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The Haus of Gaga and I have worked for months conceiving a spectacular stage, The Born This Way Ball is an Electro-Metal Pop-Opera; the tale of the Beginning, the genesis of the Kingdom of Fame. How we were birthed and how we will die celebrating.

According to her September 2012 Vogue interview, the Born This Way Ball is her dream tour, conceived by Gaga from start to finish designed for massive arenas all over the world. Her plan was to the tour more sophisticated and more elegant than the previous tour, The Monster Ball.

4-26-12 Terry Richardson 001 Gaga rehearsing in South Korea the day before opening night.

"I really wanted to break the mold of what modem touring is right now. The most important thing to me was that there be no video screens. What if we just really simplified all of that so that you just have to watch me and the dancers the whole time?"

During the show, Gaga plays the role of a alien fugitive from G.O.A.T., a Government Owned Alien Territory in space which was introduced for the first time in the music video for "Born This Way" in 2011. Throughout the show, she is tracked by "Mother G.O.A.T." until the final battle.

Outfits

For the outfits, Gaga asked both designers which whom they collaborated before and new one. She also revealed in the tour press release that it was one of her life's dream to be dressed in Italian designers. The Italian designers include past collaborators such as Atelier Versace, the haute couture label of Versace, Armani Privé which is also a haute couture label but for Armani and for the first time, Moschino. The press release also revealed a collaboration with Calvin Klein Jeans and from young, up-and-coming designers, like Void of Course, A-Morir, Tex Saverio and Fred Butler. On November 13, 2012, Gaga revealed on Twitter that the tour would get "face-lift for America" with Atelier Versace designing all the clothes for the three months leg in 2013.

Music

The musical interludes were created by director Joe Wilson with Gaga. According to DJ White Shadow, they had opera and orchestra sound in mind. The band from the Monster Ball tour resigned with a few new people added and minus the chorists, harp and violin player.

Poster and film project

Related article: Terry Richardson

For the tour, Gaga asked Haus member, Terry Richardson to be the photographer. The Haus met on January 29 at a rehearsal space to shot various concepts with part of a medieval castle set. A promotional poster of the tour was released on February 7, 2012, which features Gaga's face hovering over dark clouds looking down from the sky, and includes touches of neon purple and turquoise coloring. She is also fused into a keytar, standing near her dancers in front of a medieval castle. The photograph with Gaga's face hovering was shot on December 5 of 2010 with a BlackBerry by the Haus of Gaga and was also previously used on poster for "Born This Way". The photographs by Terry Richardson with Gaga wearing a keytar dress was made by Perry Meek for the Haus. In February 2012, a promotional image for the tour was released; she is wrapped in plastic outside the gates of the Electric Chapel. They also decided to do a film / documentary of the making of the tour, the tour and her life during ité Richardson was both seen recording footage and taking photographs, which some of the later were released on his tumblr and Little Monsters page.

Stage

The Haus worked with Stufish, Mark Fisher's studio on ideas for the stage on May to June of 2011. The inspiration for the sketches are the Edwardian era, Jules Vernes and World War I. On November 29, 2012, Stufish released some sketches illustrating a few of the ideas explored. Most of the concepts include some sort of rotating stage similar to the final design which include two sing walls that can open to reveal the inner stage.

  • Drawings by Mark Fisher

Kingdom of Fame

The first details revealed about the stage was the "Monster Pit" (which is explained below). On February 7 at midnight (EST), Gaga tweeted a sketch of the stage for the tour. The sketch include a city in the foreground which is the same one used as backdrop for the Doll Domination Tour.

2-6-12 Inverted color stage sketch by Mark Fisher with Ric Lipson for Stufish Entertainment as posted by Gaga on Twitter.

The stage is modeled on a medieval Gothic castle featuring viewing towers, intricate carvings and a large catwalk allowing audience interaction. The stage and set have many capabilities and functions including 30 active windows and doors, each with a custom scenic painted roll drop which will reveal different scenes within the various rooms of the Castle, two swing walls which open to reveal the 50 foot tall castle behind it, 620 feet of custom LED lights and two sets of automated castle gates that open and close to a full 180 degrees. Notably, the 3D model include a "cloudy" background and side "walls" next to the stage which were not used in the built stage.

  • Illustrations by Stufish

Monster Pit

The Monster Pit refers to a limited number of place area located in the general admission (floor) of select dates of the tour. On February 6, 2012, Gaga tweeted that the central area within the stage will be known as "The Monster Pit", which is regulated to general admission fans who were the first to arrive. Every night, the Haus of Gaga will also choose fans from the Monster Pit to come backstage and meet Gaga. On Lady Gaga's official website, the rules of eligibility for the Monster Pit were described in more detail.

Eligibility details

  • Due to venue capacity issues, only those with GA floor tickets will be eligible to earn Monster Pit access.
  • For safety & security reasons, fans won't be permitted to line up at the venue before 8am local time the day of the show; those with GA floor tickets can line up in the Monster Pit eligibility line. The afternoon of each show, Monster Pit access wristbands will be distributed to GA floor ticket holders who have arrived first, waited the longest, and are dressed to "Ball."
  • The first person in line for the Monster Pit will receive a key.
  • A very limited amount of Monster Pit passes will be held and distributed at random each night for those who do NOT have GA floor tickets; these will be awarded to fans who arrived first, waited longest, + dressed to "Ball" but who do not have GA floor tickets.

For the 2013 dates, the rules were updated because of "the increased likelihood of adverse weather conditions, the Monster Pit rules have changed for the North American leg of the Born This Way Ball".

  • Due to venue capacity issues, only those with GA floor tickets will be eligible to earn Monster Pit access.
  • For safety & security reasons, fans won't be permitted to line up at the venue before 8:00am local time the day of the show. Those with GA floor tickets can line up in the Monster Pit eligibility line beginning at 8:00am on the day of the show.
    • At 9:00am local time each day, BTWB staff will identify the Monster Pit key holder and numbered wristbands will be distributed to those in line on a first-come, first-served basis to GA floor ticket holders who have arrived first and dressed to "Ball" (limited quantities are available each day). These wristbands guarantee your spot in the Monster Pit for the show that night, along with your place in line for entrance into the pit when doors open. Upon distribution of these numbered wristbands, BTWB staff will confirm a meeting point for later in the day. 
    • The line will be closed after all numbered wristbands are distributed each morning at 9:00am, and fans are encouraged to go home, find a local coffee shop, or otherwise leave the premises. This leg of the BTWB is during the winter and for safety reasons we insist that fans not wait outside in the cold all day. The Monster Pit line re-opens daily at 4:00pm ONLY for those who received numbered wristbands that morning, and fans must line up in numerical order based on their wristband number. As these fans enter the venue, their numbered wristbands must be exchanged for the actual Monster Pit access wristband which will not be given out prior to doors. If you do not have your numbered wristband or lost it, you unfortunately will not be able to enter the Pit.
  • To ensure those who receive numbered wristbands have access to the Born Brave Bus experience, those with numbered wristbands will have exclusive access to the BBB from 3:00pm-4:00pm each day. Fans are encouraged to visit the bus and learn more about the Born This Way Foundation prior to re-entering the Monster Pit line at 4:00pm. Keep in mind that your place in line is guaranteed based on the number you receive in the morning. Except that The Born Brave Bus will not be present at the shows in Canada.
  • Any fans who arrive to the venue prior to 8:00am local time on the day of any show will be automatically disqualified from eligibility for Monster Pit access. 
  • A VERY limited amount of Monster Pit passes will be held and distributed at random each night for those who do NOT have GA floor tickets. These will be awarded to random fans once they are already inside the venue. 
  • To give as many fans as possible a chance to win, no fan can be the Monster Pit key holder more than once. 
  • Eligibility rules may vary from venue to venue. Please check the rules listed on the LadyGaga.com event listing for your specific show for the full rules.

Holder of the Monster Pit key

The first person in line for the Monster Pit is awarded a key, which symbolically opens the Monster Pit for each date. They are called the "Holders of the Monster Pit key". Each leg of the tour also have a metallic gold and black key which is signed by all the related key holders.

After each show, Gaga's team uploads a picture with the holder on LittleMonsters.com, who are all meant to sign them on their respective keys. On dates with venues that are to small for the Monster Pit, the first person on the General Admissions line is awarded the key.

4-26-12 02
The Monster Pit Key
Asia (2012)
Oceania (2012)
Europe (2012)
Americas (2012-13)
Africa (2012)

Visuals

For the tour, Gaga wanted to have no tour videos:

"I really wanted to break the mold of what modem touring is right now. The most important thing to me was that there be no video screens. What if we just really simplified all of that so that you just have to watch me and the dancers the whole time?"

However, she later added footage from the "Fame" short film during the birth scene.

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