Sunday, April 9, 2006 | 7:34 a.m.
Leaning over a wooden easel in a Henderson warehouse, Martin Smeaton quietly and meticulously shapes three small faces out of clay.
A Rolling Stones song plays in the background and shop machines buzz. But Smeaton is focused. A multimillion-dollar re-creation of a 17th century Paris Opera House is not to be taken lightly.
"If you don't concentrate, you lose it," he said, squinting through his glasses. "If you don't think about it, you can't do it."
The noted English sculptor has worked Broadway sets, film sets, including "The Da Vinci Code," "Finding Neverland" and "Troy," and has garnished the Strip with sculpture.
Four months ago he came to Las Vegas to work on the $40 million theater at the Venetian, which will house the most expensive production of "Phantom of the Opera."
(The production itself costs $35 million, which more than quadruples the $8 million spent on the Broadway production in 1988).
Eight different scenic studios nationwide, including some in New York, Baltimore and New Jersey, are working on the sets. Three of them are in Las Vegas.
Anyone involved with the project will tell you it's huge, but huge just doesn't do it justice.
The theater's dome is 80 feet in diameter and has 16 separate motors and winches that will operate a chandelier that comes into play throughout the production.
There are thousands of parts, painted to look lavish and antiquated. Allegorical sculptures will surround the 1,800-seat theater and accent the proscenium.
Additionally, a 14,000-pound staircase is being built as part of the stage. All new illusions and special effects are being added.
The show opens in June. Tickets go on sale today at the Venetian.
"We wanted to make the Las Vegas 'Phantom' unique, something you'd only see here," said Carl Pasbjerg, executive producer of the musical. "We had to revisit the entire physical production of the show and expand it.
"It will be a defining moment for how shows travel from New York to Las Vegas. Until now they've been taking productions and cloning them in Las Vegas."
Scores of vendors and contractors are working on the project under scenic associate Paul Kelly, who worked on "Phantom" in New York, and David Rockwell of the Rockwell Group. John Saltonstall, president of Copper Creek Studios, said Las Vegas "got lucky" with "Phantom."
Because the theater is being built from scratch, local companies were needed to work on its construction.
Workers relish the opportunity to work on the "Phantom" sets, and some have come from around the world, including Bulgarian artist Krasimir Todorov.
Recently Todorov was carving ornamental decor out of Styrofoam to create a mold. Across town at Trevi, an engineering and manufacturing firm, Romeo Cabulang designs sculptures on a computer that colleague Sillapachai Toonrud will make out of clay.
Ken Rogers, a 30-year veteran in scenic painting, who has worked on the sets of "We Will Rock You," "Avenue Q" and "Blue Man Group," said landing "Phantom" is like the Academy Awards or the Emmys, on which he has worked.
"I blew off a lot of gigs to do this because this is going to be a landmark," Rogers said. "This is going to be around for a long time."
What Smeaton seems to appreciate with the Las Vegas production is the return to Maria Bjornson's original "Phantom" set, which incorporated a beauty-and-the-beast allegory - something that wasn't as prevalent in the 2004 movie. Smeaton worked with Bjornson on the London "Phantom" set design.
"At the time, we thought it would be just like any other show," Smeaton said. "We did other shows at the time. Others opened and closed in a few weeks. We didn't know 'Phantom' was going to be like it was."
Smeaton worked on the "Phantom" movie sets, and when he heard about Las Vegas, he expressed interest.
Smeaton's fingerprints are already all over town. He has done work for Caesars Palace and created the sculptures for the pirate-show set at Treasure Island. Also on his resume is the Siegfried & Roy monument on the Strip.
"A lot of people write this place off," Smeaton said. "They're not very respectful. What's great about this town is these guys like Steve Wynn are like latter-day de Medici. They put a lot of money out there. In terms of keeping these traditional skills alive and going, Las Vegas is a great place."
New York definitely provides more opportunities for set design with all the Broadway and off-Broadway productions, but, Saltonstall said, "When it does happen here, it's bigger than anything done in New York."
