#mock opera

[itneedsmoargayz]

This legendary "mock opera" (as Freddie called it) was released to the world 50 years ago today.

[allthedesiredusernamesaretaken]

... no escape from reality ...

The epic single, which Queen front-man Freddie Mercury  liked to call a "mock opera" was released 50 years ago, on October 31, 1975.

[operafantomet]

THE "GOOD" AND THE "BAD" MOCK OPERA

Whereas I think most Phantom productions nail the Hannibal scene, with opulent and/or historical looking costumes and fantastical landscapes, I usually find the Don Juan costumes and stagings quite weird. I can't quite pinpoint why. It's not "twelve-tone-scale-weird", just... weird. Drab or overly creative costumes, a whole lotta table dancing, and kinda forced sexual tension. Or maybe I'm just more of a Hannibal girl... I don't know.

With that in mind I tried to put together a photoset showing the ensemble scenes in Hannibal and Don Juan. I didn't have good photos of all Don Juan sets showing both costumes and sets, so for some of them I chose good set photos from PONR, and for others I chose good costume photos. Hopefully it gives a fair impression still.

ROW 1: Hungary. I love the Hannibal set, with its columns, sculptures, palm trees, costumes and huge elephants. I am also fond of the gothic-looking set design, but I absolutely hate the costumes. Also minus point for table dancing.

ROW 2: Poland. I think there is a good use of projections in Hannibal, highlighting the palm trees and elephant towards ornate costumes. The Don Juan does however look like a 1990s music video, with the big mirror pyramides, red couch looking like a giant mouth, and zorro-esque costumes. Hard no.

ROW 3: Restaged Tour. Cool alternate take in Hannibal, with Hannibal arriving in a chariot. Also a beautiful backdrop, with ancient buildings and palm trees, harmonizing with Bjørnson's costumes. The Don Juan set is surprisingly similar to the Hungarian one, and there's lots of weird shit going on around the table. And then table dancing. Come on.

ROW 4: Estonia. I never got used to the exaggerated foreshortening in the set design in Estonia, with fake and boxes on the sides. Makes everything look tilted. But I enjoy the silly take on costumes from antiquity, made of glittering lamés and tabs and lots of fringes and blue beard when needed. For Don Juan they went all Queen of Spades meets Alice in Wonderland, with black and red renaissance-esque costumes. I... am entertained and confused.

ROW 5: Czech Republic. Wildly gorgeous costume design for Hannibal. But narrow and wide stage, busy "tapestries" on the wall and quite crowded overall. Don Juan: I love that they found place for the looming bed, and that the backdrop looks very 17th century interior, with its friezes, mantle and silvery. But that, combined with the very ruffled, layered dresses makes it way more crowded than Hannibal. And OH. Table dancing. Enough now.

ROW 6: Finland / Sweden. Interesting with the tunics, pantaloons and dresses inspired by antiquity, and I rather enjoy the white, blue and gold palette of this Hannibal. For Don Juan I understand SQUAT of the giant corset set piece, mirrored in the 1980s looking vein-decorated metallic corsets and tulle skirts worn by Christine and the cast. No, I don't just dislike it. I hate it. Well, at least no table dancing...

ROW 7: Original Romanian production. The prototype of the production seen in row 8. I like the impressive mountain backdrop and elephant in Hannibal, and bonus point for the Dacian / ancient Romanian vibe to the male costumes, sheilds and spears. Not as fond of the women's costumes with Missoni-like drapes and feather decorations. Effective Hannibal set with a Mediterranean garden and a table. But you know what a table mean. Table dancing. Ouch.

ROW 8: Romania /Norway / Greece / Tour. A brushed-up version of that in row 7. Hannibal originally the mountain set, but eventually a gold screen was added in front. Ornate and cool, though I loved the bare mountains more. I like the new costumes more however. The splash of blue, the added accessories, the more defined drapes and colour scheme. Don Juan has gotten a dash of architecture instead of the garden, with a mooresque inner courtyard. Table still there. Cause... lots of table dancing. Slightly revamped costumes, given a folkloristic and more period flair.

ROW 9: Serbia. Hannibal: That is a lot of red fabric. Oh, so red. Bonus point for an elephant, and for the fairytale-like costumes. Don Juan: Black drapes for the set. Leather. Lace. Torches. Feels like I have entered an SM dungeon. Get me out.

ROW 10: Bulgaria. Oh, this one. "Blue Man Group" ensemble costumes, hefty purple sky and grand architecture in the backfrop, metallic beards. Must love. Not as much love for Don Juan, with its diffuse column architecture and red bed with a grape-and-flower-wreath Phantom trying hard to seduce Christine. Send help.

ROW 11: Sweden. Effective and minimalistic Hannibal sets, with columns and drapes. A bit too minimalistic tunic-based costumes. Pimp it up. Gold trims. more details. Impress me. But anyway, miles ahead of one of the least understandable Don Juans I've seen. Can't even remember all its oddness, except it was two staircases and a bonfire and dancers illuding flames, and the cast clad in black and with black masks. Looked like a weird cult.

ROW 12: Sydney Harbour. This one automatically gets lots of points for its fantastic main set, with "torn" boxes, the chandelier and a curved grand staircase. I loved the staging for Hannibal, utilizing the whole circular stage area. And OMG the costumes!!! So next-level wildly good, from leads to ensemble. Not loving Don Juan as hard, with the small-ish middle structure and the dainty tea-for-two table. Also not the biggest fan of the costumes. But hey, they maintained epic rain for multiple performances, AND: A Don Juan scene with a table but no table dancing. Bonus point.

ROW 13: Mediterranean version. It's a set design I technically love as a default, because the opera structure within the turnable frame is gorgeous. Seeing it live revealed quite a bit of dead space in front stage, as the frame had to be placed far back on stage to be able to turn. But within that... stunning set design, with the ever-present opera boxes and chandelier. For Hannibal a rich Egyptian-like architecture, towards sparkly golden and turquoise costumes. For Don Juan a wooden architectural structure with torn drapes and a table, not too unlike the Bjørnson design, towards renaissance-esque velvets of red, rust and ochre shades. Ladies and gentlemen: the first non-replica Don Juan I've genuinely liked. It ALMOST makes me willing to ignore the table dancing...

ROW 14: New Romanian production. The first AI-prompt-designed production of POTO. It's a production where I love single details but would love to take everything down a notch. For Hannibal I would wish for one architectural detail, one elephant and more space for the ensemble. But I do enjoy the blue and gold colour scheme. Don Juan seems cleaner, albeit with rows and rows of columns and bows. Baroque-esque costumes held in red and black, and a dash of roses. And whaddayaknow, table dancing.

All in all: STOP THE TABLE DANCING. I beg you.

(in this I also think most productions have good things going on for Il Muto. So Hannibal and Il Muto appears to be intuitive or fun. With the added level of Don Juan being "weird" by nature and music I guess it leaves bigger room for trying something extraordinary, maybe that's why I find it a bit hit-and-miss)

[operafantomet]

Love your page! Do you know if there’s any creative-team verification for the two operas (besides Don Juan) being Phantom’s creations? I always thought this was a given but apparently theres no real “proof” for it…?

In my head canon the others aren't the Phantom's creations. They are old-school operas, too simple considering his desire is to make "music that burns". They are probably one of the reasons he sits down to write an opera in the first place, to introduce the opera to "real" music. To underline this view, there's some aspects to take into account.

One, when the Phantom appears as Red Death in Masquerade his exact words are "I have written you an opera!". Not "a new opera". This indicates to me he has not had the habit of presenting the managers with works they have to perform.

Two, director Hal Prince spoke about the inspiration for the mock operas a couple of time. One is in a tribute to Maria Bjørnson and her work in 2009. For Hannibal he calls it "...a lightly satirical version of the Paris Opéra production of Aïda". For Il Muto he wrote that it's “…Faux Mozart, in the style of The Marriage of Figaro"

For Don Juan, he refer to it as "...a twelve-tone opera, indicating that the Phantom's composing is decades ahead of Schönberg and Stockhausen"

In this, Don Juan is the only place where he mentions the Phantom as the composer, which I think is significant.

That said, I don't think anyone has explicitiely stated that the Phantom is NOT the composer of the others. So it's up for interpretation as such.

[operafantomet]

The Hannibal scene in non-replica productions Hungary Poland Restaged Tour Estonia Czech Republic Finland/Sweden Serbia Romania/Norway/Greece Bulgaria Sweden

[operafantomet]

So we know Hannibal is based off of carthage, Il Muto is a french salon, and point of no return is a middle ages peasant village. have any non-replicas shaken it up as far as historical/cultural basis?

To specify a bit further, this is what Hal Prince himself has said about the mock operas in POTO, in a Bjørnson Scenographer tribute from October 2009:  

”HANNIBAL: “A full-stage set, magnificent drapes, followed by canvas-drops rise from the floor to create Hannibal, a lightly satirical version of the Paris Opéra production of Aida”

IL MUTO: “The second, near the end of the first act, is comic - faux Mozart, in the style of The Marriage of Figaro. Called Il Muto in our production, it is complete with pretty pink scenery and the cast in heavy white and black makeup, wearing elaborate wigs and beautiful costumes.”

DON JUAN: ”The third of the operas, in Act Two, is a new version of Don Juan - created by Andrew and the librettists as a twelve-tone opera, indicating that the Phantom’s composing is decades ahead of Schönberg and Stockhausen.”

So in the replica version we have a Verdi/Aïda knock-off with a hint of ancient Egypt, as well as the Carthage battle against Rome (with ditto elephants), a Mozart/Marriage of Figaro spin with the big bed in focus, and a twelve-tone take on the Don Giovanni tale (set in an abstracted stone castle in 17th century Moorish Spain, rather than a middle age peasant village)

If excluding non-replica versions where they “only” do a backdrop without a specific setting, then many versions has stuck to this formula, even if their general staging has been quite different. But there are of course exceptions too. For Hannibal, the focus is often on the elephants, or a general desert setting. In Il Muto, the Figaro bed is often cut as reference. A an example, the Restaged Tour has an ornamental wall as backdrop, a closet, couch and folding screens as props. Similar can be seen in both the Romanian/Norwegian production, and the Czech one. Here’s the Restaged Tour look:

And the Romanian/Norwegian take on a similar idea:

As far as Don Juan goes, there’s been some creative takes on that one as well. The Czech production feature a late Baroque European interior, with a fire place, a table, and a grand bed with drapes:

The Polish version has pyramide-shaped glass structures (which - truth be told - reminds me of Aussie LND), and a big, red “boudoir” couch:

The Estonian production look more like a Queen of Spades or Alice in Wonderland take on the story, with the defined black/red costumes:

And then you have the Finnish/Swedish production, where a giant corset with similar structure to Christine’s costume probably symbolize something deep, but I have no idea what:

So there are lots of variants. Often productions do give a nod to plausible existing operas of which Andrew Lloyd Webber’s music is a spin on. But often they have unique ideas as well, especially in the more abstracted Don Juan. It might have to do with the twelve-tone music being more progressive and less bound to a specific opera than the other musicals.

[operafantomet]

It took me some good 2 seconds to understand why these photos are different

[operafantomet]

Various “Hannibal” costumes

The Lion Man

Hannibal soldier

Lefèvre

Elissa and Hannibal

Hannibal soldiers and princesses (full costume)

Wild women

Slavemaster and slavegirls

Hannibal princesses (semi costume and civil dress)

This is not a complete list, however. There are more costumes present. Another Wild Woman costume, the Gollywog, the managers, Madame Giry, Monsierur Reyer, and also Christine’s Elissa. After the gala also flunkies/footmen, the conductor and Madame Firmin. This is just to show the main features.

The costumes were, of course, designed by Maria Bjørnson.