Broadway's longest-running show arrived in Durham with a bang.
The 10-foot-high, 950-pound chandelier that famously crashes to the stage in "The Phantom of the Opera" has been falling with each performance at the Durham Performing Arts Center since the touring musical opened the night after Thanksgiving.
Nine semi-trailer trucks arrived last month with 11 more last week to set up for the nearly month-long run. With the trucks came about 100 employees - from the actors to musicians to electricians. Another 75 to 80 local employees helped set up the production and work behind the scenes during the performances.
That may sound like a lot of people but according to David Hansen, advance stage manager, it is "just enough people to work." Hansen, who has been with the touring musical since 1998, said that there have been more people helping set up.
Local employees have a wide variety of roles including carpentry, props and electrical work. Out of the six spotlight operators needed for each show, four are local. Area businesses benefit as well. The 500 pounds of dry ice for each show comes from a local supplier.
Durham is now the temporary home to the cast and crew and in many cases, their families and pets come along. Hansen said that with each new city, the "real tricky part" for the traveling group is finding the simple things like a grocery store. Actors only get one week of vacation every six months and crew get up to eight weeks a year.
"The Phantom of the Opera" became Broadway's longest running show ever in 2006, taking the record from Andrew Lloyd Webber's hit "Cats." It has had more than 9,000 performances on Broadway alone. The touring version of the musical has been to 73 cities across North America.
