Phantom costumes - real and replicas 1

I took a pull from my homemade Phantom deformity mold, and am really excited how it turned out:


Voila! Homemade Phantom prosthetic!

I'm very happy with the overall look and how the edges turned out. Nice and thin and not straight. By contrast, here's the professional foam latex prosthetic set by FX Warehouse. They're nice, but I don't think I'll use them this go around. I'm excited to see how my prosthetic set applies.

Phantom on a Budget wrote:I took a pull from my homemade Phantom deformity mold, and am really excited how it turned out:


Voila! Homemade Phantom prosthetic!
]

Nice!

You do so stellar work! I'm so impressed. I love the sculpted look it has.

Phantom on a budget, I just saw your new vids and the deformity is looking awesome! I think its your best make up attempt yet!
Also the FX warehouse one looks bigger than I at first thought it was, but I don't see much of the ridges from the original Crawford, like on yours. Also, now that Phntomfett has scored that organ, you could present your vids on that.
OG

I don't know how many who remembers the "Blackface" discussion we had some years ago. The "Blackface" was a vaudeville makeup used when parodying African-Americans some 100 years ago. Today it is of course considered less... eh, desirable. It has become controversial, for good reasons. For Maria Bjørnson to include "Blackfaces" in Hannibal in Phantom is therefore a bit surprising. But given the context, she was re-envisioning how Victorians was likely to stage it, and as such staying close to her source material.

But anyway, the other day I re-watched some old music videos. Anyone remember Taco's "Puttin' on the Ritzzzzz"? Dutch-Indonesian Taco meant to pay a homage to American performing legends, hereunder Al Jolson who was famous for his "Blackface" characters. But that detail didn't click well with the American audience, it got a lot of critique and they had to edit them out. The song and the rest of the video got hugely popular, though. The original video is on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG3PnQ3tgzY (00:41, 01:41, 01:56 etc.)

More about the "Blackface" here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackface

Operafantomet, nice discussion about the blackface conceit used by performers in years past. I totally remember the Taco 'Puttin' on the Ritz' vid. Maybe it's because I'm a little more aware of the social and cultural context behind the blackface, but I didn't find the use of it in the video all the appalling - though I can understand how certain audiences would take offense.

On a different note, I was poking around one of my favorite vintage clothing websites for fashionable eye candy and I found this gorgeous wedding gown that, while not an exact match to the one used in the stage show, seems similar in style and spirit.

Do enjoy:
http://antiquedress.com/item5877.htm

~Madame~

I just really, really, REALLY want a tiara like these:


(showing Elisabeth Berg Tua Åberg and Inger Olsson Moberg from Stockholm, plus Mia Karlsson, Emma Frost and Jennifer Wagstaffe from Copenhagen)

They're so ornamental and funky. And I love the little "brow piece" in front. They were originally made for the Stockholm production, in many different versions, and they were later used in Copenhagen. They must be solid pieces, as they were made in 1989 and is still in use!

I've bought materials to attempt a version of my own. I doubt it'll turn out even half as cool as the authentic stage ones, but I'm so obsessed with these tiaras I just have to get it out of my system...

The first picture is Tua Åberg, not Elisabeth. But I agree, those tiaras are beyond awesome. I tried to make one earlier, but I never managed to get a sturdy enought foundation that still had that sharp angle. So I've been going for a Rachel Barrell type of construction instead, but I would very much like one like the ones from Stockholm/Copenhagen.

I agree with you both so much. Those are my favorite tiaras from the Hannibal scenes worldwide. They are just so lovely and intricate and soooo shiny/sparkly...and I can't figure out how to make a good replica. haha

Phantomlove wrote:The first picture is Tua Åberg, not Elisabeth. But I agree, those tiaras are beyond awesome. I tried to make one earlier, but I never managed to get a sturdy enought foundation that still had that sharp angle. So I've been going for a Rachel Barrell type of construction instead, but I would very much like one like the ones from Stockholm/Copenhagen.

I always write Elisabeth Berg, and you always correct it to Tua Åberg, and yet I never learn... Problem is that I've saved it as Elisabeth Berg and I've never changed that. Now I have! Thanks once again.

And yes, I agree with both of you. Those tiaras rock, but they are almost impossible to recreate. Why? I don't understand it. The one I'm working on now looks more like golden Mickey Mouse ears...

That said, the "brow piece" helps stabilize the construction and makes the tiara stay in place. Some of the clue to the construction is there. The rest is, I guess, finding intricate enough pieces for the actual tiara. Mine are a bit too flat, and glueing on lots of gems can't cover that.

Can I nerd for a second? (like I do anything else in this thread....)

For a collector - a collector of anything - provenance is everything: knowing where a specific item came from, when it was made, who used it etc. An item without provenance is of course also of interest, but the more known about an item, the better.

Because my Star Princess skirt from Hamburg have a tag on the inside, I know it was used by Colby Thomas at the Neue Flora Theater. Because Colby Thomas joined the production in 1992, and because the skirt was sold in the mid 90s sometime, it's safe to assume the skirt was made and worn between 1992-1995 sometime.

But even cooler, I think I have tracked down a picture of Colby Thomas wearing this exact skirt. THAT'S where the nerd in me awakened and SQUEEEEEEEEEED!!!



I can't guarantee this is the exact same skirt. But the picture is from ca. 1993, when she became principal. The length of the skirt corresponds. The placement of the stars, with the string in front being attached lower to give room for the pointed bodice, match. The amount of stars match (later skirts she wore had less stars). The odd "too short front showing the floral underlayer" hem match. And the placement of the strips of glitter in between the strings of stars also corresponds.

So ladies and gentlemen, I think it IS the same skirt as in the picture. And it if is, it's mighty cool.

/nerding.


ETA: the other skirts I've seen Colby Thomas wear has had either different hem, or different placement of the stars:


1. Colby Thomas ca. 1995, in a skirt with straight hem and less stars.
2. Colby Thomas ca. 2000, with the biggest stars in the bottom, becoming gradually smaller towards the top.

That latter picture was the first Star Princess costume I seriously fell in love with. That skirt...!!

operafantomet wrote:So ladies and gentlemen, I think it IS the same skirt as in the picture. And it if is, it's mighty cool.

/nerding.

That is great! It definitely looks like the same skirt to me. I would be excited too!

I'm still trying to find a picture of someone wearing the dressing gown that I have from London. We once, on another costume board, came up with a list of the performers who might have worn it (including understudies, doubles, etc) but I haven't had any luck thus far tracking down a photo. I will continue looking.

Anéa, it's not my skirt but I'm more than happy to 'nerd' along with you. That's exciting to find that picture and it really does look like the exact skirt. So cool to find things like this that give your item a backstory.

That's why I like you people!

Stephanie, I've gotten tons of new brochures since last time I looked for your dressing gown. Gimme the info about it anew: year + location, and was it from West End or the UK tour? And do you know if it was used by a Christine or a double?

Give me something to work on, and I'll do a new dig... In the mean time... I'm just putting it out there...


Claire Moore ca. 1994.

ETA: just browsing through pictures, it seems the style of your dressing gown belongs to ca. 1993-1997. I have pictures of both Jill Washington (1993-95), Claire Moore (alt. 1994-95), Nikki Ankara (1995-96) and Megan Kelly (1995-96) in that style. By style, I mean leaf/floral bodice and kidney-dotty skirt, with quite wide sheer ruffle and cuffs, and with a thick lace layer over the sheer cuffs. It's also what Lisa Hull and Nicky Adams wore in the UK tour around the same time.

The only thing I can separate the dressing gowns from, is the scalloped edge of the lace cuffs, plus the lace trim on the sheer ruffle. The exact pattern of the bodice also seems to vary. It seems to match on the one Claire Moore wore, but I'm a bit in doubt of the length of the sheer lace cuffs. So more info would help a lot when narrowing it down to potential wearers!

Long overdue... The Masquerade dummies has finally been added to the design site:

http://potocostumes.webs.com/masquerade/dummies.html

Still working on it, especially the writeups, but the basic is there. The names are a little sketchy, so if you know what some of these are called within the productions, feel free to enlighten me...

Thanks for adding those masquerade dummies. I really enjoyed reading about them. Some of them I haven't really "seen" before. I've not thought about some of them, like the Dionysos one. It was great fun to see various pics.

Wow! I'd never seen that Chaney dummie before! Thanks for those pics, operafantomet.
OG

yes it was nice to see some of the details on the dummies costumes that I wouldn't normally look at

operafantomet wrote:Long overdue... The Masquerade dummies has finally been added to the design site:

http://potocostumes.webs.com/masquerade/dummies.html

Still working on it, especially the writeups, but the basic is there. The names are a little sketchy, so if you know what some of these are called within the productions, feel free to enlighten me...

Anea, you continue to be an endlessly valuable resource of Phantom information. The page on the Masquerade dummies is supurb. I really appreciate the opportunity to examine the various dummies - particularly the ones that are seldom seen or are more difficult to see in the Masquerade set.

Well done!

~Madame~

hi all,
I was just wondering, is it possible that the PONR cloak is of a similar material to the dressing gown. The PONR cloak that the Timmons had looked like it had spots, and looks very similar to some spotted dressing gowns...
OG

Also, I'm having a go at making some latex deformities. Thanks to phantomonabudget for the awesome youtube tutorial.
I've moulded clay onto a polystyrene head, and here it is, ready to make a mould:





OG

Looking good!

Phantom on a Budget wrote:Looking good!

Thank you!

Very impressive work so far!

As for the PONR cloak, I think it's made in all kinds of ways, with all kinds of materials - just like Christine's dressing gown is. Though the general design is the same, the execution within the different productions differs a lot. So look for a not too shiny black fabric that drapes well and have an interesting pattern, rather than one specific pattern. Well, that's what I would do, at least. Really, all kinds of patterns has been used on stage:

Oak leaf-y, or almost puzzle like, from Germany:
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v323/reiseaudun/designdonjuan/ponrphantomhamburg.jpg
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v323/reiseaudun/designphantom/ponressen.jpg

Swirls, from Australia/World Tour:
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v323/reiseaudun/designphantom/ponraussie2.jpg
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v323/reiseaudun/designphantom/ponraussie3.jpg

Floral, from Spain/Latin America:
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v323/reiseaudun/designphantom/ponrbrazil.jpg

Geometrical shapes, from England:
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v323/reiseaudun/designdonjuan/disguisewestend2.jpg

Borderlining psychedelic, also from England:
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v323/reiseaudun/designdonjuan/leilabennhramink.jpg

Leafy, from USA:
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v323/reiseaudun/designphantom/ponrus2.jpg

Elissa bonanza.... I'm just obsessed with that costume.

http://potocostumes.webs.com/hannibal/elissacarlotta.html

Lots of new pictures of the original skirt, as well as detailed ones from the UK, US and the World Tour. Also tried to sort them more chronologically, by use of typology. That is, lump those in the same style together, and see what it tells of when they were made. There's usually a link there.

To my big surprise I discovered that the last Elissa costume Kim Stengel wore in the US tour was nearly identical to the Las Vegas ones, rather than the typical US one with red panel and zipper in front. Interesting! The Vegas style is in turn closer to the original US costumes.


1. Judy Kaye/Broadway, 2. Kim Stengel/US tour, 3. Geena Jeffries Mattox/Vegas, 4. Patricia Phillips/Broadway.


I also discovered that some of the early US versions had lots of pearls over the bust, as well as coloured beads. Rather pretty. But it probably didn't hold up well when dry cleaned. ETA: or are they metallic beads?

Patricia Hurd ca. 1994.

Devon wrote:This is my top three of favorite costumes from the show besides the Wishing and Dressing gowns. So much attention to detail! Thanks for posting the pics! Everytime I see this costume I want it....but I'm sure whether sewing it yourself OR having it custom made is costly.

I wanna say that making it yourself is probably a better deal than getting someone to make you one.

That is, you can get a local seamstress to make the basic green skirt, and maybe the backdrapes and apron. But stuff like the decorated tabs, the pleated hem and the decorations on the apron is so incredibly detailed and time consuming. Any seamstress making a living of his/her sewing would charge you the time it takes to make it, and for the materials spent. And it'll end up cost you. A lot. I am of course assuming you want a detailed replica and not just the basic look.

On the other hand, doing this yourself is a great hobby, and you can buy materials little by little. Come January there'll be tons of Christmas decoration and fabrics on sale. These are PERFECT for Hannibal costumes. December and January are the months I'm doing my best "stash" buys...

Making an Elissa costume WILL be an expensive adventure. Mostly because you need soooo many yards of gold trims and red and green fabrics, and insane amounts of "gems" and "blings". And the more you add of trims and gems and appliqués, the cooler it looks. Layering is the key, gems on top of trims on top of more trims on top of fabrics on top of more fabrics. It's what Maria Bjørnson called "kritzy-kritzy".

But be creative. You can cut many corners. A rich green damask Christmas tablecloth or two can become the perfect skirt. An equally rich Chinese brocade for apron, hem and backdrapes can be found cheap. For the tabs you might wanna use puffy paint instead of gold appliqués. Artistkae did that and got a wonderful result. Some fabrics also have gold pattern which you can cut out and use as appliqués. I've done that several times, as one yard of such a fabric can be very affordable, and it'll give you a lot of material to work with. Or you can hand paint fabric.

For beads and "gems", check out H&M and other large stores. They often have sale on jewelry and accessories. These can be cut apart, or combined with other items. Remember that though you're looking for red, green and gold, crystals or silver might do as well. There's nothing a coat of gold paint and nailpolish cannot fix....

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/operafantomet/newelissa/nefinish6.jpg
Appliqués + earrings + sew on gems = large glittering brooches.

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/operafantomet/newelissa/negem2.jpg
Fashion earrings bought very cheap. Taken apart, and the "crystal gem" got a red or green coat of nail polish. Voila, exclusive mini brooches. They were used around the outlines of the tabs.

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/operafantomet/elissa/elissatabs3a.jpg
The round appliqués? Cut out from a fabric. Gave me about 30 appliqués to use for the tabs, cost me very little. They had sequins and beads, I added the gold trim around it.

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/operafantomet/elissa/elihem.jpg
The gold "brooches" on the X ribbons in the hem? Originally goddamnugly ear clips from a wholesale. I bought the whole lot, removed the back, and sew them to the hem. They look cool there. The tassels? Homemade. Very easy, and SO much cheaper than buying them.

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/operafantomet/newelissa/newelissatab7.jpg
"Appliqués" for the second Elissa skirt? Made by cutting mustard and red (dead cheap) fabric into various shapes, pinning them into place, and sewing it down on a cotton fundament with zig zag stitches.

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/operafantomet/newelissa/aprondeco2.jpg
The black triangles on the apron was actually cut-offs from the scalloped Aminta apron. They were hand painted, stitched down on the apron hem, and the stitches were hidden by a layer of fabric paint. The studs were from a marked-down belt. I removed them, sprayed them golden, and attached them to the ribbon hanging from the apron.

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/operafantomet/newelissa/rouleau3.jpg
Here a scrap of black velveteen gold a gold cord stitched down (couching), to make an ornamental surface. Took me one hour, saved me $$$ cause it was all from my stash.

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/operafantomet/newelissa/poofiness2.jpg
Also, I cheated on the backdrapes. I could only afford so many yards of stripy fabric, so I cut and applied it so the waterfall pleated areas had the stripy fabric, while the rest of the inside has a plain polyester lining. Quite the money saver.

My point is: be creative. Buy large quantities of gold trim and fabrics etc. when you find it cheap. You'll need it. But be prepared to moderate and manipulate all kinds of sewing and fashion and interior goods so they can be used for the Elissa project. As long as you have the time and are willing to do it as a long-term project, you needn't be rich to pull it off. You just need to be creative and patient...

I am currently SO in love with the Canadian Phantom costumes. They just had sharper tailoring than any other productions, and very ornate details. In style they are somewhere in between the UK and the US costumes. It's like they took the best of the two styles and created something even more beautiful (that is of course my subjective meaning and not something I expect everyone to agree with). For the most they are also very close to the design.



1. Peter Karrie/Mausoleum scene.
2. Jeff Hyslop/Red Death.
3. Byron Nease/Hussar costume.



Teresa de Zarn/Slavegirl and Gail Hakala/Elissa.



Rebecca Caine and Susan Sereda in the cool Canadian Star Princess costume (the other version is odd...)



Margareth Ann Gates and Rebecca Caine in the drop dead gorgeous Canadian wishing dress. The backdrapes with funky bow! The twisted sleeves! The rich lace cuffs!


Rebecca Caine in the wedding dress. I think this is my favourite of all wedding dresses ever made for Phantom. The fit of the bodice is just so sharp, and I like that they have the pleated basque. But what I like the most is the giga full skirt and the ornate backdrapes. I want to retailor my wedding dress replica to look like this one. It's da bomb.


There are some costumes I'm not loving from the Canadian productions. The dressing gowns, albeit with gorgeous full lace cuffs, were baggy and unfitting. Some of the Star Princess costumes had wonky bodices. And the black additions to the Rooftop dresses is mostly odd... But in general the tailoring in the Canadian costumes makes me drool. Those costumes are built, not sewn.

So why am I posting this? Besides general costume nerding? Well... Because for years I have been looking for good pictures of the Aminta/PONR dress from Canada. An impossible task. I've seen it in clips online, and it looks marvelous. But the only semi good picture I have of it is one with Sylvia Rhyne. It shows the basic details, but the colours are distorted, and she's sitting so I don't get an idea of the silhouette. So... do there exist pictures of the Canadian Aminta costume other than this one?



I have like a gazillion pictures the other costumes Christine wears, but only this semi good one of the Aminta costume. Surely there must be more somewhere? On stage, backstage? I need it! I want it! I gotta have it!

operafantomet wrote:I need it! I want it! I gotta have it!

You sound like me and apple!porn.

TAFKaR

Raphael wrote:

operafantomet wrote:I need it! I want it! I gotta have it!

You sound like me and apple!porn.

That is quite an accusation!

I have just put up my Elissa skirt on the bust. It's officially my Christmas tree. I'll decorate it with Christmas ornaments, put a star on top, and put presents under the skirt. Pictures to follow...

Awesome!