So, you have your tickets for KÀ. You know it’s the only Cirque du Soleil show in Las Vegas which has a proper storyline—a pair of royal twins have been separated during a devastating attack, and each is on a separate coming-of-age journey which will lead them to their destiny. Sounds simple, doesn’t it?

But it’s one thing to be sitting in a plush seat in the elaborate KÀ Theatre for 90 minutes, watching a massive bird swoop downward with several acrobats on its back, or seaside characters magnified to huge size frolicking on a sandy beach, or two warring sides scrambling up a cliffside, or an enormous wheel with flames shooting out. It’s quite another to realize what it actually takes to ensure that the production runs smoothly throughout the entire show.

If you want to truly understand it, a look around the stage will leave you even more in awe of the complexities that go into each performance.

As you walk into the theater, it immediately seems so different from a normal theater. Sure, there are rows and rows of raked seating, but there are also many massive columns that seem to resemble some sort of sci-fi movie set. In each of those columns, connected by catwalks, you’ll find multiple lights. Looking at the stage from the audience area, you’ll see many tiers of catwalks and multiple floors on the back and in the wings of the stage area. Turn around and you’ll see floors curving around the back walls of the theater, filled with equipment; they are dedicated to sound and lighting.

If you head down to the curved edge of the stage, that’s where you’ll really start noticing the difference from a traditional theater. The edge of the stage, called the boardwalk, is several feet wide and looks like wooden planks.

During one recent afternoon, Jim Moran, KÀ’s technical director, who is in charge of many of the theater’s systems, went over some of the more amazing facets of the area, including the sheer size of the pit. Glance over the edge—it’s 50 feet down. Look up—it’s 89 feet. And it seems like there’s something going on at every level (which there is). Moran points out five separate lifts used during performances in different areas of the pit, including one that is directly in front of the edge.

It’s frequently been said that the biggest character in KÀ is the Sand Cliff deck, an incredible moving platform that stands nearly vertical during some scenes. And it certainly dominates the scene before you. The deck itself weighs about 50 tons, and is 50 feet long, 25 feet wide and 6 feet deep, and is perched atop a gantry crane. The deck can rotate 360 degrees and tilt in all directions.

The hydraulic pistons, which move the stages, are “the longest in the world,” says Moran. There is also a power system built into the deck and lighting. Plus, there are areas which allow performers to appear from out of the stage. Video projection tiles allow different scenes to appear on the surface, from water to flame. It can also react to performers’ movements.

During the battle scene, when performers scale the vertical stage, they are actually making use of 80 pegs called rod actuators. Those give the performers handholds that are highly choreographed, not only when they appear but also when they disappear. Below the stage are two of the largest acrobatic nets in the world and one of the world’s largest airbags. It’s used in the climax, says Moran, and sits on top of the net so the artists slide off a deck and get in a nice little bounce. The Tatami deck is the second of KÀ’s moveable stages, a 30-foot square piece weighing in at 75,000 pounds that, Moran says, “comes out like a big sliding drawer. And it can come right up to the edges of the stage.” In 2008, the Sand Cliff Deck and the Tatami Deck helped KÀ win a Thea Award for Outstanding Technical Achievement from the Themed Entertainment Association.

In the wings, there’s a lot that goes on. Stage right are the elevators. During a performance, these are on a strict schedule (they have their own cue track), but at other times you can take them down to the lower levels, where the airbags are filled, or up, where you’ll find several floors and a huge array of systems and props. Depending on the time of day, you might see set pieces being removed or replaced on the Tatami Deck (the Wheel of Death is stored here), or a green cover put on to emulate nature during the forest scene. In another area, you’ll find a giant winch with cables snaking out of it around and behind the stage. “In the forest … the big red (column) is actually moved by this—that’s our biggest winch in the theater. It’s a counterweight system. That assists in moving arbors that are on the other side of the theater,” Moran says.

A row of white cabinets may remind you of heating or air-conditioning systems, but they are actually used to house the server for the computers, which control much of the mechanical aspects of the show, which need to be timed to the absolute second. “So, all the moves of the lifts … everything is in our automation system. And everything is programmed. We don’t just kind of wing it. Everything has to be programmed,” says Moran.

Go further and you’ll find a massive bin, which is used to help filter the beach sand. That sand is actually cork, and it is put through multiple filters every day, which remove any and all metal, and make sure it is exactly the right size. It’s then moistened. Why? Because it’s not only more comfortable for the artists, but it also keeps down dust, which is important, since KÀ’s systems employ thousands of sensors that might be obscured otherwise. It also keeps a potential fire hazard out of the air, which is also important, as pyrotechnics light up several scenes in KÀ. That cleanliness extends to the entire backstage area.

You’ll also find storage areas for different acts throughout upper and lower levels. As Moran says, it’s all about what is needed, and where. For example, in the scene where the nanny nearly drowns, she comes down from the top level of the wing. “They come up here; and this is where they get attached, and load for that act. So, rather than bring the nanny costume up here every day for a specific thing (they store the costumes here) … In fact, they get clipped in. They have a harness with two swivels on it. That particular costume has cutouts.”

In every show, the leading lady or man has the backing of an entire cast, and KÀ is no exception. “So during a show we have about 110 backstage, all in all about 135, about 70 artists—a lot of people, and it’s just as choreographed backstage as it is onstage,” says Moran.

As you walk backstage, you’ll be struck by the fact that nearly every person is wearing a harness. And in fact, as you walk through the floors, you’ll see many areas where a worker can hook into. And just as the acrobats in the show rehearse their scenes, so, too, do the backstage crew; workers go through extensive training when they join the crew of KÀ; and they’ll go through that training for different areas and different jobs, from 10-14 days.

For Moran, who helped open the theater back in 2005, there’s one aspect that impresses him most. “Everybody comes together and works together to make it happen. I mean, all the technical stuff’s amazing and (we) have lots of buttons to push, but really none of it happens without everybody—the artists and technicians, the management—(it) takes a big group to pull this off.”

By the numbers:

75,000

The weight of the Tatami Deck in pounds

3,500

Approximate number of lighting instruments in the theater

4,774

Number of speakers in the theater

MGM Grand, 702.531.3826

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