiple Carlottas around the globe, and I’ve loved many of them. But none so perfectly captured the role and added so many nuances to it as Eva Malmgren in Copenhagen did.

Oozing charm and elegance, yet with a mocking tone when threatened, and yet with some sort of understanding of Christine’s situation. Tall and beautiful, and with a well trained classical coloratura... she’s still how I envision Carlotta!

[operafantomet]

Jennifer Wagstaffe as Meg Giry, Copenhagen 2009