I believe this was the thread in question?
DesertedPhans: The Phantom’s Mask
Actually, it appears that I was not a part of that discussion! But that’s okay, there’s plenty of great insight on that thread. And I get to make up for it now and hold ya’ll hostage. You’re welcome.
Early Broadway masks were less “sculpted,” in that they did not possess the static eyebrow. Some prefer this look, as it does not impose an emotion or expression onto the mask; the mask is more neutral, thus allowing the Phantom to better emote with the visible part of his face.
Around 1994, the masks started being sculpted with an eyebrow, much thinner and less obnoxious than what we have seen on modern masks the last 10 years or so. As the thread states, some particularly good looking masks were on Lovett, Jacoby, and my personal favorite of the day was Kevin Gray.
This (Broadway, mid-late 90s) is probably my favorite era mask, they just seemed very elegant. Of course, how well the mask ultimately looks does depend on the actor’s face, I feel that those with a more slender face tend to look better in a mask than a stouter, rounder face. But that’s just me I guess.
Also it’s worth noting that masks during this era were custom molded to each actor, and trimmed according to their hairline (generally did not go over the hairline) and of course where their mouth was. Thus, each mask prior to 2005 (?) or so, is going to have a different hairline cut, slightly different cheek, and mouth cut as it was truly unique to each actor. It does seem though, if you flip through photos of Phantoms in the mid-to-late 90s, that the cut around the mouth seems more shallow, to help cover more of the lip deformity. But though it’s still shallow, the bottom part of the mask extended down to the jawline.
….Then we get into the early or mid-2000s switch to one of the generic mask sculpts. Actors such as John Cudia, Gary Mauer, even Howard McGillin’s later run fell victim to this unfortunate design decision. There is a small selection (either three, or five, I can’t remember) of molds the design team “fits” to an actor, chosen based on the shape/size of the actor’s face and how the mask looks. The chosen mask can then be trimmed accordingly to best fit the shape of the actor’s face, and because they are thermoplastic, can even be “molded” slightly with heat to give them a slightly better fit. That said, most people do notice that the masks we’ve seen since then just don’t have the same elegance, the same meticulous detail that you see in custom sculpted pieces.
I call these the “unfortunate eyebrow” masks, because the eyebrow is extremely silly on these masks, and also just stupid prominent. It’s just an unnecessary and distracting quantity of eyebrow.
Sorry John, I was never a fan of the mask they gave you…the hairline cut is straighter and less distinct, the mask just seems to hover over his face rather than truly fit it. And catch this mask on a funny angle, and it looks as if the cut on the mouth is straight, when in reality it’s not. The bottom curve of the mask does tend to go back more toward the ear, showing more of the bottom lip deformity, than masks from the mid-late 90s.
Now… this one’s a little unfair, because the angle of the shot and his upturned face makes it look like the forehead on the mask is like 1000x more ridiculous than it actually is.
Because that generic style mask he got as the Tour principal wasn’t so spectacular, but it was a little less absurd head on:
But I’m guessing this might be Gary’s old Broadway u/s mask? Much better cut across the forehead, different eyebrow, overall way better fit and look:
Then of course there’s Howard’s mask, which looks downright CARTOONEY when you compare it to those elegant 90′s masks:
Note the much straighter cut across the mouth too. Blergh.
So, you might imagine I was also not a huge fan of the Vegas masks due to their eyebrow situation. Though I will say, Brent Barrett pulled it off way better than Anthony Crivello did.
….But let’s wrap this up on a good note, shall we? You know who could really pull off a mask? Ted Keegan. Killin’ that late 90s elegance. Thank you Ted.
And of course, Davis Gaines. Yessmmm.
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