Backstage at 'Moulin Rouge': Dozens of local pros work on set of Broadway show at Wharton

EAST LANSING — When a big Broadway musical lands at Wharton Center for a week or more, it means a lot for the local community. A popular show can bring in over $1 million per week in revenue, and its cast and crew spend money at local hotels, restaurants and stores.

There's also a lesser-known impact: The national tours hire 30 to 75 local professionals to perform critical backstage roles that ensure a show's success.

All of the local workers are members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts union, and they handle essential elements of the production, such as running spotlights and sound, moving sets, maintaining wigs and hair, doing laundry, maintaining the wardrobe, helping dress the actors, and loading and unloading trucks.

“Moulin Rouge” is in residence at Wharton through Sunday and it is a particularly large show: The cast has 34 actors, and the entire company travels with 70 people, including a full-time physical therapist and 12 musicians.

Wharton has a large stage — and “Moulin Rouge” uses every square inch of it.

In a behind-the-scenes tour, production manager Alex Montoya walked through the lavish set that includes a tight maze of changing stations, costume carts (called gondolas) and technical equipment. During a show, backstage can be like a Detroit freeway during rush hour.

“It’s controlled chaos,” said Rebecca Dahlem, a Lansing hair stylist who works on Wharton shows.

She saw her first show, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," on a field trip to Chicago and she was hooked on theater.

“I didn’t want to be on stage, I wanted to be backstage," she said. "I just loved the way it all worked together.”

Dahlem lives for her work at the Wharton, in which days can run as long as 12 hours when there's both a matinee and an evening show. The locally hired workers make between $20 and $30 an hour.

"I have a hair salon, but when a musical comes to town, I reschedule my clients and work backstage doing hair and makeup," she said. "I love it. It’s so much fun. You get to meet people from all over the world."

Most of the work she does is with wigs.

“Most everyone in the show wears a wig," Dahlem said of "Moulin Rouge." "The wigs are all custom made and very expensive. A man’s wig usually runs about $7,000 and more intricate women’s wigs can run about $10,000. They’re all-natural hair.”

Dahlem has been working shows at Wharton for 10 years. One of her favorites was “Motown,” which came through in 2016. “It was so difficult. They had 100 wigs and I had eight pages of notes to teach me how to style them. “

Production stage manager Dawn Fenton runs the show for "Moulin Rogue." She has been working as a stage manager for 25 years and was in East Lansing with "Kinky Boots" several years ago.

The shows always open on a Tuesday, which leaves Monday and a chunk of Tuesday to "load in" the show. That's when the locals are shown the ins and outs of the lights, costume changes, sound and more. Fenton said local professionals have to be quick studies.

“Local talent is extremely important," she said. "We have a very strict training program to train the contractors. It usually takes a couple of shows in a run to iron everything out. Opening night is all hands on deck. It’s exciting. Every venue and every town is new.”

Laurence Christiansen is a backstage pro who has been with Wharton since 2006.

“I went to Okemos High School, where they did great musical productions," he said. "I loved the shows, but I was not a good actor. Instead, I loved doing backstage stuff.”

Christensen got an apprenticeship at Lansing Community College’s stage tech program and became a member of the union.

For “Moulin Rouge,” he works in the wardrobe area and shoe care. He cleans and maintains the costumes and shoes. He’s also a dresser, which is a special skill.

“I will often have to undress and dress an actor in 90 to 120 seconds — and sometimes less," Christensen said. "Each actor is different and it’s always a challenge.”

Montoya said “Moulin Rouge” travels with over 1,000 costumes.

“For many of the main characters, we have three or four swings who also play the part, so there must be custom-made costumes for them, too. We have so many costumes that they take up more than a full semi-truck.”

The show travels with nine tractor-trailers.

After each costume change, Christensen sprays the garments down with vodka. He says, "it’s a great product for deodorizing and sanitizing.”

He also uses fans to cool down the costumes; the undergarments get washed after every show. Sometimes, they have to call in stitchers to mend torn costumes.

Although backstage usually runs like a well-oiled machine, accidents happen.

“There are always disasters," Dahlem said. "After all it’s live. Wigs fall off, set pieces break, actors slip and fall, and someone gets wacked in the face by another fast-moving dancer. But the audiences hardly ever notice.”

Fenton said she appreciates the professionalism of Lansing’s local talent.

“The talent here is solid," she said. "It’s always fun to go back to a city and see people that you’ve worked with before. That’s Lansing. Some places are on our “Oh No!” list. But we always have to make it work. Lansing can be trusted.”

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: 'Moulin Rouge' backstage: Local pros work on set of Broadway show