Meet 'Gillian': The untold story of 'Phantom of the Opera's' 2,000-pound chandelier

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Set us as preferred ‘Phantom of the Opera’Where: Hollywood Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd., L.A.When: 7:30 p.m.Tuesdays-Thursdays; 8 p.m.

Fridays; 2 and 8 p.m.Saturdays; 1 and 6:30 p.m.

Sundays.(Check schedule for exceptions.) Ends Aug.

9.Tickets: Start at $47 (subject to change)Contact: BroadwayInHollywood.com or Ticketmaster.comRunning time: 2 hours, 30 minutes (including one intermission)The production also runs Aug.12-Aug.

30, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 300 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa.scfta.orgIt’s over 8 feet tall, nearly 11 feet wide and travels by 53-foot semitrailer.

It’s covered in more than 20,000 beads and weighs almost 1 ton — or about 2,000 pounds.And eight times a week, it’s dropped atop the heads of people who pay for the privilege — just a few feet short of actually hitting anyone.

Meet “Gillian,” the stunning chandelier traveling with “The Phantom of the Opera” on its current North American Tour.Playing at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre through Aug.

9 before heading to Segerstrom Center for the Arts, the show is a “replica” of the original 1980s West End and Broadway extravaganzas , maintaining director Hal Prince’s staging, Gillian Lynne’s choreography and Maria Björnson’s iconic production design while incorporating modern technology.As a result, the production — and the chandelier at its center — are laden with history.But the creative team is careful not to let the show become a “museum piece.” When the chandelier falls, Production Stage Manager Jovon E.

Shuck wants audiences to feel a fresh thrill of terror.“I hope you poop a little bit,” he joked.“We want the audience in the back of the house to be glad that they’re not sitting under it, and the folks sitting under it to be thrilled that they [did].”Far from a stagnant set piece, ...