Design by Maria Bjornson for Christine in Act I, scene i, of The Phantom of the Opera, Her Majesty's Theatre, 1986

Design for Christine in Act I, scene i of The Phantom of the Opera, showing, to the left, a full-length female figure standing on pointe, wearing a low cut, tight fitting, black bodice with red and green panels and beaded shoulders straps, similar strings of gold and multi-coloured beads decorating the neck, shoulders and hips, an ankle length skirt of multi-coloured ribbons with, to the front, three strings of gold and red beads, and pale pink ballet shoes. She wears a wide gold circlet round her head with, to the side, a large jewelled decoration in the form of a six petalled flower, and large triangular earrings with open centres. To the right, a female figure wearing a similar bodice but without the beaded shoulder decorations, the skirt of strips of multi-coloured fabric, each strip edged in red and ending in a point. She wears a similar headdress with an additional large jewel to the forehead, a similar earring in her left ear with a large circular one in her right, and pale pink ballet shoes. On the right hand side of the design are three pencil sketches of the skirt. Fabric swatches in shades of red and green, some decorated with gold beads, gold thread and gold sequins are attached by metal pins and paperclips to the left hand edge. The design is signed and is inscribed in pencil with the production title, the theatre, the scene, the name of the actor and the character, and costume details.

This design was made for the first production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical, The Phantom of the Opera, Her Majesty's Theatre, 9 October 1986. Christine was played by Sarah Brightman

Andrew Lloyd-Webber's musical The Phantom of the Opera is a phenomenon of 20th century theatre; it opened in 1986 at Her Majesty's Theatre and by May 2008 had played over 9,000 performances. It has been produced in over 25 countries.

The design for the quick change costume for Christine, from slave girl in rehearsal to dancer in the gala performance, shows the production evolving. Bjornson created a rehearsal costume with a skirt made of narrow strips, which could quickly be changed for a skirt with a different hip line and floating panels; the bodice remained the same, save for the removal of beads around the upper arms. The headdress and earrings were also common to both costumes. However, a note indicates that the gala costume was later cut in favour of 'copy of Carlotta's Bustle.' Bjornson is also unsure whether the character will be wearing ballet shoes or bare feet and notes to ask choreographer Gillian Lynne. The fabric samples are a rich mix of velvets for the bodice, with sequinned diaphanous panels for the skirt.

S.272-1999