Wicked crew moves into ASU Gammage Auditorium

TEMPE, Ariz. (KSAZ) - The Wicked crew has arrived, the play that is, and now it is less than 48 hours until show time.

It takes 30 hours of labor, plus all this equipment to set up for Wicked, a 2 hour and 30-minute production.

"We're an 11 million dollar production that travels from city to city in 11, 52-foot semi-trailer trucks," said Steve Quinn.

Quinn is the company manager; he says the crew of about 100 people will have the stage ready for showtime within 2 1/2 days.

"We're putting a lot of things up in the air right now, what we call a fly show, all the lights, all the rigging," said Quinn.

Though setting up is fairly organized, it's not easy.

"The stage is below ground, so we actually have to use forklifts, and we have a lot of people wheeling scenery down a hill, so we don't have it crash into anything," said David O'Brien.

David O'Brien is the production stage manager; he says to prevent any major problems they check out what they're working with.

"We actually will come to the theater ahead of time just to make sure the show is going to fit," said O'Brien.

Plus he says solving problems are part of the fun.

"We'll be doing sound checks, you know checking the sound, the balance of the orchestra and the actors," said O'Brien.

The last time Wicked performed at ASU Gammage was in 2012. They say this time around they've added new elements.

"What's great about this show is that we transport you to Oz, I mean you walk in this building and you see the dragon behind me you know you're in for something very special, it's going to be a unique experience," he said.

The first showing is Wednesday night at ASU Gammage Auditorium, it will show for six weeks.