imeldasturn said: "poisonivy2 said: "I know this might have been answered before but ...how does Phantom disappear into the chair?"
Tumblr user Operafantomet explains it very well in this post:
Well, basically, the seats sinks into the chair when he pulls a handle hidden at the arm rest. When the seat (and the actor!) is inside the chair he pulls a curtain down to simulate the throne’s back, and one to simulate the seat. The back and seat of the throne is made of for example a watery silk or thick velvet, and the false cover match this. It’s hard to tell the difference even close up, except it looks flimsier.
The arm rests of the throne are hollow. There’s 1-2 spare masks (without the metal wire) in here. When the false seat and back is in place this is put on the fake seat.
The throne has a massive box in the back for the actor to sink into. But technically, if you tried to sit down on the throne, you’d basically sit on the actor’s lap.
In cases where technique fails, it’s usually the mechanism letting the seat sink in that malfunctions. But it can also be that the actor haven’t pulled up the cover in time. In these cases they try and alert Meg to not pull off the cloak, but instead just grab the mask and go to center stage. If she still pulls of the cloak, the Phantom plays dead. So some audience members have seen an alternate ending!"
Thanks! That makes sense. It's a wonderfully effective way to end the musical. And I don't even like POTO.
."
