Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2019 - 14

Nathaniel Irvin as The Little Prince
with Marie Lenormand (The Fox),
and Scott Scully, Josh Winograde,
Ethan Watermeir, and Aaron
Judisch (The Hunters). Directed by
Francesca Zambello. Costume and
Scenic Design by Maria Björnson.
Lighting Design by Rick Fisher.
The Little Prince, World Premiere.
Photograph by George Hixson,
Courtesy of the Houston Grand
Opera.

ing on the production. One costume in
particular is a favorite among those who
fabricate it because it includes their design input as well as Björnson's: Elissa's
Gala costume worn early in Act I when
she performs "Think of Me" from the
Aida-inspired faux opera Hannibal. The
original design features a green skirt
with dark tabards along the sides and
swags of red in the front and back, along
with a variety of mostly golden trim and
tassels. This is not exactly how the costume is seen today. Across the world,
this costume is seen with different permutations of skirt, tabards, trim, and
other dazzling features in green, red,
and gold. Sue Willmington, Björnson's
assistant costumer for many years, says
of this variety, "There are many personalities involved in Phantom and money
and time are also factors. . . [but] Maria
always kept an eye on the show and [the
Elissa Gala costume] was always a favorite for the costumiers to work on. I
think there is no intellectual reason for
the varieties!"
Conversely, the costume Christine
wears during Act II during "Wishing
You Were Somehow Here Again" is al-

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SPRING 2019

ways made of the same blue silk taffeta.
In fact, the fabric, originally created by
Vanessa Hopkins, is exclusively licensed
to the Really Useful Group for use in
The Phantom of the Opera. Björnson
was flexible, but she also knew what details were crucial to maintain.
After 30 years with The Phantom
of the Opera, Parker has not forgotten
the most important thing she learned
from Björnson. "I think it was to encourage creativity from other people. And
in [Her Majesty's Theatre], it's quite
unusual, but they make costumes here.
Whereas in most wardrobes, you don't
get wardrobe staff making costumes;
they mend things. But this staff has
been here a long time and they're brilliant and I've always encouraged them
to make costumes. It makes them involved in the show much more and the
show belongs to them, and Maria would
applaud that."

Sweating the Details
Jonathan Allen started working with
Björnson in 1983. Allen assisted Björnson on the original London production

of The Phantom of the Opera and is
currently an associate scenic designer
for the show. Currently, Allen's responsibility to The Phantom of the Opera's
scenery is similar to Parker's responsibility to its costumes, though working
with the scenery does not require him
to be present at Her Majesty's as frequently. Much of Allen's current work
on The Phantom of the Opera happens
internationally when he is charged with
adapting the scenery to the technical
specifications of a new performance
venue.
On the process of bringing The
Phantom of the Opera to a new venue,
Allen explains, "We're normally told,
'It's going to play in this theatre. How
do you to make it work in this space?'
There's a minimum footprint for the
show, which we break all the time." In
the show's earlier years, before many
copies of the scenery had been made,
the scenery was built to fit the dimensions of the venues in which the show
was being performed. This often meant
that the production's false proscenium
would be a different shape, but that almost everything else was nearly identi-
Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2019

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