New York, NY (July 25, 2017)—Broadway may be known as the city’s theater district, but there’s a new factory sitting in the middle of it—specifically Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which recently debuted at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. Sound designer Andrew Keister worked with Masque Sound to answer the show’s audio needs.
The play’s two acts are notably different, with the first taking place in Charlie’s town and the second based inside the factory itself, so the sound design is intended to supplement those two worlds, using soundscaping for both, but incorporating increasingly diverse elements into the second act’s scenes.
Helping make that happen is a system based around a DiGiCo SD7 console and a Meyer Sound D-Mitri System. “The SD7 is the heart of the live reinforcement system, and D-Mitri handles all the playback and spatial routing duties,” said Keister. “Those two items together contain the bulk of the audio processing; we have about 220 inputs and a little over 185 outputs from the two systems. The surround system alone has 102 discreet outputs. There is quite a bit of interplay between the SD7 and D-Mitri to route live audio into the surrounds, allowing us to process and space map the elements to make a living soundscape that moves around the audience.”
A Meyer Sound Leopard array system, using Galileo, takes on most of the PA duties, supplemented by d&b audiotechnik boxes used for some fill and surround needs. The cast are captured via Sennheiser MKE-2 and DPA mics, while he orchestra pit is variously festooned with Neumann, AKG, Sennheiser and Shure microphones. The wireless package is made up of Sennheiser SK-5212 transmitters and EM-3532 receivers. In all, the show utilizes over 40 channels of wireless.
“It was wonderful to be able to work with Masque Sound again,” says Keister. “I’ve known the gang at Masque Sound for over 20 years and they always do their due diligence in putting together a package that really works. We had a spectacular crew and producers who budgeted wisely to give us the time and resources needed. In addition, my team including Josh Liebert, Julie Sloan, Brett Bingman, Walter Trarbach, Brian Hsieh and Tracy Cowit did an amazing job. We are very happy with the end result.”
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
www.charlieonbroadway.com
Masque Sound
www.MasqueSound.com
