"Phantom" facts (or why you'll never see it at the Tennessee)

My apologies for not writing sooner. The world has been "too much with [me]" lately, and not just in learning the "Mefistofele." Had a couple of great articles in my head but couldn't get them down on paper.

Caught this article on the St. Petersburg Times' website about the touring show of "Phantom of the Opera." The author offers some interesting facts about the original phantom and tech specs about the current production.

It's always interesting to see what it takes to put on a real touring show, how they do what they do the same way every city, every show. Of particular note: the amount of time it takes to set up production: a full 10 days! And 20 truckloads of trappings! I remember when I was a teenager my high school band would sell fruit for the fall. (And, yes, Farragut High School Band is still selling fruit to this day.) Most of the band (~130 people) along with parents, siblings, friends, etc., was required to unload two tractor trailers full of boxed citrus fruit. By the time evening fell, we were all pretty much exhausted. I can't imagine unloading 20 truckloads of stuff--stuff that isn't nice square rectangles, like fruit boxes.

Something else occurred to me while reading the article. You know, most of us take our guests artists at KO for granted, but they really are special people. Sure, being an opera star is glamorous and rewarding, but it's also a real pain! We see the glamorous side of things--schmoozing with the swells, partying with your costars, invitation-only dinners. What we don't see is them living out of a suitcase for up to 50 weeks a year. We also don't see them having to accustomize themselves to a new bed every six weeks or so. Nor do we see them craving the facilities to make mom's special chili instead of existing off of frou-frou party food. "Touring" means just that; you don't get home much.

Well, tomorrow night's the big gig. Hope everybody's not blowing their chords on these rehearsals. All well and fine to practice hard, but if you've got laryngitis during the performance, it amounts to nil.