Chair in Phantom

[gril_from_oz]

Posted: 5/22/04 at 2:11pm

hi. i was just wondering if anyone knows how the chair in the broadway version of phantom of the opera works. i don't know if it's supposed to be secret or something. and i know there are different explanations for it in other productions but i haven't read anything on the broadway one. thanks
:)

[jgph]

Posted: 5/22/04 at 3:20pm

oh come on, wouldnt it spoil it if u knew how it worked. i could give u a detailed explanation of how the london and uk tour chair works...would that do?

[bially082]

Posted: 5/22/04 at 3:26pm

GO for the explanation, I'd love to hear it...

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 5/22/04 at 4:32pm

From what I understand the chair has a false back. It opens up and allows him to slip through. As he does this he pulls down a wire which holds the shape of his body under the cape. The wire retracts when Meg pulls the cape off. He slips his body through and hides in the chair. If Meg were to sit down at the end she would practically be sitting on the Phantom's lap....

[kitkatgirl54]

Posted: 5/22/04 at 4:42pm

once when I saw the tour, the phantom was a stand-by and there was a little clumsiness on his part (being noisy climbing up the ladder built into the side of the stage, SR, in order to get up to the angel, etc). anyway, he had some difficulty pushing the panel out of the chair and you could hear noise as he was pushing the panel out and see some movement in the base of the chair as he was trying to get situated. it completely ruined the effect but it did basically reveal to the audience how the chair worked.

as far as the wire thing, it looks like he hooks something on to the cape that, when the cape is pulled away, it retracts back into the chair. sometimes it seems like meg has to pull pretty hard to get it unstuck and there is clearly something by his head to keep the shape of his head still being in the chair.

l.

[gril_from_oz]

Posted: 5/22/04 at 8:39pm

i was just wondering in general. i mean, i've seen it a few times and once i saw part of the cape move as if he had kicked it but i wasn't sure really how. and once i sat pretty far to the audience left and could see that there was a LOT of space at the back of the chair where he could fit...i just wasn't sure how he could do it and i'd love to know. i've heard a lot of different ways it can be done so it's not really spoiling the effect i was just wondering how that particular production does it. thanks :)

[Musetta1957]

Posted: 5/22/04 at 10:17pm

Scroll to the very bottom. CatsNYrevival had it right...
http://byron.nysen.com/PhantomFact.html

[Dollypop]

Posted: 5/22/04 at 10:25pm

Are you really the "Gril"_From_Oz ????? If so, what's a "gril"?

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 5/22/04 at 11:02pm

Silly, it's the thing those people in Oz throw shrip and dingos on, no?

[lc1965]

Posted: 5/23/04 at 12:13am

Yes, I know & people who know theatrical secrets shouldn't tell because then it's not a secret & it's bad form.

[Musetta1957]

Posted: 5/23/04 at 12:51am

Tough; it was told years ago.

[jgph]

Posted: 5/23/04 at 4:31am

there isnt actually anything keeping the shape of his body, instead there is a half bowl with velcro that the phantom flicks out. the cape attaches to this, hence meg pulling pretty hard on it. everything everyone here said about the back/sides etc is true.

[lc1965]

Posted: 5/23/04 at 12:24pm

Musetta -- I didn't say it wasn't told years ago. I said it was tacky. It was tacky years ago as well. So, um, I guess that's "tough" for you as well. I haven't heard that since elem school, BTW. Nice touch. Wanna call me "Four Eyes" as well?