What It Takes To Bring Boston Ballet's 'Swan Lake' To Stage

BOSTON (CBS) -- Boston Ballet's production of "Swan Lake" just opened again to rave reviews. What many may not realize is the creative force behind the curtain is just as crucial to the performance as what the audience sees on stage. 

The Nutcracker aside, Mikko Nissinen's "Swan Lake" is the best selling production in Boston Ballet history. Dancers put in 600 total rehearsal hours before the first show.

"People sometimes think, 'oh ballet, it's so easy, they just do it;' But it's because they make it look so easy," Nissinen said. "They come to rehearsals, people are floored, 'I had to idea it was so physical. My God! They're killing themselves!'"

The choreography backstage is equally complex, involving a huge crew of electricians, stagehands, costume designers and stage managers.

"It's like the timing behind the scenes that nobody has any idea," said Nissinen. " And that's how it should be."

The performance is a tragic love story complete with special effects.

"We use about 500 pounds of dry ice in every performance," said Boston Ballet's Technical Director Ben Phillips. "We really work hard from the beginning to make it as good as it gets."

Phillips directs stagehands who orchestrate scenic changes and bring the stage design to life.

"With show, there's a lot of special effects so you get chemistry," he said.

As swans emerge from the lake, dry ice machines pump out a whispy fog. But that fog can look different depending on the weather outside and its effect on the temperature in the theater.

"The most complicated scene is probably the fourth act- our finale," Phillips said.

That's when smoke machines, custom built into the set pieces, create a dramatic wall of smoke.

How long that wall stays before it dissipates? Well, that depends on the weather.

The whole point of all that preparation -- both on and offstage -- is to make this very challenging production seem effortless.

"To sit out there--or backstage--and hear an audience gasp is the most gratifying feeling," Phillips said.

For more on Swan Lake and Boston Ballet's mixed repertory program Mirrors--both running at the Boston Opera House the month of May-- or tickets to the shows, visit bostonballet.org