Backstage At THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA With Automation Operator #1

A behind the scenes glimpse of the complex backstage process in bringing the world's most successful entertainment to life every night, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, is now available via an interview with the head automation operator of the West End iteration of the international hit.

Vero Gonzalez Soto Fanjul shares of her position, "We operate a console and we move parts of the scenery that are motorised. We fly people in and out, we open flying pieces of the scenery and close them and we raise all types of machinery from under the stage - for example, the candelabra's that rise up in the Phantom lair - all those kind of things."

Additionally, Fanjul says of a typical day backstage, "I work with a second operator and he will begin by working on the console to check its safe before the show which takes about 30 minutes, while I check everything is clear. There are lots of safety checks - everything has to be checked before every show. There are two of us in the team but we also have another 3 people who cover us when one of us is on holiday. It didn't take long for me to learn the automation as I knew a lot about it by working on the crew so it only took me a couple of weeks to learn the automation and now it's second nature really."

Check out the original article on the matter here.