In October 2010, Perry told
MTV about the
California Dreams Tour, saying "I guess I'm looking forward to making music videos on this new album..... and I'm really excited about incorporating the look and the idea of some of the songs on tour and making a massive production of it. I'm gonna want a lot of visuals. I want it to be 10 times better than when I was on tour last." Baz Halpin was hired to direct the tour and production on the tour began in November 2010. Perry chose Halpin as the director after seeing his work with
Pink and wanted the tour to look like the work of artists
Will Cotton and
Mark Ryden. The show was originally conceived as a more intimate, theater-based production, with only one or two smaller indoor arena dates; however, as Perry's global popularity was rising, the tour was upgraded and revamped to accommodate significantly larger venues, capable of holding anywhere from 5,000 to nearly 30,000 spectators. With the tour's restyling came a larger, rolling stage, with more lighting and larger video screens, as well as more dramatic costume changes. Fourteen trucks were required to move the entire spectacle. Tour director Baz Halpin designed the show to be a "jukebox musical." While promoting the
Teenage Dream album, Perry expressed that she wanted her upcoming tour to be very visual, stating "I hope that it's going to engage all of your senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, touch". The tour was officially announced in October 2010 by several media outlets, including Perry's official website, in-conjunction with the release of her third single, "
Firework". In 2011, Perry announced the North American tour during a
Facebook Live chat. She stated that the tour would display "super girl power", with female artists, like Swedish pop star
Robyn,
Yelle,
Marina Diamandis, and
Janelle Monáe, as opening acts on various dates. Perry further stated she would actively participate with fans during the tour via social media, namely Facebook and
Twitter. British singer
Jessie J, a personal friend of Perry, was confirmed as a support act during the final autumnal leg of the tour, but was ordered by doctors to cancel after an injury during tour rehearsals; Perry was instead supported by fellow UK indietronica artist
Ellie Goulding.
Calvin Harris was advertised as the opening act for Perry during the English, Scottish, Welsh, and Irish shows; on March 27, 2011, Perry announced, via Twitter, that Harris was "no longer involved" with the tour. Harris cited technical restrictions as the reason for his cancellation, and he was replaced by
DJ Skeet Skeet. While Perry was performing at the
TSB Bank Arena in
Wellington,
New Zealand, on May 10, 2011, a 24-year-old female was injured in the floor section of the venue (in front of the stage), suffering a
black eye along with small cuts and bruises. The woman later stated she was attacked by another female concert attendee, who had been standing in-front of her, when she was aggressively told to "stop pushing". Perry announced on her website that over $150,000 was raised for the Tickets-For-Charity fundraiser, from which a portion of proceeds are donated to charity. The money was divided between three charities—the
Children's Health Fund (CHF), Generosity Water, and the
Humane Society of the United States.
EMI donated a signed album by Perry to an auction for the
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) of
Auckland. The auction was for the promotion of several
California Dreams Tour dates in New Zealand. The auction closed on May 31, 2011. In November, Perry announced a free show at
Staples Center in Los Angeles, which was recorded for a tour DVD. The recordings were later used for her documentary film,
Katy Perry: Part of Me. ==Concert synopsis==