OPERAFANTOMET

This site is meant as a tribute to the Danish production of "Phantom of the Opera". I saw the show (too) many times, and I fell more and more in love with the production. One reason was because of the superb people on stage. I have so many favourites! :D Another reason was that the theatre had been willing to spend a lot on the production, to make everything perfect. The chandelier alone had a price tag of 500.000 DKR (which I think is around $70,000). The budget was in total nearly 100 million DKR. A third reason was the beautiful theatre. It was simply perfect for a production like Phantom. Every time I went up the grand staircase, I remember I thought "THIS is how it's supposed to be!". I also loved the lyrics, but I guess you have to understand Danish in order to enjoy them... Anyhow, a few is added to this site.

Det Ny Teater in Copenhagen was fully renovated in 1991, after years of neglection. The management's dream was a grand scale production of Andrew Lloyd-Webber's "Phantom of the Opera". But since much money had been used to renovate the old building, the dream didn't come true until 2000. The Danish version of Phantom would finally "crown" the majestic history of the theatre, and continuing a line of great musical productions at the exact same stage. And it did! The first season, they sold 270.000 tickets. After two seasons, more than 450 000 tickets were sold. Almost half a million! That's quite massive, considering a total population of 5 330 000... I must admit that I think many of the audience came from Sweden and Norway as well. Especially Sweden, since the Swedish city Malm� is just a bridge away... Actually, Viktoria Krantz (Christine) and conductor Per Engstr�m, who's both Swedish, chose to live in Malm� while performing in Copenhagen.

The Danish production was originally only meant to be played for a season or two. It ended up playing from September 2000 to December 2003, with a little break in 2003. "Cats" was supposed to take over, and the musical opened in January 2003. But due to the massive requests from the audience, "Cats" was performed for a few months, and then replaced by the Danish Phantom. POTO was re-opened the fall of 2003, and played out December. When I refer to the "opening" and "closing" cast, I think of the first production (2000-2002) as opening cast, and the second (2003) as the closing cast. Most of the cast, except for the lead roles, participated in both productions, and nearly all of the costumes and sets were the same.

To celebrate the theatres 100 year anniversary, POTO was once again re-opened in Copenhagen. It's sceduled to play from January to May, so seize the opportunity if you're in town! Much of the cast has changed, but many of the lead roles are the same.

Det Ny Teater had to put on a new floor for the Phantom production, so that the floor allowed hundreds of small candle trap doors. Isn't the picture a cool one? It's so nice to see how the auditorium looks from the actors point of view! And *sigh* I've been standing there... Although it was the other side, but anyway... ; ) I've also been seated in the box seen at the opposite side, in the bottom. Although I missed a few details of the show (like the Red Death appearing at the grand staircase), I got to see many interesting details close up. And I got to take a wonderful picture of the chandelier while laying in front of me... :D The auditorium actually looks surprisingly small, except you see that there several balconys. One of the photos I took of the auction set, was taken at the very upper balcony. I actually loved sitting there, as the sets are so spectacular when seeing it from a distance. And people sitting there, were in the same level as the Phantom in the "Il Muto" + "I gave you my music" scenes. VERY cool indeed.

IMPORTANT: Most photos, as far as I've figured out, belongs to Det Ny Teater/Rolf Konow. Some also belongs to the Danish photographers POLFOTO. And I've also taken a few of them myself (the chandelier and the auction sets). Please credit Det Ny Teater and the photographers if you reproduce any of these photos! Also, the story and characters belongs to all of those who's developed them throughout the years - Gaston Leroux, Andrew Lloyd-Webber, Maria Bj�rnson, Really Useful Group, the theatres... Please credit them as well.