Scot Whitham is standing in the middle of a forest of floating trees sprawled across the stage of the Royal Alexandra Theatre.

The grizzled director of production has a prime view of workers hammering in pieces of floor and turntable, even amid the 27 fake timbers that, at 28 feet in height, tower over him.

When he looks toward the audience, he spots other workers dangling above the seats to put up lighting trusses.

“We really do use every square inch,” Whitham says as he surveys the theatre on a blustery day in early December.

The scene is all part of Mirvish Productions’ decision to shift “Come From Away” — the award-winning musical about how residents of Gander in Newfoundland sheltered thousands of stranded plane passengers following the 9/11 attacks — from the Elgin Theatre near the Eaton Centre to the Royal Alex on the busy King Street West strip.

The two venues are only a few blocks apart, but moving the production isn’t easy. It takes two weeks, 10 transport trucks and 60 personnel, toiling away on electrical, carpentry, packing, installation, lighting, wardrobe and transport work.

But the move must be made. The Elgin is due to host other events in December and there are still audiences clamouring to see “Come From Away.” When the play created by David Hein and Irene Sankoff had its final curtain call at the Elgin on Sunday, Dec. 1, Whitham and the crew were practically waiting in the wings to get the show on the road — literally.

They had already been toiling away on setting up lighting for “Come From Away” at the Royal Alex, eight or so blocks away, but the final bow after that matinée at the Elgin kicked their work into high gear. Costumes were immediately sent for cleaning. Some props were “struck”: taken down, in theatrespeak.

The crew moved in after the final bows, packing tables, chairs, small lighting fixtures and the props tucked behind the massive trees that serve as a backdrop for the production. The band stowed their instruments, the sound department took care of microphones and crews pulled up the metres of cables that run to each musician’s spot.

“The idea is at the end of (Dec. 1), the stage is clear … so the next day when we start at 8 a.m., we can go and start removing scenery,” Whitham said, describing the elaborate, colour-coded moving plan he drafted between his work on other productions.

He’s already done this once before, sending the show in the other direction. In February, the Royal Alex started hosting “Dear Evan Hansen,” pushing “Come From Away” to the Elgin.

So Whitham is in his element on moving day. Hauling pieces and putting them together is left for workers, but he wanders about, moving the occasional tripping hazard out of the way, answering questions from staff and reviewing blueprints, describing how to get the elements back together once they’re on King Street.

He’s been working in theatre since the 1970s, having discovered his love of the industry when he went to a show in Stratford at age 11. By the time he was a teen in London, Ont., he was regularly going to productions, often snagging seats behind theatre columns — “it was dirt cheap, so I saw every show they had.”

He worked his way through many cities and companies, but eventually landed with the Mirvishes in production: “the best job in the world.”

In his time, the company has brought numerous productions that need no introduction to Toronto stages: “Wicked,” “Mamma Mia!” “Jersey Boys” and “The Book of Mormon” are just a few.

“We don’t have to make an ice rink on the stage, so that’s easy,” Whitham says, chuckling about the time Mirvish hosted “Blades on Stage: A Broadway Holiday Spectacular on Ice.”

Next year, the company will bring in the much-anticipated “Hamilton,” “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” and “Miss Saigon” — the latter being known to come with bulky, hydraulic equipment that has to support a helicopter and a car.

“It’s a complex process … Each show is different,” Whitham says. “That’s what makes it interesting. Otherwise, nobody would want to go.”

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Back at the Elgin on Dec. 2, Whitham oversaw the removal of those background trees, the suspended lighting and the flooring. The crew also took care of the pièce de résistance: the turntable that rotates cast members as they transition between scenes.

Whitham says the revolving floor has “a fabulous design” and he doesn’t have theatrical esthetics in mind. “It goes down very very quickly … From coming off the truck to being finished, it takes about two or three hours at the most.”

It’s a breeze compared to the production’s wall. Not only does it stand 30 feet high and 60 feet wide, it’s kitted out with LED light strips, fibre optic starlights and two doors, one of which must be open and closed with cables.

Despite the hurdles, eventually all the elements arrived at the Royal Alex and the theatre soon buzzed with personnel piecing them back together. When the Star visits, with less than a week before the play resumes performances on Dec. 13, the trees still need to be anchored on the stage and cables for the musicians have to be run through ducts and hutches.

“We have a drummer, but because he’s so loud we need to use a drum booth, but we don’t have a drum booth, so we use a dressing room,” says Whitham, as he walks along the theatre’s back hallways.

Built in 1907, the Beaux Arts-style Royal Alex still has reminders of its founding era (it once had gas lighting). Whitham likes pointing out that the Mirvishes still keep a few rows in the theatre with hat holders under each seat.

Such elements harken back to when the theatre was built, for $750,000 as a stage for touring shows. In those days, productions were moved from city to city by train, packed in baskets, to be hauled from the station to the theatre by horse and buggy.

Whitham’s happy that theatre has come a long way since, saving the crew time and horse power, but he can’t help but marvel whenever he enters “the old stage door” room, where crew store their coats and bags during the move. The walls are smattered with yellowing photos of actors and actresses who graced the Royal Alex stage — look closely and you can spot Mickey Rooney and Bert Lahr, he says, rattling off old stars and their spots on the walls with ease.

The next day, Dec. 7, he’s back at the theatre again. The move is a few hours behind schedule, but Whitham isn’t fazed.

The trees are now grounded, the wall has been erected and the crew is setting things up for the band. Front rows of audience seats — removed for the move — are being reinstalled.

Siobhan Sleath, the show’s associate lighting designer, stands at centre stage, directing staff on a lift as they reach between trees to focus lights above where the musicians will sit. They’ve got a small window of time; the props department needs to set up music stands, and sound workers need access to the same area.

Diagrams and photos of the ideal lighting arrangement speed things along — “it should look exactly the same as the last show at the Royal Alex,” says Sleath. But it’s just one piece of the puzzle. While Sleath’s team takes care of the overhead rigs and the colour filters, others get the sound system working, arrange the band and run through dress rehearsals.

“People who come to the theatre are spending a lot of money, so they deserve to be absolutely wowed,” says Whitham of the time and attention to detail that goes into a move.

All their preparations had to be complete by Friday, Dec. 13, when “Come From Away” audiences will file into the building and under a golden banner reading, “Canada’s #1 Musical Returns Home.”

A look at workers tearing down the ‘Come From Away’ set at the Elgin Theatre ahead of its move back to the Royal Alexandra.

Whitham could sneak into the audience to see the first return performance, but he already knows the show well. This production has been rolling in Toronto since February 2018 and he guesses that he’s seen the show 60 times, though not always in its entirety, and by Friday he’ll have other things on his mind.

“It’s nice when it’s all up and running and everyone is happy because we can move on to the next one,” he says.

Tickets for “Come From Away” at the Royal Alexandra Theatre are on sale at mirvish.com for shows through March 1, 2020.