THE finishing touches were being made to a spectacular new production of The Phantom Of The Opera, ahead of its opening at the Liverpool Empire last night.

The amount of equipment needed to stage the musical is similar to that of a touring rock show.

In total, 22 trailers are needed to transport the thousands of tons of equipment from venue to venue.

The backstage crew at the Empire have worked tirelessly since Sunday to transform the prestigious stage and make it ready for the show’s opening night.

One of the main props is a chandelier weighing half-a-ton, which takes a starring role in the show.

The huge chandelier, which has 632 individual strings of beads, is lowered and raised during the course of the performance.

It was created by opera designer Howard Eaton, who was also responsible for the iconic rings at the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympic games.

Production manager Spencer New said: “It is quite a logistical challenge to put a show like this together.

“We have had people working at the theatre on 24-hour rolling shifts from when we arrived on Sunday morning until the night the show opens.”

The famous chandelier comes in one piece and is built to fit inside a trailer.