Their heads are literally covered in plaster, which has to dry as they sit there with only a small hole for the nostrils. The deformity and then the mask are made based on a mould of the actor’s face. The local specialists often do special makeup for movies and TV, and you can usually find them credited at the back of the programmes/Playbills and souvenir brochures. Internationally, productions has collaborated with either “the motherships” in West End or on Broadway, or went for local specialists. Go behind the scenes of Phantoms 25th Anniversary performance, where we discover all about the Phantoms iconic mask, while Christopher Tucker talks through. In West End they’ve kept custom making individual masks for their Phantom, which accounts for a bit more variety, while Broadway has choosen 3-4 main models, where the actor wears the one that fits the best. But overall they stay the same from Phantom to Phantom. They’ve slowly been updated to feature new details - for example a more “angry” eyebrown, or different shading, or a less curved forehead. The West End and Broadway productions has had its own, permanent mask makers.
When the designer herself was around, she probably also had the liberty to veto or advice.
I guess a mixture of what the head of makeup and/or costume wants, what the supervisor approves, and how much liberty the mask maker is given. Therefore, the success of this operation depends on other characters’ good will-in Erik’s case, Christine’s ability to show him compassion and admiration despite his ugliness, and, in Christine’s case, Raoul’s willingness to trust her and take her feelings seriously despite his intense jealousy.(from left: Ethan Freeman in Essen, Michael Crawford in West End and Yuichiro Yamaguchi (?) in Tokyo) In both cases, removing one’s mask reveals one’s vulnerability. On another occasion, during the masked ball, Christine finally shows Raoul her anguish when she removes her mask. This moment marks a turning point in the narrative, as Christine will remain scarred by the horrifying face she has seen. The removal of masks occurs at crucial moments in the narrative on one such occasion, overwhelmed by the beauty of the Phantom’s singing, Christine spontaneously decides to disobey Erik’s orders and remove his mask, which causes Erik fear, pain, and anger. Although the mask gives Erik some control over his life, as it allows him to decide when to reveal his real face, it also signals that he has no control over one crucial factor: other people’s reactions. The mask that the “Phantom,” Erik, wears over his face symbolizes his vulnerability and the injustice he suffers from, as he is forced to hide his face because it causes too much horror in other people.
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