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.