When Sunset Boulevard. made its exciting return to Broadway recently, sound designer Adam Fisher turned to Masque Sound, a leading theatrical sound reinforcement, installation and design company, to bring director Jamie Lloyd’s revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical to life at the renowned St. James Theatre. Masque Sound has deployed d&b loudspeakers, a DiGiCo Quantum 7, Sennheiser 6000 series transmitters and antennas, a Wisycom antenna and DPA 4066 microphones for the show.
The revival of Sunset Boulevard originally began at the Savoy Theatre in London, which is a much smaller space with no real proscenium. For London, Fisher designed a system based around d&b audiotechnik speakers, which worked well for that venue. But for New York, the show had to be adapted for the significantly larger St. James Theatre on Broadway.
To meet the demands of the St. James, Masque Sound supplied Fisher and his team with nearly 220 speakers, all from d&b audiotechnik. The custom d&b loudspeaker package included XSL8s and XSL12s for the main PA; a V7P cluster; 44S front fills; E6 for fills, delays and surround; E8s for foldback; d&b Y10P for effects; supported by D40 amplifiers.
A unique challenge for Fisher happens at the start of act two when star Tom Francis performs the title track of the show outside the theatre on 44th Street, amidst the hustle and bustle of Times Square. This required a complex wireless solution. The performer’s voice had to be transmitted back into the auditorium and synchronised with the live orchestra with zero latency while at the same time and the actor needed to hear the orchestra clearly while navigating a highly hostile RF environment.
Masque Sound’s experience with RF technology and its partnership with Professional Wireless Systems (PWS) proved invaluable. Masque designed a custom solution that involved a small cart with three antennas that goes up 44th Street. Fisher said: “We have a set of antennas on top of the marquee, so when the lead actor goes outside, he’s on that set of antennas. As he gets halfway up the street, we switch to the cart, which bounces the signal back to the marquee. This acts like a relay station back to the theatre. When he walks back in, we switch back to the marquee antenna. Masque Sound’s support was instrumental in this, as the outdoor component is very unique to this production.”
The production utilises Sennheiser 6000 series transmitters and antennas inside the St. James Theatre, including the foyer and stairwells, with Wisycom antennas used for the outside component. Lectrosonics IEM systems were suggested by Masque Sound and used for their low latency. All performers are mic’d up with DPA 4066 microphones.
Sunset Boulevard opened in New York in November and is now playing at the St. James Theatre.
