This production was originally broadcast live in three parts - each part corresponding to each act, each act performed and broadcast from the actual building in which that act takes place in the plot, and at the exact time of day the action in the particular act occurs. None of it was filmed on sets especially built for the production. To accomplish this unheard-of feat, the singers were outfitted with tiny, nearly invisible radio transmitters plugged in their ears, which enabled them to hear the orchestra playing the accompaniments in the studio as the singers actually sang live in their respective locations.