Broadway’s longest running musical, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera, has experienced sell-out seasons around the world and recently played to packed audiences in Johannesburg at The Teatro at Montecasino. Behind the extravagant and awe inspiring stage production is an equally complex and impressive array of technical facilities not least of which are the sound and lighting departments.

Glenn Duncan is head of lighting and has been with the production since the commencement of the South African leg in Cape Town. He started his career in lighting with Richard Loring at the now defunct Sound Stage in Midrand, and as a freelancer, he has worked with Pieter Torrien and other theatre productions for several years before joining Phantom. The attention to detail in the hand over process is extreme.

“When Phantom moved into the Artscape Opera house at the end of October,’ says Duncan, “it gave the production a full four weeks before the fist preview on 22 November 2011. The South African version of the show is the Australian touring production, although it is an entirely local cast. We had a large contingent of mostly Australian technical and creative staff helping us put it together,’
Included were Ken Roach and Rob Baker from Australia and Michael Odam as associate lighting designer. Some of the moving lights had to be changed to a different model on this tour, so in addition to the usual updates and tweaks for a new venue there was a fair amount of programming to be dealt with to get the show looking and feeling right.

“Roach and I handled this under Odam’s direction,’ says Duncan. Lighting positions, cable runs and dimmer placements were all worked out ahead of time after a site visit by the international contingent earlier in the year.

“Apart from the conventional lighting fixtures and moving lights, there is also a large amount of set electrics to be dealt with – everything on the set that lights up needs a power cable and a control method. We were shown how this all links up – as the show has been around for a long time there’s a well-established set of procedures for getting it all up and running.

The Johannesburg production was Michael Odam’s 43rd Phantom production. “Twenty six years ago I was having planning meetings with Andrew Bridge the original lighting designer about the first production in London,’ he says. “In those days I was the production electrician along with Howard Eaton. This was in the days before scrollers, dmx, lap tops and mobile phones were common.

“Johannesburg was the fourth time I’ve been lucky enough to work in SA and my limited experience of SA venues has been very good,’ he adds. “All the crews I’ve met have been very friendly and helpful. In Europe we have a mountain of health and safety regulations which I don’t think you have to the same extent. I have seen a few things in SA that we would not dream of doing in the UK.

“As the show slowly took shape, the local crew were left increasingly to their own devices,’ continues Duncan. “By opening night the Australians were mainly just observers and shortly afterwards there was not a single foreign passport on the show. The support since has been brilliant – even with the time difference, questions are answered immediately and help and suggestions cheerfully and promptly given. I’m looking forward to seeing them again for the next move to Manila.

“The fact is that the production follows a standard configuration that dictates the format and size of the theatre used. The company does intensive site visits of the venues and measurements and calculations are made to ensure that the theatre is suitable.

“Once the theatre has been given the thumbs up it takes about a week to do all the required rigging. When the lighting rig is established it is left pretty much alone other than the routine maintenance which we do once a week in our own. We also do ongoing trouble shooting, but other than this there is only a small amount of re-programming required.

“Mohammed Cloete is the second operator responsible for lighting, and this allows me time for maintenance and a stage plot, and to keep an eye on what the show looks like. The show runs for six days a week with eight shows a week and requires lighting to be on set at 5.30pm until the show ends at 10.45pm – and earlier if maintenance is required, so it’s quite a tough schedule.

“There are a total of 95 moving lights which is a big rig. This version of the touring show has the most moving lights out of any of the international shows. The moves are all pre-determined and moved on cue. There is a mix of fairy lights, Martin lights and some High End studio lights. We use an active tower to access the overhead rigs and the lighting towers. There are six follow spots on the show then two on each side, and two are built into the set. There are six follow spot operators which includes a head follow spot operator.’

The lighting control room houses the lighting control desk which is a German made MA desk with full back up. There are signal processors as well. This is Duncan’s base during the production where he is in full communication link with stage manager and everyone on stage.

“Lighting has its own comms loop,’ he says, “mainly for set ups, as when the designer is in we will be doing programming updates etc. There are more than 300 lighting cues called by the stage manager for each performance. The follow spots also have their own loop. I also have a picture monitor which shows areas that I can’t see from the control room.’

Head of the sound department is Strett Spies. Deputy Head and second operator is Mpho Taiwe; Tabo Kunutu, first radio operator; and Emily Adams, second radio operator. Understudy Taiwe (called number two) learns the show as well and gets up to three shows a week to operate.

Spies has also been working on Phantom since Cape Town, and again all the audio equipment came out from Australia. “The idea of being a first operator on a show like Phantom may come across as something fantastic (don’t get me wrong – It is!),’ he says, “but like everything in life there will be hard times. When it comes to strikes, bump in, techs and production week, 12 to 16 hour days of physical work are a standard. Once the physical work is done, the mental stress of mixing a show of a world class standard, lingers over you. It sounds overwhelming and at times certainly is, but when you get through it, it yields a fortune of knowledge and experience.

“It does help if you have a pro-active and constructive design team. In this case, it was exactly what I had experienced. Shelly Lee (sound designer) from Australia and David Greasly (system tech) were both inspiring and constructive. Both were easy going yet knew exactly what they wanted to achieve. Shelly has a special way with people that brings the best out of them yet will challenge your abilities constantly. I would have to say that this experience has helped me grow as a human being as well as operator.’ The objective is to ensure that the sound quality, the mix and the levels are as close as possible from one production to the next. The standard is exceptionally high and must be maintained that way.
“There are in the region of 100 channels for the show,’ adds Spies. “All the radio microphones for the cast come through my desk, including some 30 orchestra microphones which include AKG D414s and others. There are also off stage microphones as well.’

There are some 28 radio microphones used by the cast. The actual microphones are woven into clothing, or come out through the front of their wigs. The set up of these microphones is done daily. They are removed, cleaned, checked, batteries replaced and then re-set up for each performance.

“These microphones are Sennheiser MKE Platinums,’ says Spies. “They are high fidelity microphones which are very robust. There is a huge budget in place for microphones as they are prone to damage and replacements are necessary.
“There are also two directional studio microphones – the classic Neiman U87s, which are used off stage for the chorus, and there are also floor rifle / boundary microphones which are used if there are radio microphone failures.

“We also use outboard gear which includes processing. There are some rack mountable Mac Minis running Timex for surround sound playback. We have a bunch of speakers all around the theatre for this application and the surround is used mainly for effects. There is also change over gear for redundancy and a CD player for testing the system. We have a Lexington 48L which is a sought after reverb, old but a true classic. It has algorithms that rock every ones ears, I guess!

“I do all the mixing live for each performance although there is some automation. I ride each microphone dependant on whether it should be live or not. We have an A/B left / right system. Some of the orchestra for instance will go left speakers and some right. I am not sure the exact number of speakers, but there are many.’
The amplifiers and some of the other sound equipment is housed in the “bunker’ which is behind the orchestra pit area. “It’s mainly Yamaha amplification,’ says Spies, “and the levels are controlled by a Galileo systems made by Meyer sound which controls not only the level but a lot of the equalisation, all of which is networked together by my computer connected via wireless. This bunker room is basically operator free.’

Spies is also a freelancer based in Johannesburg. “Before Phantom I was doing some location sound and have worked all over the place. I was offered the number two position when the show moves to Manila, but I have chosen to remain in South Africa.

“I must say I love Phantom; I enjoy the complexity. I love the interaction from the audience who are close to the sound control. They are always inquisitive and ask questions. Sound is the means of connecting the orchestra and cast to the audience and this is what I do.’

The dedication of enthusiasm of both Spies and Duncan is apparent. While they may not be on stage under the lights, their expertise on a technical level is a great contributing factor to the great success The Phantom of the Opera has achieved during the South African season.

By Andy Stead

ProSystems magazine – 3rd Quarter 2012