Source: http://www.playhousesquare.org/buzzextra/phantom/talking.html

Buzz Extra spoke with David Hansen, the Advance Stage Manager for THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA National Tour. He has been with PHANTOM since the first national touring company in 1989. Mr. Hansen has also worked on large shows in New York, Toronto, Los Angeles and Chicago. He has traveled with the National Tours of Wicked, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Miss Saigon, Les Misérables, Singin’ in the Rain, 42nd Street, Fiddler on the Roof, and Hello, Dolly!



EXTRA: We are excited that you’re coming back to Cleveland.

HANSEN: I love it there! I was in Cleveland with 42nd Street in 1986. I was also there the first time Wicked was at PlayhouseSquare. And I was in Cleveland with Phantom, the first national company.

EXTRA: When did you start stage-managing?

HANSEN: I first went on the road in 1981. But as a kid, I worked in theater. In high school, I worked in theater. And in college, I was a theater/English major on an acting scholarship, performing and stage-managing.

EXTRA: Did you fall in love with stage-managing?

HANSEN: Actually, there was more work.

EXTRA: How many stage managers travel with PHANTOM?

HANSEN: Full-time on the tour, there are three, and my title is Advance Stage Manager. I’m part-time. I come in every time the tour moves, to get the show up and running.

EXTRA: How does everything get up and running?

HANSEN: We do an entire week called the advance week. For example, when a show closes on Sunday, we start setting up the previous Monday in the next city. We unload nine trucks and get a lot of the show set up in the theater ready to go.

See the rest of the interview: http://www.playhousesquare.org/buzzextra/phantom/talking.html