Gearing up for the production of "Phantom of the Opera," LSC-CyFair Center for the Arts unveiled the play's chandelier April 12, an integral prop that took six months to build.

The result of employee collaboration between the Center for the Arts production team and the department of advanced technology, the chandelier is built of steel and weighs 350 pounds. It is partially collapsible and 5-foot-tall by 8-foot-wide with more than 400 feet of wire and six circuits powering the fixture, allowing different parts to flash independently of each other.

"I said from the beginning that we needed to have an amazing chandelier or I don't think we can do this show because it is a character in the musical," said Matthew Albrecht, LSC-CyFair Center for the Arts production manager. "It comes to life in the beginning, crashes down at the end of the first act and comes back at the end. Whenever the Phantom speaks, and his voice comes from all over the theatre, the chandelier flickers and shakes."

There was preview scene from "Phantom of the Opera," which will be on stage April 27 – May 6, before the unveiling and a scene afterward.

Both the Phantom, played by Drew Slatton, and lead female character Christine, played by Haleigh Harris, exhibited the complexity of each role's vocal parts.

"It is a difficult role," said Drew Slatton, who plays the Phantom. "There is a lot required through the voice. There is a lot of changing his character through the inflection of the words."

The play was not allowed to be produced off Broadway until a test pilot program was done a couple of years ago, seeing if schools could handle the production.

"They wanted to get it out, but didn't want it to go to regional and professional theatres," Albrecht said. "When they found out that high schools and colleges could handle it, they opened up to all schools in the country. But with the difficulty in singing, acting and all of the technical aspects, very few schools will take it on. This is the most difficult program that we have ever attempted here, but I think it is going to be the highest quality production, overall."

Tickets cost $15 for adults, $10 for seniors, LSC-CyFair students get in free. For more information, call 281-290-5201 or visit https://lonestar.edu/box-office-ticket-info.htm .