Relief and Rapture ...I feel like I should title all of my posts with some type of alliteration - it makes for so much fun. I was RELIEVED yesterday of my on-call duty because a co-worker was kind enough to cover for me so that I could find RAPTURE in the Phantom of the Opera.
I've seen it twice before, but the music was entrancing, as always, and I was wowed yet again by the absolute magic of the set design. It's so incredible how this stage transforms in the middle of numbers seamlessly and flawlessly.
Spurned some googling on my part ... here are the results:
* There are 22 scene changes.
* The set was designed by Maria Bjornson, who seems to have an interesting biography.
* A company called Production Resource Group (PRG) was responsible for designing the motorized effects that change the scenes and operate the famous chandelier ... they created an entire system called "Stage Command System" which combos software with all the mechanics to exact actor cue timing and special effect timing. This system allows PRG staff to monitor and trouble-shoot remotely --- imagine being on-call for the Phantom and getting a call "There's trouble with the chandelier ... HELP!" ... "Stage Command System" is now used all over for various productions.
* There are 2230 m of fabric in the regal drapes that hide and shape the stage throughout the performance.
For more interesting tid-bits, click here.
I'm getting ready for a day of playing World of Warcraft (sigh ... perhaps I'm more of a nerdy/geek than I thought ... I've not come through my CompSci days unscathed ... but it's just so freakin' FUN)! But ... if the day stays this beautiful ... I may succumb to the siren of the slurpee and take my feet for a walk.
5 comments:
I'm a "Joseph and Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" man myself, but nice to see I may not get laughed out of law school for my ALW jones.
Above is obviously missing a "the", but I kinda like the Japanese-translation feel of the typo'd version.
I love it! What's funny is that among the people that I attended Phantom with, we were discussing our favourite musicals ... and Joseph did come up. I have never seen it, but would love to. My personal favourite? Jesus Christ Super Star ... saw it with Ted Neely as Jesus, and Carl Anderson as Judas (the same guys from the movie). They were freakin' unreal live!
And as far as getting laughed out of law school - I've got your back if you've got mine! ;-)
Sounds good- although you simply must see Joseph. I used to have both the London Cast (Overall superior cast) and the New York cast (Donny Osmond as Joseph) performances on casette tape. Crap, I mean CD. Great, now I've dated myself in addition to outing myself as a fan of musicals.
I'll definitely look it up - London Cast ...
I only felt "old" when I realized that I could apply to law school as a mature student. ME? MATURE?
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