I find the ideas that Prince and Bjornson had to cut from the stage design really interesting (Cesar the white horse, rats, lights inside the proscenium angels)- do you know if there were any major early costume design ideas that were axed as well? Or major changes other than Hershey Kiss to Star Princess when it hopped the pond? I figure if anyone knows, it's you! Thanks!

There might be more than the stuff I’ve seen and heard about, but some changes I AM aware of is:

*The Phantom’s mask was designed to be on the other half of his face. But since Michael Crawford has already figured out much of the blocking, and it demanded the mask on the opposite side than the design suggested (and everyone agreed his ideas for the blocking was very good), they moved the mask to the other half of the face. But the design still shows the original idea:

*The Phantom was drawn with the skull stick for his Red Death costume, as seen it worn by Lon Chaney. But this skull stick was instead used in the mausoleum scene, for the large cloak and feathered hat.

*An early idea for Red Death was that he would simply twirl out of his costume and disappear, leaving the costume behind on the floor. This was the idea of the magic consultant, and would be do-able. But Hal Prince wanted the disappearance to be more tangible, more old-school. And so it was. The “twirl out of the costume” idea was instead picked up for the end scene of the Restaged Tour in 2013, where the Phantom disappear, leaving only his cloak to be found on stage.

*For Raoul’s Masquerade costume, Maria Bjørnson seems to have had several ideas. Maybe he should wear a large, black cloak and a black halfmask? Or maybe “just” the uniform? Maybe he started in full costume and shred some of it throughout the scene? Whatever the idea, only the black half mask made it to stage, and I don’t think the big cloak ever happened. Steve Barton wanted full, easy movements in the Masquerade blocking, having a dancer background and all, and he even disliked the fur-lined pelisse and the white gloves. The Hussar costume was trimmed down to a minimum, and the pelisse eventually made lighter, and today the fully cloaked figure seen in the design is definitely one of those getting axed:

There were also minor changes happening - the Slavemaster’s headgear was made smaller, Piangi’s Masquerade costume got the ornamental sun on the chest, Carlotta’s Masquerade costume became more cobweb like, Masquerade’s “Rococo Lady” got a total makeover etc. In addition, Carlotta got a second Victorian dress, so she would wear a b/w one for the First Manager’s scene, and a red/gold one for the Second Manager’s scene. This change happened in West End some time in 1987, I believe.

And of course, Christine went from the white “Bo Peep” to the pink-and-blue “Star Princess” in Masquerade. Both costumes included a corseted bodice with vertical decorations, a short, belle shaped skirt, plus hand held mask. But the colours, decorations and exact making of the costumes differs a lot:

Another Christine costume that was changed, was the Elissa gala skirt. In the original design Christine wears a tabbed creation with hardly any decorations as we know it today - only the tabs and small apron is recognizable. For West End they put this on a plain, dark green skirt, with waterfall backdrapes. Eventually they added a decorated hem and a grand beaded belt, like Carlotta’s version. This is because it was decided Christine’s costume should echo that of Carlotta - you can see on the design the comment on going for Carlotta’s bustle instead. Christine’s slavegirl costume is to the left, and the Elissa costume is to the right (and there’s hardly any difference between them):

But all in all, most of these changes are tweaks rather than redesigning. Only Christine’s Masquerade costume can be called a total makeover. For the other costumes, there might have existed multiple ideas from start and just one was picked. Or the costume was simplified to ease movements or with added details to pop more on stage. The show is overall pretty much like Maria Bjørnson first designed it.