Exhibits – Theatrecrafts.com

Original Phantom of the Opera Automation Desk (1986)

Built by Barry Steel, who did similar work for many of the new musicals of the era, this console was created especially for the original production of The Phantom of the Opera, which opened at Her Majesty’s (now His Majesty’s) Theatre in London in October 1986.
The console controlled the key moving elements of Maria Björnson’s set: the travelator, the angel, the house tabs and reverse tables, the candelabra and candles and, of course, the famous chandelier. In some cases the console allowed control rather than programming: the travelator was fitted with encoders that provide a numerical position display to the operator who ’drove’ it manually.
The console was upgraded over the years to support changes in the way things operated (the chandelier moving from an electric winch to hydraulic rams in the 1990s), and new safety features such as e-stop indicators and limit switches on the candelabra traps to provide confirmation that they were open.
Looked after by a dedicated show team, particularly Vero (Veronica Soto Gonzalhez-Fanjul) plus support from Nigel Robb of System Control, this was still running Phantom right up to its covid-enforced closure in 2020.