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Show Massive concrete foundations were sunk :uid steel griders fabricated fabri-cated at Universal City for the largest interior set rever constructed ; and incidentally the first all steel motion picture set in the history of the industry. This is tht. huge reproduction re-production of the Paris opera used for the production of "The Phantom of the Opera," Lon Chancy's suc-ci suc-ci ssor to "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," which is coming Wednesday, Wednes-day, and Thursday to the Star theater. thea-ter. P.ecause of the big crodws to be placed on the grand staircase, in the many boxes and big auditorium, and on the stage kliere several hundred hun-dred people uppear iai ballets and other spectacles, the usuals wooden construction in thci studio was abandoned. ab-andoned. The entire set was made in steel ad concrete, just as modern office building are constructed. Sonic ide.M of the hugeness of the lag steel set may be gained when it .is realized that the main opera auditorium was lined with boxes which seated as many people os the largest theaters ici America, outside the floor seating arrangements. arrange-ments. Despite the size of the stage and auditorium, these only occupied a small part of the building. Ther was also the grand Salon du Danse an enormous foyer with a grand staircase, in which a three story office building could be comfortable placed, and over all the huge metal dome, the gold leaf on which alone was worth a fortune. ; The Taris Opera' is indelibly jinked with the history of Europe. The site wus chosen in 1801, and construction commenced under the Empire, and finished under the Republic, government aid being given giv-en the monster project. In 1S70, during the Second Commune, the structure, then partly finished, was seized by the commune, after having hav-ing been used as a military stronghold strong-hold during the Siege of Paris, and its roof turned into a balloon station. sta-tion. Sinister stories surround this period of its history. In its huge cellars and catacombs, which now house the euromousi supples di scenery and properties, many persons per-sons were killed and buried, and part of the story of "The Phantom Phan-tom of the Opera" deals with these ill-fated victims of France's turmoil. tur-moil. Many famous statues embellish (he si ruclure, including the "Pegasus," "Pe-gasus," by Lequesne, a bronze grfoup by Millet, representing Apollo Apol-lo and the Muses, and statues of Lully, Ivamenu, Gluck, and Iland-el, Iland-el, as well as other famous com- posers, all done by noted sculptors. These were all reproduced in the structure at Universal City. Real Re-al paintings and a vts decorated ceiling was reproduced, a task for sides these elaborate mosaics, mur-some mur-some fifty men. |