Le Club Lair

 

Here is our wonderful Le Club Lair interview with Susan Heath, ASID  the owner of  many of the fabulous POTO costumes. Susan lives in Las Vegas with her husband Martin and own the Metrospace Design Group.

 

 

 
Hi Susan,
Thank you so much for graciously giving the Ladies of Le Club Lair this interview, it is very much appreciated and we sincerely thank you for keeping so many of the beautiful Phantom Of The Opera costumes together. Brava.

Pat – Chicago Rose
Hi Susan,
Please explain to us the inspiration you received from The Phantom Of The Opera that drew you into his world and made you want to be part of it?

Susan
I would say that most people can relate to this story in one way or another – it’s a rather universal condition – wanting to be accepted, but somehow feeling that you never will be. Although the Phantom’s situation is worse than a lot of people, I think the appeal is that we all feel inadequate in some way – whether it’s a legitimate feeling or not – so we can relate to his suffering. And the flip side to that is, of course, the fact that the world denied him the opportunity to share his talents – so by merely judging him on his appearance alone he was condemned.

Beyond that, the music and interpretation of the story by Andrew Lloyd Webber and his creative team is what drew me to that world.

Lori
Hi Susan,
What is your overall feeling for the movie. What was your first time reaction when you saw it and how many times did you see it in the theatre?

Susan
The first time I saw it, I can honestly say I wasn’t sure if I enjoyed it more than the stage production…I had seen it so many times in the theatre and had it in my mind how it was in that production so I found it difficult to make the leap.

However, at the second viewing, I was hooked!! I can’t remember how many times I saw it in the movie theatre – quite a few, though.

The thing that I couldn’t get over when watching it in a public theatre, was how quiet it was when the Phantom sings ‘Music of the Night. All popcorn munching would cease, and you couldn’t hear anyone even breathe. All I could think was that this film will someday be a classic.

Deborah Ann
Hi Susan,
Your collection is breathtaking, do you feel a more personal connection when you watch the movie since you have all those wonderful costumes of your own.

Susan
It’s strange because now when my husband, Martin and I watch the film we don’t even see the story, we are always looking for ways to present the collection more authentically. I must say, it has sort of ruined it for us to try to just enjoy the film!

Lori
What drew you to want to collect these costumes from POTO specifically. Were you a fan of the story, the stage play or do you collect costumes from other movies as well?

Susan
I was a major fan of the stage play first, and then the film.

When the first auction was announced, I really wanted to get a piece of memorabilia from it, so I ended up with 2 masks. When I got them, we looked at them, said our oohs and aahs, and packed them up and put them in a closet.

When the second auction came around, I thought wouldn’t it be great to try to get as much of this together to be able to exhibit, rather than end up in little sad bits in closets. So, after discussing this thought with Martin, we decided to try keep as much if the collection together as possible.

Since acquiring this collection, we have collected some from other films – not as extensively as this one, though.

Rose
Have you collected any costumes or memorabilia from the POTO stage productions?

Susan
I have a few pieces of memorabilia relating to the stage production – autographed programs, limited edition art – that sort of thing. Over the years I’ve corresponded with and met Michael Crawford on several occasions, which was great fun.

Martha
Hi Susan,
Did you already know beforehand which items you wanted to buy?

Susan
Once the decision was made to try to acquire these items, I carefully went over the list to make sure we included pieces from each scene of the film.

Rose
Did you intend to buy so many costumes at the beginning of the auctions or did you later decide you would like to keep the collection together as much as you could and purchased more?

Susan
As I noted above – we didn’t originally set out to get so many items until the epiphany I had prior to the second and third auctions to try to keep these things together.

Martha
How difficult was it to choose which items to bid on?

Susan
We knew we wanted something to represent all of the important scenes from the film. From that point, it was a question of organizing and planning from the list they had of the auction.

The crazy part was that an auction item ended every 15 minutes for 5 days – so I had to set an alarm clock to wake up in the middle of the night to bid on things. It was so very stressful!!

Rose
Did you collect any of the Phantom masks, masks from the Masquerade scene, or other POTO items from the auction, or was it just the costumes that you wanted and intrigued you being in design yourself?

Susan
We have none of the Phantom’s original masks – the prices were getting out of hand very quickly during the auction, and I knew that there were reproductions available that would suit our purposes.

We do have a few masks from the Masquerade scene that do not have a costume, and some props from the film as well. Mostly we wanted to get the important costumes that would make a cohesive display.

Martha
What costume astonished you the most when it arrived and why?

They actually all astonished me – they were so well constructed. But the most interesting was probably Carlotta’s Il Muto dress – it actually came with photographs to tell you which piece to put on first!

Rose
Alexandria Byrne was nominated for an oscar for her beautiful costumes and rightly so, but sadly didn’t win, being in design yourself, do you think they deserved to have won more awards?

Susan
Oh boy – don’t get me started on this one!! I was completely perplexed at how little it did get nominated for. My own opinion was that because Andrew Lloyd Webber didn’t use a major studio to produce the film, Hollywood politics may have gotten in the way. I’m not sure how popular Sir Andrew is in general, I think many critics poo-poo his work for whatever reason. But you can hardly argue with a show that’s run for 22 years!!

That year, Alexandria Byrne was actually nominated for ‘’Finding Neverland’’ and not for ‘’Phantom’. I was truly happy to see her win this year for ‘’Elizabeth: The Golden Age’. Maybe they just keep score along the way, and finally give it to the right person!!

Martha
Was there any one particular piece you especially loved from the auction, but weren’t able to win?

Susan
At the first auction, they had Carlotta’s headdress from the ‘Hannibal Opera’ rehearsal – had I known I would eventually end up with the costume, it would have been nice to have that. They never auctioned Christine’s dress or Raoul’s costume from the Masquerade scene – those would have been nice to have, too. And I missed getting Meg’s Masquerade dress. I was very sad not to be able to get the Phantom’s little wax opera figures and his skull seal – but I felt our money would be spent better on larger pieces.

[img]http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a273/roseofthenight/Hannibal-Carlotta2-1.jpg[/img]

Rose
How hard are they to keep clean and are they expensive to insure?

Susan
Some of the items were pretty dirty when they arrived – especially Christine’s Lair dress. Martin carefully hand washed it – it was dingy from the candle smoke, I think. Some pieces have various stains – most are not that noticeable and we have not tried to remove them for fear of damaging the fabrics. To keep them in as good condition as possible, they are stored in special acid free boxes and tissues, and we use gloves to handle them.

There is an insurance company that specializes in collectibles, who we use to insure these items. It’s a nominal amount, considering their irreplaceable status!

Lori
I would like to know who (from Gerard’s fan-camp) was the first to contact you and request a tour? and hopefully you have no regrets.

Susan
I can’t remember exactly who was first….but GB.Net contacted me and wanted to show some items at one of their conventions which I believe was going to be in Colorado. We were not able to get it together for them, but someone from GB GALS contacted me for their first convention that was going to be held in Las Vegas, which is where we live, so that was easier.

The only regret I have, is that after weeks of preparing everything, Martin went home to England to visit his family and missed meeting everyone here. Plus, he was there for about six weeks, and I had to leave everything on display in our house till he returned. Any idea how creepy it is to have about 50 mannequins dressed in period costumes in your house? Not good.

Rose
Susan i think you know how grateful the ladies are that you have all these beautiful POTO costumes and so kindly and generously let them into your wonderful home to view, all displayed so thoughtfully by you even with music in the background making them relive the experience. How do you feel when you see their happy faces, enthusiasm and hear all their questions and do you have any funny or poignant stories to share?

Susan
I can’t even begin to express how happy I am to see everyones’ faces when they see this collection – and especially when they try on the Phantom’s cape!! It’s priceless, and makes all of this so worthwhile.

At the first convention, there was one woman who was so delighted – her son was there, and he told me that she had recently lost her husband, and getting involved with the GALS and going to the convention and seeing our collections were the first things to make her happy in quite some time.

The funniest thing was one day I was at work and Martin was getting everything ready at the house for the show, and I called him to ask how he was doing. He said “I’m ironing Minnie Driver’s knickers!”. Made me laugh. Also, our cat, Pumpkin, seemed to enjoy napping under Carlotta’s big pink dress – it was like a big camping tent for her!!
Lori
Besides the GALS tours and your private tours, who else do you display the costumes for? Where do they go when not on display?

Susan
We did a display for a cancer treatment center – they were opening a new facility and wanted to do something different for their party, so we displayed the costumes in various settings in their building. It was a huge success!!

When not on display, we store them in special boxes in a secure place.

Pat – Chicago Rose
Hopefully, will you graciously consent to show your entire POTO costume collection again next year? and thank you very much for sharing your hearts inspiration with us all.

Susan
We are always delighted to be able to share this collection!!

Susan – Anna
Hi Susan,
Are you planning to go on tour – let’s say around the world because Vegas is a bit too far away… I am sure many would be interested?

Susan
Touring is definitely something we are anxious to do – but sadly, we are finding out it’s not that simple. I have contacted several companies that provide displays to museums, and although they like the collection, most are hesitant to handle a collection that consists primarily of costumes, as they must be handled with such special care.

We are exploring trying to tour it ourselves, but it’s quite an undertaking, and a costly endeavor as well. We also run our own business, so finding the time to concentrate on this is a challenge. The true problem lately is with the housing industry and general economy spiraling down, we find we probably have the time to devote to this now, but not the funds. Somehow, those two things rarely coincide!!

Rose
Do you have a favourite male and female costume from the film, or is it just too hard to choose?

Susan
That’s like trying to decide which one of your kids is your favorite!! I especially love all of the Masquerade costumes – I can’t believe how creative they are.

 

Pat – Kittypro
Some questions about the famous Red Death costume.

What parts of the costume are genuine? I have heard that the pants used in the film were rented and returned at the end of production, but it seems odd to me that they could find such a perfect match to the fabric in a rented costume. It also seems strange that with the detail put into so many other pieces used in the film, that they would not make the Phantom’s costume completely from scratch. Just curious if you know any details.

Also what type of material is the cape made from and is the jacket lined or unfinished?

Lastly and perhaps a bit gross, but did i see perspiration stains on the jacket? I’m sure it would be an extremely warm article of clothing to wear under hot studio lights, especially fitting as snugly as it did on Gerry.

Susan
Ah, the famous Red Death costume. The genuine parts are the jacket and the cape. It’s true, they did not include the pants – and I also was told that the pants were rented from a costume supply house. Why, I have no idea – but I agree, it seems strange.

Both the cape and the jacket are a velvet fabric, though they are two different types and shades of red. The cape, which is unbelievably long and asymmetrical, is lined with an orange coloured fabric. If you watch the deleted ‘No One Would Listen’ scene on the DVD, you can see the lining clearly, as the cape is draped over the chair the Phantom is sitting on. The jacket is lined – and has a little bustle at the waist to make it flare out slightly.

The fabric under the arms is slightly crushed, as velvet does when it is worn. Whether or not it is stained or just crushed, I’m not sure – I’d have to send it to a lab to be certain!!

Pat – Chicago Rose
Do have any inclination as to why Christine did not have her nylons on after she awoke in the swan bed? ( I have always wanted to as someone that question) in your opinion was it planned?

Susan
I seem to recall reading somewhere that she does still have the stockings on when she wakes up, but you can’t see the tops. Sounds like a wardrobe continuity problem if they are in fact missing!

Pat-Kittypro
You have a wonderful assortment of beautiful costumes from the Masquerade scene. (My favourite is the black dress with the golden birds down the front) Do you know how many of the masquerade costumes were available for sale? Can you tell us why you chose to purchase the particular ones in your collection?

[img]http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a273/roseofthenight/Masquerade-Phoenix5-1.jpg[/img]

Susan
I don’t know the total number of Masquerade costumes that were auctioned. I tried to get the ones that were most recognizable from the film, and whichever ones looked the most interesting.

Rose
Have you had anyone connected to the film wanting to see or exhibit your costumes, maybe teaming up together for some future event and did you get a special letter from the RUG thanking you for keeping so many costumes together?

Susan
I did not get any special letter from RUG, but I was in contact with someone there who worked on the film. He was glad that we were keeping so much of it together, and was most helpful in getting me some high resolution photographs to use.

He told me that they had offered the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas the costumes to display with their new stage production, but they declined. Their thinking was that because these were from the film, and they were mounting essentially a “new” version of the stage show, that they didn’t want them. I had heard several comments from people who wrote to me that they would have loved to have both to see.

Martha
I know there were several capes made, as there were of all the costumes. During the film you can see that the lining of the cape worn by the Phantom changes during certain scenes. The cape which you have seems to have the dark lining and seems to be one of the ones used during “The RoofTop” scene, is it?

Susan
We have three capes…one is a prototype that was not used – it has a beautiful brocade lining in gray and black, and extensive curved wiring in the hem. Two are made of black wool felt, and are unlined. One of them is shorter and was used during the sword fighting scene at the cemetery. We like to call that the ‘’sport cape’’.

Separately, we have the silk gold lining that was used under the cape during the scene where the Phantom takes Christine to the lair. It’s very evident in the film, but what you can’t see is the detail of the fabric…it’s specially dyed in a gradated fashion, and has a pattern in it, too. Sometimes it looks like the rooftop lining when the light hits it just right, but I can’t be certain.

Pat-Kittypro
Are there any water stains on the wedding dress from the final scene in the Phantom’s Lair?

Susan
I haven’t noticed any on ours – there were three versions made, so we may have been lucky to get the one that didn’t go into the water.
Martha
Are the hair ornaments that the model wears with the “Think of Me” gown the actual ones in the film?

Susan
They are not the ones from the film…I have searched everywhere, including Swarovski, to try to find them, but could only come up with some reasonable facsimiles!

Rose
Were some of the costumes smaller in size than you expected?

Susan
Probably 95% of them were smaller than you can even imagine!! These people must never eat. It was a true challenge to find mannequins that would accommodate these – both the women and the men!!

Pat-Kittypro
When i saw your collection last month, I was fascinated by the details put into the soldier costumes and Carlotta’s dress from Hannibal. Can you describe, for those who were not there, about some of the trim and gorgeous work that went into these pieces? Also, can you describe the same sort of meticulous detail seen on other pieces in your collection that you think makes them special? Carlotta’s costumes are especially fabulous!

Susan
They use combinations of hand painting on different fabrics along with a variety of decorative trim embellishments. On Carlotta’s gown, they even use silk flowers as a trim – very intricately executed. There were still dressmaker pins holding some of the trim on – which we left in.

They created little lion’s faces that were used on several costumes – sort of a recurring them, though it would be difficult to spot on screen. One of the soldier’s costumes has individual little ‘fish scales’ in different fabrics that overlap each other. It’s quite heavy.

All of the costumes are very detailed, and when you think of the work that went into them for them to simply flash across the screen it boggles the mind. Things that you would never be able to really see – hand painted treatments under sheer fabrics, underskirts and linings of contrasting fabrics, and amazing craftsmanship. Everything seemed to be constructed in a style that was true to the period….only a few garments have a zipper…the rest are fastened with hooks and eyes, buttons, or corset lacing.

Rose
If you could wear any one of your POTO costumes to a Masquerade Ball, which one would you chose and have you ever considered it?

Susan
I never really thought about this – knowing that these are for the most part one of a kind costumes and need to be treated with the care one would give to any historical items, they are not things that should be worn. That and the fact that most of the costumes are so very tiny, it’s never even occurred to me to try! But if they fit and they could be worn, I think the Jockey costume from the Masquerade scene, or Christine’s Cemetery gown and cape would be at the top of my list.

 

Martha
I’ve personally seen one of the costumes worn during the “Hannibal” scene, which is made in parts. Are any, or all of Christine’s gowns made like that as well?

Susan
Yes, all of Christine’s white outfits (Think of Me, Lair, and Wedding) are separates’…skirts and tops and underskirts and hoop skirts and veils and robes…you get the idea – lots of parts!!

Rose
Martha has a wonderful Redux every year in LA around November to celebrate the film and Gerard’s birthday, which has become a must do event and gaining momentum every year. Ladies come from all over North America and Europe to see their favourite film POTO on the big screen again and have a charity raising dinner for Gerard’s causes beforehand. They would dearly love it if you could attend one time as guest of honour and perhaps exhibit a few of your spectacular costumes for those who may never be able to go to Vegas, is this something you would consider? It would really make them so happy as you can see they truly love this film and everything connected to it. The Music Of The Night Will Never Be Over.

And lastly, if by some fantastic chance there was a POTO sequel, would you collect costumes again?

Susan
We would love to participate in Martha’s event – sounds fantastic! Just contact me so we can coordinate it.

As far as a sequel, and doing this again…maybe, probably, who knows? I’m always looking for collecting opportunities – it’s a bit of an obsession. You can see some of our collection at our website www.beyondthescenes.com .

 

Thank you all for taking the time to ask these questions….do not hesitate to call on me if you think of something else!!

Susan
End
I think you will all agree, those are wonderful and very interesting answers  and Susan and Martin are really lovely people. We are really grateful it was Susan and Martin who bought all these beautiful costumes, otherwise the fans may never have had the opportunity to see them again.And i hope at Martha’s Redux in November some of you may have a  chance to meet Susan and see some of the costumes if it can be arranged as suggested, that is really wonderful and again we thank Susan for her kindness.

We will be dedicating trees in The Phantom Phorest to Susan as a little thank you.

 Also a big Thank You to all the Ladies who submitted great questions for the interview.

Lady Rose

 

More Le Club Lair and RT Robert Burns Interviews can be found here:

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