Crews Begin Work On "Wicked" Set At Benedum Center
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- It takes a ton of work to put on a show as big as "Wicked." Fifteen tractor trailers, a crew of 70 and two and a half days to make it perfect before the curtain.
"Our physical stage space is always going to be the same. We have to have X amount of feet to play the show. It's backstage where I always say the show is happening that you are not seeing," said Jason Daunter, the production stage manager. "Where the dressing rooms are, how much space we actually have backstage. We have literally shoe-horned this thing in to some theaters across the country. The Benedum's got some great space."
The men and women who put it all together at the Benedum Center in downtown are among the best in the business.
"We have several people on our show that travel with us that are from Pittsburgh. You know the quality of the stage-hands are good here. So, we come home to them and they've done this before, so you know the show loads in quickly and easily," said Steve Quinn, the company manager. "We remember them and they like to work with us and we like to work with them."
There are nine companies worldwide presenting the smash Broadway production.
Each one has the challenge of making the magic come alive -- and building a massively complex set that includes a gigantic dragon.
When "Wicked" plays Pittsburgh, there will be a total of 32 shows in town. The incredible Benedum Center seats 2,800 people.
So, if all the shows are sold out, that means that more than 89,000 people will see "Wicked" in Pittsburgh.
And that's the biggest misnomer that there are no more tickets available for one of the biggest shows on the road.
"The audience reactions are through the roof on this show," Daunter said. "It's such a gift. That's the thing. The misnomer is that there aren't tickets. That's usually the problem is people wait until the last week when we are always sold out."
But don't wait -- because they likely will be gone just as quickly as this crew puts the set together for the show.
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