The future of set/props from Phantom

[Theatrefanboy1]

Posted: 10/9/22 at 9:21am

I’m curious what will be happening to the set and prop pieces for Broadways phantom. If anyone knows or has a contact to purchase something I am interested 

I would love to know what will happen with the masks or music box or chandelier or elephant. The boats or labras

Also what piece would you most want

[Dylan Smith4]

Posted: 10/9/22 at 10:19am

I would like there to be an exhibit of sorts for the new Broadway Museum! Ruthie II (the Chandelier) alone belongs on public display in a museum after Phantom closes!

[The Scorpion]

Posted: 10/9/22 at 11:33am

I suspect most of them will make their way to Mackintosh's storehouses. If he brings his scaled-down version there will be a use for a fair number of the props. Very few of the London ones made found their way to the public when the original London one closed. The lucky ones were those who raided the skips outside the Pantages when Livent's production in Toronto went bust.

[Rainah]

Posted: 10/9/22 at 11:38am

As much as possible will be reused for other productions.

Smaller remaining items will be sold at the Broadway flea market, probably, along with a handful of bigger stuff as part of the grand auction.

If there's a significant amount left, it's often sold as a unit to a prop house.

 

Beyond the flea, they don't really do sales to the public.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 10/9/22 at 11:42am

If one accepts the prevailing expectation that the closing is a prelude to a scaled down reopening then one would also assume that they will simply store anything they remove that might be of future utility.

[David10086]

Posted: 10/9/22 at 1:41pm

The chandelier is going to my house to hang beside the Norma Desmond grand staircase. It matches the Desmond furniture beautifully! 

[JBradshaw]

Posted: 10/9/22 at 7:37pm

I’ve got the stained glass windows from behind Norma’s staircase 👻 bought them at the Broadway flea market a year after “sunset” closed. 
 

i always say dumpster dive after a show closes

[TheatreMonkey]

Posted: 10/9/22 at 8:04pm

David10086 said: "The chandelier is going to my house to hang beside the Norma Desmond grand staircase. It matches the Desmond furniture beautifully!"

I call dibs on the "papier-mâché musical box...attached, the figure of a monkey in Persian robes, playing the cymbals"! 

*Edited and corrected for an unintentional misquote*

Updated On: 10/9/22 at 08:04 PM

[HogansHero]

Posted: 10/9/22 at 8:11pm

TheatreMonkey said: "I call dibs on the "music box, in the shape of a monkey"!"

I bet you have been waiting patiently since 1/1/06 to have the opportunity to post that.

 

[Fosse76]

Posted: 10/9/22 at 8:33pm

TheatreMonkey said: "I call dibs on the "music box, in the shape of a monkey"!"

But it's not in the shape of a monkey.  It's "in the shape of a barrel-organ" with an attached "figure of a monkey."

[TheatreMonkey]

Posted: 10/9/22 at 9:07pm

Fosse76 said: "TheatreMonkey said: "I call dibs on the "music box, in the shape of a monkey"!"

But it's not in the shape of a monkey. It's "in the shape of a barrel-organ" with an attached "figure of a monkey." "

Touché ! It's been awhile since my last visit to the Opera house! 

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 10/10/22 at 10:02am

All of these monkey music box 2006 jokes are going over my head so I'm either way out of the loop or they're an inside joke lol. 

Maria Bjornson's name is now trademarked in the Phantom playbill, so I can't see her estate letting her creations get thrown onto 44th Street to the highest bidder. I could see them using the pieces to create some kind of exhibit to her work, even if it's only online. 

By the way, I am kind of obsessed with Phantom's fly system. Does anyone have any inside info about the fly system they'd like to share? How many fly lines are there? Do they ever get snagged with each other? Does it take a long time to roll up the backdrop that rolls open during the Hannibal scene? How many have been replaced and how many are 1988 originals? 

Have you seen videos of the new overture from Phantom London? It looks like Bjornson's gorgeous drapes have been replaced with ugly flats. It looks terrible!  But that's probably what we are getting sooner or later. 

[Theatrefanboy1]

Posted: 10/10/22 at 10:20am

Unfortunately I had the misfortune of seeing the phantom in London last week. I walked our feeling as if my family had died. It was so sad.  So ugly. So terrible. It was like community theatre and just terrible.  Even the costume fabrics look cheap. Like polyester and industrial warehouse.  There was no elegance 

[BarnabyTucker]

Posted: 10/10/22 at 10:30am

I wouldn't be shocked if the Smithsonian has reached out to the appropriate parties to acquire the chandelier.

[Lot666]

Posted: 10/10/22 at 2:26pm

I want Lot 666 very badly.

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 10/10/22 at 3:28pm

I wonder if the Shuberts will keep something in the building as a memento from the 35 year run. The Nederlander (Oriental) Theater in Chicago keeps a small poster in the lobby to recognize the multi year run that Wicked had there 2005-2009. Maybe one of the window card posters in the lobby or a Phantom mask somewhere. 

[Lot666]

Posted: 10/10/22 at 3:41pm

Phantom4ever said: "I wonder if the Shuberts will keep something in the building as a memento from the 35 year run. The Nederlander (Oriental) Theater in Chicago keeps a small poster in the lobby to recognize the multi year run that Wicked had there 2005-2009. Maybe one of the window card posters in the lobby or a Phantom mask somewhere."

Maybe a plaque embedded in the sidewalk out front, like the one for Les Miserables in front of the Imperial.

Updated On: 10/11/22 at 03:41 PM

[Fosse76]

Posted: 10/10/22 at 4:05pm

Phantom4ever said: "Maria Bjornson's name is now trademarked in the Phantom playbill, so I can't see her estate letting her creations get thrown onto 44th Street to the highest bidder."

That's not how trademarks work.

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 10/10/22 at 4:55pm

My apologies. I should have been more clear. Let me try again. 

Since Bjornson's estate is so invested in her name that they took the step of trademarking her name, that suggests that they would also want to/attempt to/go to court for the right to/ have a say in what happens to her Phantom sets and drapes. I'm not saying that her estate 100% gets to take what they want. Obviously CM and ALW actually own them. But I bet they have some say in what happens too. 

[saxpower]

Posted: 10/10/22 at 5:25pm

BarnabyTucker said: "I wouldn't be shocked if the Smithsonian has reached out to the appropriate parties to acquire the chandelier."

Or the soon-to-open Museum of Broadway.   

[HogansHero]

Posted: 10/10/22 at 6:13pm

Phantom4ever said: "My apologies. I should have been more clear. Let me try again.

Since Bjornson's estate is so invested in her name that they took the step of trademarking her name, that suggests that they would also want to/attempt to/go to court for the right to/ have a say in what happens to her Phantom sets and drapes. I'm not saying that her estate 100% gets to take what they want. Obviously CM and ALW actually own them. But I bet they have some say in what happens too."

Unfortunately, you are still not clear. Having your name trademarked does not mean you own or in any way control something of your manufacture. (And in this case, of course, there was no trademark of the name at the time the designs were made, bought, and paid for, so it would be irrelevant in any event.) If I buy a pair of Gucci loafers, the estate of Guccio Gucci has no say if I decide to trash them. Bjornson's estate indeed has "no say." And as Fosse76 says above, in any case, "That's not how trademarks work." Everything within those four walls belongs to the production. 

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 10/10/22 at 11:37pm

If you buy a paid of Gucci loafers, does Gucci need to pay you every week for the next 35 years?  That’s a ridiculous analogy. And awkward since you had the nerve to call me unclear lol.  

and yes for the third time ugh lol. I know all of the stuff she designed inside the Majestic belongs to the producers (duh?). But I was meekly trying to suggest that perhaps somehow her estate will ask or make arrangements for or purchase or whatever else they can do to obtain some of the materials that Maria purchased.  I should have been more clear in saying that her team can’t just waltz into the theater and grab whatever stuff they want but I guess I thought that went without saying but I guess it didn’t.  
If it’s still not clear and y’all still want to come for me with trite comments or odd analogies then have at it : ) 
 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 10/11/22 at 1:06am

Phantom4ever said: "If you buy a paid of Gucci loafers, does Gucci need to pay you every week for the next 35 years? That’s a ridiculous analogy. And awkward since you had the nerve to call me unclear lol.

and yes for the third time ugh lol. I know all of the stuff she designed inside the Majestic belongs to the producers (duh?). But I was meekly trying to suggest that perhaps somehow her estate will ask or make arrangements for or purchase or whatever else they can do to obtain some of the materials that Maria purchased. I should have been more clear in saying that her team can’t just waltz into the theater and grab whatever stuff they want but I guess I thought that went without saying but I guess it didn’t.
If it’s still not clear and y’all still want to come for me with trite comments or odd analogies then have at it : )"

I am not trying to come for you; I am trying to help you understand something. Do you not want to understand? I ask that honestly, because it really seems you may not. Could her estate ask to buy something that's being disposed of when the show closes? Sure. Just as lots of actors ask to buy something they wore in a show (and not infrequently get it for free). 

The fact that she got a weekly royalty is irrelevant to this discussion. 

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 10/11/22 at 7:03am

I only brought up her weekly royalty because of your inane Gucci analogy lol. 

The only thing I'm trying to understand is how you still don't understand that ALL I was saying is that the Bjornson team will probably want some of the stuff there. Whether they have to buy it or beg for it or sue for it or fight for it........well that wasn't my point at all. 

So for the 4th time: I bet the Bjornson estate will want some of the stuff she created inside the Majestic. Boom.  

[HogansHero]

Posted: 10/11/22 at 9:43am

Phantom4ever said: "So for the 4th time: I bet the Bjornson estate will want some of the stuff she created inside the Majestic. Boom."

What you said:

"Maria Bjornson's name is now trademarked in the Phantom playbill, so I can't see her estate letting her creations get thrown onto 44th Street to the highest bidder."

"Since Bjornson's estate is so invested in her name that they took the step of trademarking her name, that suggests that they would also want to/attempt to/go to court for the right to/ have a say in what happens to her Phantom sets and drapes."

Also, I think you severely misapprehend what this "estate" is and why they trademarked the name not to mention what the trademark provides, but ok I'm done.