‘Hamilton’ moves to L.A.

Stagehands offload boxes of equipment from trucks at the Pantages. Moving the show from city to city is a far more complicated undertaking than it might seem, says production supervisor Jason Bassett.

The physical transfer from New York and the just-wrapped show in San Francisco is an endeavor that includes more than 100 people and 14 trucks in all.

About 100 crew members unload trucks containing costumes, props, sets and lighting equipment from San Francisco’s Orpheum Theatre where the first “Hamilton” National Tour began.

Forty-two wardrobe gondolas, manned by eight dressers, two pressers, a stitcher and full-time laundry person, are making the move along with 513 lighting instruments, prop trunks and a full-time physical therapist for the cast.

The San Francisco-to-Los Angeles move is the show’s first jump in a tour that has more than 20 stops and is scheduled through 2020 (with an expectation that its itinerary will continue to expand).

A local moving crew of about 30 people in hard hats hauls the bulky stage rigging from a truck and into the Pantages, which has just laid 6,000 square yards of new, plush red carpet in preparation for the first preview on Aug. 11.

Whereas the Broadway and Chicago productions of “Hamilton” have permanent sets secured to their theaters’ stage floors and walls, the “Hamilton” tour must be more nimble, so it can pack up and move.

Stagehands load rigging and lighting equipment from every angle into the Pantages Theatre including through the audience seating area.

When the Los Angeles run closes Dec. 30, the L.A. deck will go into storage, temporarily; props and costumes will travel to San Diego, where the San Francisco deck will have already been installed in advance.

On stage at the Pantages Theatre, stage hands and technical crew begin to prepare the rigging for the set.

Except for its cast and crew, “Hamilton” on the road will be an almost identical replica of “Hamilton” on Broadway.

A detail from one of the many cargo boxes coming in from New York.

To make for even more efficient turnarounds after L.A., the set may feature more chain motors to hang set pieces and lighting from so they can be lifted up and loaded out more quickly.

The facade of the Pantages Theatre at 6233 Hollywood Blvd. is decked out in preparation for “Hamilton’s” arrival.

Beneath the marquee, the Pantages Theatre is now empty, but soon to be filled to capacity on preview night on Aug. 11.

A second national tour will kick off in Seattle in February, prompting “Hamilton” to give each production a nickname: The show opening in L.A. this week is the “Angelica tour,” after Hamilton’s sister-in-law.