Phantom of the Opera Celebrates Dame Gillian Lynne
Phantom of the Opera Celebrates Dame Gillian Lynne
March 2026
The iconic chandelier
North American Tour chandelier named ‘GILLIAN’
One of the traditions in Phantom of the Opera is that the iconic chandeliers are used to commemorate people who have been important to the show. Now the chandelier being used for the North American Tour has been named ‘Gilliian’ in honour of Dame Gillian Lynne and to acknowledge her Centenary year and her immense contribution in helping create one of the world’s most successful shows.
The chandelier falling is one of the most iconic moments in musical theater, occurring as the finale of Act One when the Phantom causes it to crash down over the auditorium. The fall is inspired by a real-life 1896 incident at the Paris Opera House which helped inspire Gaston Leroux to write the original story on which the musical is based.
For the original show in London’s West End, the dazzling replica of the Paris Opera House chandelier, designed by Maria Bjornson, took four weeks to make and was made up of 6,000 beads and measured 3 metres wide and weighed one ton. 2,230 metres of fabric were used for the drapes and the tasselled fringes measured 226 metres made up of 250 kilos of dyed wool interwoven with 5,000 wooden handmade beads imported from India.
Watch a video below featuring a special message from Phantom of the Opera USA Tour cast members Isaiah Bailey (Phantom) and Lisa Vroman (Madame Giry) talking about Gillian Lynne:
