Musical productions of Singing in the Rain and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Joseph for short) currently running simultaneously in the UK are both being supported with sound designs by the Olivier Award-winning Gareth Owen incorporating d&b audiotechnik Y-Series loudspeakers joined by a range of supporting components from the company.
Singing in the Rain, directed by Jonathan Church, CBE, is a homage to 1920s Hollywood that features dazzling dance moves and upbeat orchestral music, while Joseph, directed by Laurence Connor with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, provides an energetic adventure with “earworm-worthy” pop tunes and colorful costumes.
Despite completely different musical genres and storylines, Owen has deployed virtually identical sound designs for both shows. Each system is headed by left-right proscenium hangs of Y-Series line arrays joined by Y point source center clusters, E6 delays and front fills, and V-SUB subwoofers, all powered by D20 amplifiers.
“The Y-Series has all the hallmarks of a great d&b product,” he states. “It’s a powerful system delivering great audio quality in a compact box. It’s the power to size ratio that makes this such a versatile product. We proved this when, for Back to the Future, currently running at the Adelphi Theatre in London, we incorporated a couple of Y point sources into the iconic DeLorean. I didn’t think they’d deliver the necessary output for the sound effects, but they did. It’s incredible.”
Both productions have their own special elements that Owen had to take into consideration, including 14,000 litres of water pouring onto the cast of Singing in the Rain, resulting in epic dance scenes — splashes, kicks and drips included — and not only soaking the cast and the first few rows of the audience, but the loudspeakers as well. “During the water scenes the front fills and backs of the line arrays get their fair share of water on them, but thanks to the renowned d&b quality they are super robust, handling the ‘bad weather’ very well,” Owen adds.
All standard Y-Series cabinets are constructed from marine plywood and have an impact and weather protected PCP (Polyurea Cabinet Protection) finish as standard. Cabinets house two 8- low-frequency drivers designed to transfer transparent performance, while a 1.4-inch compression driver supplies delivers precise high frequencies.
“It is those features that made the Y-Series well suited to reproduce the nuances and pureness of the voices of the 24 strong children’s choir in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat just as much as the subtle notes of the live orchestra for Singing in the Rain,” Owen states.
Doing justice to the orchestral nature of Singing in the Rain was also a priority for musical director and supervisor Robert Scott, who explains, “I wanted the show to sound authentic — 1950s orchestrations, a real ‘big band’ feel — it had to sound as acoustic as possible. This was made more difficult in where the band were situated — behind the action — as they could not be in the pit as they would have got very wet.”
Both David Andrew Wilson, head of music at The Really Useful Group, as well as Scott are satisfied with the audio results due to the sound design, with the latter commenting: “All of the sound department were acutely aware of how I wanted it to sound and the end result was fantastic. So much great feedback from the audience, too.”
The Y-Series is also “extremely easy to deploy” according to Matt Peploe, associate for Singing in the Rain, making it more practical and touring friendly. “As these two shows aren’t stopping anywhere for too long the practicality factor was important in the choice of sound design.”
Owen concludes, “I actually also used this system design for Bat Out of Hell. Again, a totally different musical genre with heavy metal and rock and roll songs, yet the Y-Series managed to cope with all that ferocity beautifully. It really is a marvel of flexibility. I’m sure I’ll use it plenty more often in the future.”
