Amy Marsico is currently the Production Stage Manager (PSM) for The Phantom of the Opera . She has also stage managed A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Titanic, Cats, The Full Monty, Steel Pier (pre-Broadway workshop) and A Christmas Carol (Madison Square Garden). She is a facilitator for arts and social change workshops, based on Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed, and is the co-author of Transforming Trauma: An Interactive Role Play for Community Leaders and Caregivers. Amy is currently working on a Master’s Degree in Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding.

The PSM calls the show. What exactly does that mean?

One of the responsibilities of the stage manager is to ensure that the show the audience sees looks just as director and designers envisioned it on opening night. We coordinate all of the cues in the show—those that control automated pieces, flying pieces, lighting cues, and special effects – so that everything goes together and fits with the music and the actors’ performances just as the creative team intended. It’s a very exciting job, since it requires focus and an attention to detail to ultimately create a smooth “big picture.”

Is everything computerized or is it a mix of human power and computer power?

It’s a mix, which is part of what makes the “call” so complicated and fun. For example, a flying drop that opens and closes, like the big red set of curtains, is both automated and human-run. Two people on the fly rail make it move up and down, but a computer controls the opening effect. We try to make sure it looks like one smooth effect every time the piece moves.

Is there a complex pre-set for each show, where systems, effects, etc are tested?

Absolutely! Our crew tests every piece of automated scenery before the show, and all of the lights are checked to make sure that they’re still working. Additionally, a number of props have to be reset before every show, and the sound department tests each individual microphone before distributing them to the actors.  We are about as thorough as we can be!

What is the most complicated effect the audience sees?

Although the chandelier is our most famous scenic piece, actually the most complicated set-up in the show is for the labyrinth through which The Phantom takes Christine down to his lair.  While fog fills the stage, there are 144 candles rising and illuminating, the travelator (which has two towers that can travel upstage and downstage and a bridge which rises and falls) is moving, and the infrared-controlled boat carries The Phantom and Christine through the whole set-up. The scene culminates with six candelabras, The Phantom’s organ, and his Mirror finishing the look. It’s a very smooth effect, and we time it to the music.

What’s the worst technical glitch you’ve experienced on calling the show?

A couple of years ago the portcullis, which is the gate that the Phantom uses to trap Raoul and Christine, broke as it was flying out after the First Lair. Since it was partially in when it broke, we had to stop the show while the flymen worked to get it out of the scene. It was inoperable for Act II, so the actor playing Raoul pretended that the Phantom trapped him in magnetic boots. Both the actors playing Raoul and Christine fully committed to the moment, so it was very believable that Raoul was stuck in a pair of invisible, magnetic boots! We found a creative way to continue telling the story, despite not having the portcullis.

Are there special challenges for you when a new actor is put in the show?

The cast is in rehearsal very regularly, with people either learning new roles or reviewing the roles that they understudy. Each actor needs to have a number of costume and wig fittings as well as rehearse thoroughly with me, with the music department, and the dance department. They work alone with us at first, usually, and then we add a few scene partners, and then the whole cast. They also have to work with any technical effects onstage with the crew before going into the show. Coordinating it all around the performance schedule of eight shows a week is the challenge.

What’s your favorite part of the show and why?

The scene I mentioned before where The Phantom takes Christine to his lair is a very beautiful and magical scene to watch.

You are constantly loading in and loading out as you move around the country.  Does your Company have rituals or the like to ensure a good show?

We do travel quite a lot, and every time we get to a new theatre, we have a company meeting to discuss the changes from the last theatre, and a rehearsal to get to know the space. Other rituals within the company change and grow over time, and everyone has a way they like to do things. For example, I like to practice a particular scene change before I call each performance, even though I’m very comfortable with that moment in the show. One of our actors enjoys a series of high-fives with various cast and crew members as part of his regular backstage pattern.

For a look Behind-the-Scenes of The Phantom of the Opera, click here.
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