Tucked beneath the former location of New York’s famed Studio 54, the 54 Below supper club has it sights set on Broadway – aiming to attract both its audiences and actors.
In keeping with this goal, the club’s owners called on their own cast of Broadway veterans to oversee its design, hospitality and programming. Among them, Tony-nominated sound designer, Peter Hylenski specified a Meyer Sound reinforcement system to showcase the venue’s entertainment.
Hosting up to three shows nightly in its main room, the club has all 144 of its seats within 24 feet of the stage. ‘My biggest challenge was coming up with smooth, even coverage throughout the room, considering its low ceiling and thrust stage,’ Hylenski says. ’I decided on a Meyer Sound solution based on the specific sizes and types of loudspeaker needed.’
Hylenski’s system comprises an inner ring of six UP-4XP 48 V loudspeakers for stage-side tables, plus four distributed and discreetly mounted UPJ-1P VariO speakers for the rest of the room. Four under-stage 500-HP subwoofers provide tightly controlled low end, two UPM-1XP 48 V loudspeakers are available for foldback, and the entire system is managed by a Galileo 616 processor.
54 Below Production Manager KJ Hardy believes that the system has raised the bar for audio quality in New York’s cabaret-style rooms: ‘Peter Hylenski has designed one of the best-sounding live performance venues in the city, and every band and singer that’s been here would agree,’ he says. ‘Between Peter’s design and the mixing skills of our FOH engineer, Kris Umezawa, the music comes across as astonishingly rich and balanced.’
For the system’s front end, Hylenski specified an Avid SC48 FOH console that is fed by outboard Millennia Media microphone preamplifiers, along with a JoeCo 24-track recorder for capturing live performances.
Since its opening, 54 Below has hosted a series Broadway talent, debuting with Patti LuPone and continuing with Leslie Uggams, Ben Vereen, Bebe Neuwirth, Doc Severinsen,and Rebecca Luker, among others. ‘We have customers migrating here from other well-known clubs,’ says Hardy. ‘And we hear time and again that our room is now the best in New York – due in large part to Meyer Sound’s quality and support.’
Acoustical design for 54 Below was charged to the Walters-Storyk Design Group, while Masque Sound provided and installed the audio system, with Matthew Peskie managing the project for Masque.
More: www.meyersound.com
More: www.wsdg.com
