The Making of Phantom of the Opera

With more than 100 combined years of participation in the annual spring musical, ’s construction crew led by Joe Copes and Ron Mason are charged with building one of the toughest sets the BHS stage has ever seen.

Copes said of the many pieces they have to build for the school’s first-ever production of , the most notable are the grand staircase, the infamous falling chandelier, an automated boat and the larger-than-life gilded proscenium arch, which will frame the stage.

Unable to calculate the amount of hours spent on building, the crew of more than 45 adult volunteers are putting in over 20 hours a week, said Copes ­– with many hours already lost to snow days. This year, to finish on time, Copes notes that the group will be putting in one to two “super Saturdays” which will end up being 14-hour workdays. Of these 45 tireless volunteers, Copes also notes, only 10 actually have children in the musical.

Copes and his counterpart, Mason, who was sick when Branford Patch visited, have been working the construction side of BHS musicals since their children attended school more than a decade ago. When asked why he and the other people without active students still participated, Copes said, “They keep coming back because they like working with me.”

Ben Baker, whose daughter Jane Baker (BHS sophomore)* is the stage manager in training (SMIT) for Phantom, has been working on the construction crew for the past four years. He brings with him more than 20 years experience in theater set building and first came to the area as the technical director for Long Wharf Theater. He has also held the title of Technical Director for the Hartford Stage and taught at both University of Connecticut and University of New Haven (where he is currently the technical director for one show a year). Baker shares a similar sentiment with the cast and crew when it comes to the love of the stage. “Theater,” he said, “never leaves your system. I am here today because of theater.”

Baker and Copes both take pride in all the sets they’ve worked on and Copes says his favorite, to date, is the Beauty and the Beast.

Baker and Copes are well researched in designing sets and for this year’s production, have sought the Philadelphia-based Flying By Foy who will create the falling chandelier sequence in the production.

A recent Saturday behind the scenes with the crew was busy and loud. Saws were slicing wood and hammering was echoing through the auditorium. Baker and Copes clad in tool belts, jumped from group to group to assist and advise. Baker said the appealing part of coming back every year to help is “the community I am with.”

When asked who was really in charge of the crew Baker said, “There’s no hierarchy; there’s Toni and Cathyann (co-directors of the BHS Performing Arts) and we do what they say.”

Meet the Phantom of the Opera costume crew on Thursday in the bi-weekly installment of "Behind the Mask."

*Correction: The article previously stated Ben Baker's daughter was Amanda Baker; her name is Jane Baker.