Tech Talk

PHANTOM has been “In” for three weeks and all seems well with the production so I thought that I would show some of the structure that holds things up! This production, which has been on the road for 17 years, was one of the first productions that would alter theaters across the country to allow the show to fit inside.

The tour added structural steel above the stage and the house to hold up the Chandelier and Proscenium. These two set pieces weigh a total of 14,000 lbs!!

This is a picture of the stage right service truss. It is where the tour light board and its operator live during the show. The platform is 40 feet above the stage and you have to climb a “wire rope” ladder to access it!

An interesting note about the production compared to other large shows (LION KING, WICKED, etc) is that PHANTOM does not have any moving lights in the show. There is however LOTS of scrollers, strobe lights and of course pyrotechnics!

PHANTOM requires each theater it travels to have 30,000 pounds of stage weights (referred to as “Pigs” in our world) These pigs are used as counterweights to balance the weight of the show on the arbors (the white ropes on the right side of the picture are attached to arbors). The other way things are flown in and out is by the use of chain motors, PHANTOM has 52 of them on tour! The Stage Truss from the above picture is held up by four- 2ton chain motors!

Among the 20 trucks that take the show across the country is this “Billboard Truck” sometime this is just an advertisement truck but in the case of PHANTOM it is actually their Shop Truck. The truck is used to deliver all the tools that the tour might need to fix set and prop pieces. Hopefully we won’t need this truck while PHANTOM’s here, but it’s good to know it’s here if we need it!

It has been an honor to work with the PHANTOM Tour, hope you get a chance to see it while it’s here! If you have any questions feel free to email me, I’m always willing to talk tech!

-Jeff Rollins
j.rollins@asu.edu