The Phantom of the Opera - His Majesty's Theatre

Hi Robin.

Cameron Mackintosh has repeatedly stated he is putting in the 2020 tour version into Her Majesty's Theatre (the original was officially closed last year). That 2020 tour was not the 2012 Laurence Connor one (which later toured the USA and will go to Australia this year) that I think you are referring to, but featured redesigns of the original production (rather than a new production entirely), most notably with the downscaling of the elaborate proscenium, which had golden sculptures on the side, and introduced a false internal frame to hang drapes off (instead of the proscenium itself) and the complete excision of the Angel, Maria Björnson's favourite setpiece. 

Here is an example of the what the original looked like:




The chandelier was in 3 tiers so it could fall to the stage and collapse when it landed like this:



This is the design submitted by the producers in their planning application, which derives from the Leicester tour design (you will see the boxes and areas around the stage were painted black before; this black paint will now be removed):



And here is the new design of the proscenium when it was in Leicester (ignore the chandelier, they won't use that):



Here is what you would have seen had you entered the theatre during the originally run:



The below is what is expected to replace it (note the chandelier is already be in the air before the show starts, so would not rise from the stage as before; the drapes are covering the false frame inside the proscenium rather than the proscenium itself as in the original):



This is the Phantom on the catwalk by the chandelier and on the Angel (which you will see has been removed from the proscenium - it used to levitate downwards so the Phantom could be lowered to the centre of the stage picture), which you are no longer likely to see at the end of Act 1:




Below is Maria Björnson's original set model, which shows you how the Angel was lowered (the Phantom was in it and would hide until his 'big reveal' at the end of 'All I Ask of You'):



As the Angel has been scrapped, the Phantom will appear on a statue of Pegasus that appears on stage instead (the horse below) and simply appear in a box to 'command' the chandelier to fall:



The redesigns are by Matt Kinley, an associate who Cameron Mackintosh used to design the Royal Albert Hall event and who worked on the new production of Les Misérables. The lighting has also changed (expect it to be brighter; part of the reason for that is that the old lighting rigs they used in Her Majesty's used elements that can't be sourced any more and the original lighting equipment was sold off), and Hal Prince's direction will be "adapted" by Seth Sklar-Heyn and Gillian Lynne's choreography also modified by Chrissie Cartwright.

The chandelier has been redesigned too. The designs that have leaked suggest a chandelier that is not tiered or collapsible and that will not rise or fall to the stage itself, but rather drop vertically for a short distance directly over the audience in the stalls. If that is the case, then it will not rise from the stage as it used to (which looked like this):




There has been speculation from some over other set elements such as the rising candelabra, but that remains only speculation for now.

Given who will be directing and what happened in Leicester, it is extremely likely that certain 'London only' staging features will now be scrapped. Specifically, the Phantom will no longer catch Christine when she faints in his lair (this was only ever staged in the London version) and the text used in the 'Wandering Child' scene in the graveyard in Act 2 will differ slightly.

So it is too late to see the original production as it was in London (this is definite, since we know who the creative team for the new production are). Visually, it seems to be about 70% similar (if you can put a number on it), but of course no-one will know exactly how drastic the changes will be until it opens. The orchestra has been halved and this is confirmed (14 players now instead of 27). Broadway is remaining the same for now, so if you want to see it in its original form then that would be the place to see it before that changes.

From Crazy Coqs YouTube account.

Pretty sure the chandelier is rising from the stage. It might even look more spectacular with moving lights being able to follow it as it rises.

It's not something they can do in every tour venue for a variety of reasons.

Because it's an iconic moment in the show and the overture is timed with it.

Also the opening dialogue doesn't entirely make sense without a crushed chandelier on stage because they're talking about a "chandelier in pieces."

Touring is another matter, but why on Earth would they cut one of the most iconic theatrical moments in London?

Cameron Mackintosh isn't gutting the entire thing and turning into a concert.

From the stage?

Looking at the chandelier in planning application how to you expect it to collapse on the stage with that sticky out bit on the bottom? Would it get pressed inside the base and extend back out when the chandelier rises?

And lines can get changed.

In the Laurence Connor version instead of saying “A chandelier in pieces” they only said “a chandelier”. And instead of “so that we can get a glimpse of how it may look when reassembled” they said “so that we get a glimpse at how magnificent it once was”

The chandelier was lowered during that speech mid way above the audience. And when it was revealed it went back up.

That’s how cynical me expects it to happen now. I once didn’t expect the imposing barricades in Les mis to be replaced with the titchy touring ones. I’d love to be proven wrong this time round

Out of interest, why was the original chandelier rectangular in shape instead of round like a normal chandelier? Was it so more of it could be seen by the audience? Or it could easily collapse on one side on the stage? Or it would be easily controlled with the wires from the proscenium?

I think it was so it wouldn't be as bulky/heavy and could be more easily controlled, but not sure. Sightlines might have something to do with it.

There was one replica production that used a circular chandelier, which was Vienna. That one looked pretty cool:

As far as I know the actual designs haven't been uploaded online (and, before you ask, I am not going to upload them either since they don't appear to have been made public). 

The effect will basically be as per the Laurence Connor tour: vertical drop (which is why Cameron says it will be faster, since it won't be travelling to the stage), and won't start out on the stage. The sheets will be 'sucked in' to the chandelier.

Unlike the Laurence Connor tour, the chandelier is closer to Maria's original design and to the actual chandelier in the Palais Garnier. But, as has been pointed out, it cannot crash to the stage because it doesn't have a flat bottom with legs for the sliding. The tiers of the chandelier are not collapsible either as was the case with the original.

It'll look something like this (and this is what you see in the planning application design; the below is from a set model):



If it astounds you that Cameron and ALW would do this; well, they have.

Yes, all her modified designs were very sympathetic to the original concept and never looked cheap. It's a shame Matt Kinley/CML haven't bothered to consider what she'd have done given there are plenty of previous examples of adapting the design without losing its essence.

Not related to the London production, but Rebecca Caine is posting some interesting articles on her Christine days in Toronto:

I completely agree. I was aware that something had happened during Rebecca's time in Phantom, but having followed this closely on Twitter and Instagram the last few days, I'm really glad she is speaking out properly about it. This should never have happened in the first place, but the way it was then buried and ignored by so many is awful.

It's also interesting that a "questionable" video of Sutton Foster recently posted on social media attracted pages of condemnation on this board, yet nobody has even commented on Colm Wilkinson and Hal Prince's involvement in this (not to mention Garth Drabinsky).

I'm not sure Hal was really around by the time things got that sour, though that said Patti's dislike of him is in part due to the fact he *wasn't* around to show support (Patti's complaint obviously refers to a different show at a different time).

Caine was by far one of the superior Christines and outacted and outsang her peers easily. Needless to say, that didn't go down well with the composer, and the London co-producer's allegiance to Colm Wilkinson meant that she was then blacklisted from his productions.

The arbitration was clear that Caine was not the one in the wrong. But the producers (i.e. Livent/Drabinsky), as more often than not sadly is the case, decided to side with the bigger name instead of calling out his behaviour.