In February 2006, Proctors hosted a month-long visit of The Phantom of the Opera.
That historic run was made possible by a $42 million construction project that included a massive expansion of the stagehouse at Proctors, allowing the venue to host the very biggest touring shows. In addition, specific adaptations, inventions and rigging points created for the original Phantom are used by many of the other touring shows that reach Proctors each season.
Just before the expansion, Proctors was a single theatre, hosting approximately 60 to 70 performances a year. By 2009, it was offering over 600 events a year in three theatres and drawing over 500,000 people to downtown Schenectady. Now, Proctors is also the only theatre in the country to have its own district energy plant, Marquee Power, which helps to heat and cool much of the surrounding area.
The Phantom of the Opera returns to the Proctors Mainstage May 28 thru June 8 and Philip Morris, the CEO of Proctors, joins us now to tell us more about what helps HIM make the music of the night at Proctors and in Schenectady.
