If you get the chance to go to Paris, do visit this amazing exhibition at the 'Centre National du Costume de Scène et de la Scénographie', devoted to theater stagings, sets, and special effects.
It is completely unique!!!

'You will discover the backstage world and its machinery: special effects and movement of sets are "dissected" through a series of animated displays.The voyage ends behind the scenes with a dive into the realm under the stage, where the visitors rise onto the stage or disappear…like the phantom of the Opera.'

http://www.cncs.fr/expositions/a-l-affiche/l'envers%20du%20decor/35/en