Cinderella, the latest musical written by noted producer Andrew Lloyd Webber and the first new production to open in London’s West End since Covid restrictions were lifted, utilizes a sound design with d&b Soundscape implemented by sound designer Gareth Owen.
In residence at the Gillian Lynne Theatre, the show’s elaborate set design includes a revolving stage. This isn’t Owen’s first collaboration with Lloyd Webber, and he was confident Soundscape would deliver both technically and creatively,” Owen explains. “He and I have worked together on a number of shows; the renewed version of Starlight Express was the first. His core belief about how music should sound is replicated in what Soundscape does — sound has to emanate from its source.”
By applying Soundscape’s object positioning software, En-Scene, sound objects can be located around the room utilizing multiple loudspeakers in either a 180- or 360-degree configuration, helping to provide a more natural sonic image. “Soundscape makes the audience forget about the sound system without compromising sound quality,” Owen notes. “It enables the audience to enjoy every last detail of the show. It’s a double-edged sword, but as sound designers we know we have got it right when nobody talks about the sound – but rather about their experience on an emotional level.”
A unique challenge for the team is providing full, ambient orchestral sound despite the usual pit location being unavailable. With a stage extension covering the traditional pit area, the musicians are relocated to the left-hand side of the stage, on a double story tower structure hidden from the audience’s view. Localization of the instruments therefore didn’t make sense; instead Owen wanted to “enhance that sweeping, orchestral sound you expect from a live show.”
By applying Soundscape’s room emulation software, En-Space, and utilizing a 360-degree Soundscape setup, reverberation was added to the acoustically treated theatre, to give the show more of a “concert hall” feeling.
When turning, the auditorium takes not only the cast and the audience with it, but also the front fills anchored in the stage. Moving loudspeakers effectively changes the sound design mid show, so Owen came up with a plan of creating secondary sound scenarios to keep objects localized to help provide a seamless experience for the audience regardless of where they, or the cast, are moved to.
“When part of the audience moves and finds themselves behind the stage, looking out onto the rest of the remaining audience, some of the sound system moves with them,” explains Owen. “We created function groups that then switch the use of those speakers; the stage foldback essentially switches with some of the surround speakers.”
Solving the problem of a dynamic stage and changing loudspeaker positions was a case of pushing the boat out. The result is something unseen before. “A world first,” says Owen, “in terms of combining a rotating auditorium with object based mixing.”
Lee Batty, Technical Director at Webber’s The Really Useful Group, notes, “Having the sound follow the actors around the theatre while dealing with a rotating audience space is frankly a crazy ask, and Gareth and his team have risen to the challenge with aplomb. They pulled it off perfectly.”
The team designed three different loudspeaker setups in ArrayCalc, reassigning the displaced loudspeakers’ new roles in each layout. A web of timed signal chains was needed to help bring the sound design to life. Three d&b DS100 signal matrixes are deployed to handle the large number of signals and cross points. To maintain an overview of the complex system design, and its moving parts, Owen relied on the integration of En-Snap, a new piece of Soundscape software released in partnership with the sound designer last year.
With En-Snap users are able to apply cues to control sequences within the Soundscape setup, making the live show workflow for Soundscape easier. Users can now program production-specific transition times and recall safe functions in every cue, freeing up time from individually tracking sound objects to actually mixing the show.
The entire system is provided by d&b partner Stage Sound Services, which specializes in theatre sound. Phil Hurley says of the show, “It’s a happy distraction in these uncertain times. It is great to be out there working again, especially on a show as demanding and challenging as Cinderella. Job well done to everyone.”
“Due to the pandemic the premier was delayed, but it did give us more time to think,” Owen adds. We managed to come up with an unseen before concept that really works. It’s phenomenal and exceeded all my expectations.”
Batty concludes, “As most theatre professionals know, Andrew Lloyd Webber is extremely demanding when it comes to the sound of his shows – it’s safe to say that he is extremely happy with the sound of Cinderella.”
