Lyric Opera 2022-2023 Issue 1-Ernani

17 | Lyric Opera of Chicago lift rated for an 80,000-pound load, the equivalent of about eight large elephants. “Sometimes when we do a Great Performances with PBS, they bring in a camera truck. It’s just full of electrical cable, camera cable, all the lighting cable, and it weighs like 65,000 pounds. So we have to have that capacity.” All these ups and downs take place in a large rectangular shaft, open on two sides, whose base (something like a very deep swimming pool) once served as the orchestra pit for the Civic Theater. As the loads travel, they move parallel to what was once that house’s proscenium arch, under which The Glass Menagerie premiered. It is decidedly less glamorous in this space now, though arguably far more essential. The new machine passed its 80,000-pound weight test on June 24, and the first actual load, Smallwood says, was “a container of Don Carlos from Frankfurt.” Despite the complexities and scale of the undertaking, it has all come in quite close to budget. Longtime Lyric supporters Mr. and Mrs. William C. Vance gave a substantial gift to get things started (and it may be fairly said that opera lovers who donate to something an audience will never see are true opera lovers indeed). The summer tech period began in earnest on July 5—by opera standards, just in the nick of time—and since then there have been trucks in and out almost every day. Overall, Smallwood notes, the lift provides a gift anyone might welcome—“one less thing to worry about every day.” Mr. and Mrs.William C.Vance made a significant contribution to the capital project. Lyric Opera of Chicago