Taking any show from one location to another brings with it a host of potential technical problems, particularly when you're moving into the oldest operating playhouse in the world, with a proven track record spanning almost 350 years.
London's Theatre Royal is a landmark of the west end?s history. There has been a theatre on this site since Shakespeare's day with its Royal Charter granted in 1660. The current building is the fourth to have been built, opening on 10th October 1812.
Boasting its original charm and style, the theatre that we admire today remains largely the same as it did back then. Needless to say, this isn't always synonymous with the demands of modern technology and contemporary productions.
Internationally acclaimed sound designer, Steve Canyon Kennedy, designed the original Broadway system, and the West End design follows in a refreshingly digital-free vein.
Associate Sound Designer John Shivers headed up the sound team in London and worked with London theatre sound specialist Orbital who supplied the impressive system, with some slight additions to meet the demands of the Theatre Royal.
Kennedy had originally opted for a large A-B system, and Shivers decided to keep the theme running into the West End.
The beauty of using an A-B system is that it eliminates phase cancellation problems caused by high frequency comb filtering between mics when the cast get up close. By sending one of the cast members vocals into the A system and one of the cast members mics into the B system, the two signals from the mics never actually meet each other, and since the comb filtering occurs almost entirely in the electronic realm, the problem is effectively eliminated. This is then carried on through the entire show with the cast split evenly between the two systems using a programmable mixing console, which changes the allocation scene by scene. The band can also be spread around between the two systems as this can give orchestras a bigger more open feel.
The dual A-B system is carried on completely through the design of The Producers, with Vocals being split between the two systems and the band primarily residing in the B half of the systemn.
Kennedy and Shivers opted for a set of d&b 1222s to cover the stalls and the front of the circle. The circle and the gallery are covered using two arrays of 5 L'Acoustics dV-DOSC cabinets which are bi-amped using Crest amplifiers. Orbital have now added a considerable number of DV-Dosc cabinets to their rental stock, which already includes hundreds of d&b, Meyer & Tanoy boxes. Over fifty EAW JF80?s are used as front fills, box fills and delay speakers, all again in the A-B configuration, suspended with custom brackets. Subs are d&b B1's located both in the stalls and in the gallery. Stage foldback is a mixture of Meyer UPA1-Ps, UPA2-Ps (the narrow dispersion version) and d&b E3s.
The main mixing console is a 94-Frame Cadac J-Type, loaded with a mixture of programmable and manual modules and a complete set of motorized faders. With fourteen VCAs, and Cadac's Console Automation Manager software, Sound Number One - Richard George, is easily able to keep control of the thirty-two radio mics and an extremely tight eighteen-piece orchestra. Orchestral foldback is a mixture of Formula Sound QUE10 personal mixers and Genelec 8030A powered monitors.
Playback is kept relatively simple with an Alesis ML-9600 hard disk CD player and a pair of Akai S6000 samplers at the helm. The samplers are sequenced via the Cadac software; so no additional control is required. Sound effects and click tracks are run direct from the sampler, with a Midi Solutions F8 box provided for conductor remote start.
Sound Number Two Nick Dudley has the task of keeping track of the thirty-two Sennheiser SK-5012 miniature radio mics. These packs are amazingly small and are perfect to be discretely hidden inside the dancers wigs. The cast wear Sennheiser MKEII Platinums. A set of Countryman B2's is deployed for the wet bits where the cast throw water around.
The Producers is the 49th production to grace the Theatre Royal's stage since 1924 and it will go down in history along with the many other greats, including Cameron Macintosh?s, Miss Saigon, David Merrick's Hello Dolly, Noel Coward's Cavalcade and many more.
If the standard of sound and the reaction of the audience is anything to go by, I would say it?s a safe bet that The Producers will be making London?s audiences laugh for many years to come.
Taking any show from one location to another brings with it a host of potential technical problems, particularly when you're moving into the oldest operating playhouse in the world, with a proven track record spanning almost 350 years.
London's Theatre Royal is a landmark of the west end?s history. There has been a theatre on this site since Shakespeare's day with its Royal Charter granted in 1660. The current building is the fourth to have been built, opening on 10th October 1812.
Boasting its original charm and style, the theatre that we admire today remains largely the same as it did back then. Needless to say, this isn't always synonymous with the demands of modern technology and contemporary productions.
Internationally acclaimed sound designer, Steve Canyon Kennedy, designed the original Broadway system, and the West End design follows in a refreshingly digital-free vein.
Associate Sound Designer John Shivers headed up the sound team in London and worked with London theatre sound specialist Orbital who supplied the impressive system, with some slight additions to meet the demands of the Theatre Royal.
Kennedy had originally opted for a large A-B system, and Shivers decided to keep the theme running into the West End.
The beauty of using an A-B system is that it eliminates phase cancellation problems caused by high frequency comb filtering between mics when the cast get up close. By sending one of the cast members vocals into the A system and one of the cast members mics into the B system, the two signals from the mics never actually meet each other, and since the comb filtering occurs almost entirely in the electronic realm, the problem is effectively eliminated. This is then carried on through the entire show with the cast split evenly between the two systems using a programmable mixing console, which changes the allocation scene by scene. The band can also be spread around between the two systems as this can give orchestras a bigger more open feel.
The dual A-B system is carried on completely through the design of The Producers, with Vocals being split between the two systems and the band primarily residing in the B half of the systemn.
Kennedy and Shivers opted for a set of d&b 1222s to cover the stalls and the front of the circle. The circle and the gallery are covered using two arrays of 5 L'Acoustics dV-DOSC cabinets which are bi-amped using Crest amplifiers. Orbital have now added a considerable number of DV-Dosc cabinets to their rental stock, which already includes hundreds of d&b, Meyer & Tanoy boxes. Over fifty EAW JF80?s are used as front fills, box fills and delay speakers, all again in the A-B configuration, suspended with custom brackets. Subs are d&b B1's located both in the stalls and in the gallery. Stage foldback is a mixture of Meyer UPA1-Ps, UPA2-Ps (the narrow dispersion version) and d&b E3s.
The main mixing console is a 94-Frame Cadac J-Type, loaded with a mixture of programmable and manual modules and a complete set of motorized faders. With fourteen VCAs, and Cadac's Console Automation Manager software, Sound Number One - Richard George, is easily able to keep control of the thirty-two radio mics and an extremely tight eighteen-piece orchestra. Orchestral foldback is a mixture of Formula Sound QUE10 personal mixers and Genelec 8030A powered monitors.
Playback is kept relatively simple with an Alesis ML-9600 hard disk CD player and a pair of Akai S6000 samplers at the helm. The samplers are sequenced via the Cadac software; so no additional control is required. Sound effects and click tracks are run direct from the sampler, with a Midi Solutions F8 box provided for conductor remote start.
Sound Number Two Nick Dudley has the task of keeping track of the thirty-two Sennheiser SK-5012 miniature radio mics. These packs are amazingly small and are perfect to be discretely hidden inside the dancers wigs. The cast wear Sennheiser MKEII Platinums. A set of Countryman B2's is deployed for the wet bits where the cast throw water around.
The Producers is the 49th production to grace the Theatre Royal's stage since 1924 and it will go down in history along with the many other greats, including Cameron Macintosh?s, Miss Saigon, David Merrick's Hello Dolly, Noel Coward's Cavalcade and many more.
If the standard of sound and the reaction of the audience is anything to go by, I would say it?s a safe bet that The Producers will be making London?s audiences laugh for many years to come.
