Chicago's Cadillac Palace Theatre is hosting "The Phantom of the Opera," and staff offered a firsthand look at the iconic chandelier inside the theater this week.

CBS News Chicago was there on Wednesday as the crew showed off the iconic "Phantom" chandelier inside the Cadillac Palace.

Production stage manager Jovon Shuck discussed the process involved with the chandelier, and why it is so important to the show.

"She weighs more than 1 ton. It takes about a day and a half to get her loaded into the building, onboard lighting, smoke, haze, sound. She can play anywhere between sort of the seats where she is now and the ceiling," said Shuck. "She rocks. She rolls. She has as much choreography as some of the members of our ensemble. She really is a star of 'The Phantom of the Opera.'"

What happens to the chandelier in "Phantom of the Opera," with which Shuck spoke with such reference as to use feminine pronouns as with a ship? At the end of Act I, the Phantom cuts the chandelier loose from the ceiling, and it comes crashing to the floor.

This was based on something that really happened at the Palais Garnier in Paris on May 20, 1896, when a counterweight on the chandelier in the main auditorium collapsed and left a person dead.

This incident inspired French author Gaston Leroux as he wrote the novel "The Phantom of the Opera," published in 1910. Andrew Lloyd Webber adapted "Phantom" into a musical in 1986, and it opened in London's West End that same year and on Broadway in New York City in 1988.

"The Phantom of the Opera" had a celebrated run at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago beginning in 1990.

For the current Cadillac Palace production, it takes 20 trucks to carry the sets, costumes, and other technical equipment.

The Phantom of the Opera runs until Feb. 1 at the Cadillac Palace, 151 W. Randolph St. Tickets are available via Broadway in Chicago.