By NANCY STETSON, nrstetson@naplesnews.com

February 11, 2005

In the award-winning musical "The Phantom of the Opera," the opera house in the title plays as prominent a role as the Phantom himself.

It's elaborate, ornate and multi-layered, with secret passageways, bridges, subterranean rooms and lagoons.

Audiences at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall in Fort Myers, where "The Phantom of the Opera" plays through Feb. 27, are wowed by the complex sets and special effects.

There are so many sets that it takes an entire week to load in the show.

"It's a huge production," says Peter von Mayrhauser, production supervisor for "Phantom." "We're one of the few shows (to have) an advance week. Only the largest productions do that, because they have to do it. There's not enough time to take down the show in the last city and get it to the new city and set it up in time. We have doubles of a lot of scenic elements."

They call them "jump sets" because they leapfrog each other, skipping every other city.

"In effect, we can set up in one city while we're playing with another," von Mayrhauser says.

"The Phantom of the Opera" has one of the most elaborate road shows, using 20 48-foot semi trucks to transport the show. Most other large touring shows use only seven or eight trucks. The musical contains a 10-foot high chandelier that weighs a little less than a ton (and a 1.8 ton winch that controls the chandelier), a 1.5-ton replica of the Paris Opera House grand staircase, a 2.5-ton fake proscenium that contains 25 figures, a life-sized elephant prop and eight painted backdrops. And that's just part of the scenery.

"I would imagine that 'Lion King' is as large, but I don't think there's any other show as big as this one," von Mayrhauser says. "This is huge. Quite frankly, I think that's one of the reasons why it has such a continued success.They did not cut back on anything for the road. With one or two minor exceptions, physically this is exactly the same show that people see on Broadway and in London."

A false stage was added to the stage at the Mann Hall, raising it by 10 inches.

"It's our deck, or stage floor," says David Hanson, advance stage manager for "Phantom." "It goes from the apron to the the back wall and from left to right."

The floor contains cables to light the 141 candles that rise up from the "water" during the lagoon scenes and automation cables to run the automated scenes.

Prior to being set into place, the infamous chandelier sat in the wings, looking like the discarded giant's crown. It contains 35,000 beads and 50 radio-controlled lights.

"It easily falls 50 feet in about three seconds," Hanson says.

Two local carpenters catch the chandelier when it reaches the stage.

"There are so many safeties and back-ups for the chandelier," Hanson says. "The pulleys in the chandelier make it go to the stage. It will not drop straight down."

A chandelier-catch rehearsal takes place before each show opens. They increase the speed in increments, starting at 20 percent and 30 percent of the speed. A flash goes off, mimicing an explosion, just when they grab it, so they're blinded, Hanson says.

Up above the stage is a false baroque proscenium that frames the stage. It weighs 2.5 tons and contains 25 figures.

"It's quite impressive, it frames the stage beautifully," von Mayrhauser says. "Whether it's a contemporary theater on the road or a more old-fashioned one, we make that space into the Paris Opera House. It's really spectacular, I have to say, and it makes a big difference for the road company. Many of the houses we go into aren't naturally suited to look like a Victorian opera house. It helps to take the audience to that place."

"It's exciting when 'Phantom' comes to town," says Mary Bensel, the Mann's general manager. "Just seeing the trucks roll up, that did it for me. I feel like a kid. It's like the circus. It's like an adult version of the circus."

The fact that "Phantom" is returning six years later and is playing for an entire month at the Hall "shows how this market has grown," Bensel says. "We've grown up as a town and as an area."

"It's a big success, God knows," von Mayrhauser says. "It's a huge success. We opened in New York back in the '80s, and it looks absolutely as good as it did when it opened. That's really something."

Why is "Phantom" so successful?

"It's a mystery in many ways," von Mayrhauser says. "Everybody who works on a new show hopes for this, but it rarely occurs. I think the show creates an extraordinary mood. I think that's it's greatest achievement, the ambience, the atmposhere that is established by the director, designers, actors, all working together. They create a place you get transported to. A lot of shows try to do that, but they don't always succeed. It's an intriguing, mysterious theatrical atmosphere. That, combined with the leading chararacter, who's so appealing to people but isn't a conventional leading-man type. He's scary and repelling. He's a killer, a tragic figure, someone one you feel great sympathy for. And visually, it's stunning. I think it's all those things combined."

And knowing all the tricks and how the special effects work doesn't diminish the magic, he says.

"It's live theater," von Mayrhauser says. "It can't be duplicated, that experience of being in the theater and being transported. It's a rare and wonderful thing when it happens. There's nothing like it in the world."

Some Phantom facts

* During this month's run of "The Phantom of the Opera" at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall, there will be four different actors portraying the Phantom, two different actors playing Christine, three different actors playing Carlotta and two different actors portraying Raul.

* Two of the leads in "Phantom" are married to each other — Gary Mauer, who plays Phantom, and Elizabeth Southard, who plays the alternate Christine.

* It costs $10 million to mount this tour.

* It costs $610,000 weekly to run the show.

* There are 36 performers, 60 crew members, 37 scenery and electrical operators and 17 orchestra members.

* "Phantom" contains 230 costumes that take up 200 feet of rack space.

* The costumes cost $1.5 million.

* Carlotta's dress in the "Hannibal" opera weighs 35 pounds.

* It takes the Phantom one hour to get into his make-up, and he goes through one pound of gel for his hair weekly.

* The cast uses 1,440 hairpins weekly.

* Five hundred and fifty pounds of dry ice are used per performance (114.4 tons per year).