When The Visit moved from the Williamstown Theater Festival to Broadway, maintaining its sound design was a key consideration. In order to ensure a smooth transition, Sound Designer Dan Moses Schreier worked with theatrical sound reinforcement specialist Masque Sound on an equipment package that would help it settle in for an extended stay at New York’s Lyceum Theatre.
Directed by John Doyle and nominated for five Tony Awards, The Visit stars Chita Rivera as the world’s wealthiest woman who returns home to have her heart captured and then her dreams broken. Following what she does gives us the ‘most thrilling and intriguing musical in years’.
‘There was enormous pressure in Williamstown to make sure the show was seamless, as we knew the potential to move to Broadway was a distinct possibility,’ says Schreier. ‘At Williamstown, we only had three days to tech the show, which meant that the entire sound system had to be in place and working correctly at the start of rehearsals. Because of its success in Williamstown, the general managers shortened our schedule so that we only had one week of load-in and one week of tech. We had to be extremely organised and have the sound plot worked out beforehand so that we could hit the ground running as soon as we loaded into the theatre. Masque Sound was fantastic in coordinating this with me to ensure that all the equipment I wanted was ready and waiting in perfect condition for our arrival. It was very challenging, but it really turned out great.’
Due to the extremely tight schedule and fast pace of the load-in, Schreier relied on the same scene programming as Williamstown, which led him back to the Yamaha CL5 digital mixing console. ‘There was a little bit of an unknown element, because this was the first time I used a CL5 for a Broadway show,’ he says. ‘But I’m very happy with the way the show sounds and with how the CL5 has performed. Yamaha has definitely done its homework and came up with a board that sounds very good.’
For the PA, Masque Sound provided a speaker package from Meyer Sound, including UPQ-1P wide coverage loudspeakers along with UPA-1Ps and UPA-2Ps, a UPJ-1P Compact VariO loudspeaker and MM-4 miniature wide range loudspeakers. ‘The sound we get from the Meyer speakers is unbelievably warm and feels very acoustic, which was the wish of John Doyle and our music director, David Loud,’ he says. ‘Even though the story is extremely dark, they wanted it to sound very heartfelt and sincere, and with the equipment that Masque Sound supplied, we were able to achieve that.’
Additionally, Masque Sound supplied a Sennheiser wireless package for the show’s 28 wireless channels, as well as provided its expert frequency coordination services for the production. For the onstage talent and orchestra players, Masque Sound assembled a selection of DPA and Schoeps microphones, including DPA 4011s and 4061s, along with Schoeps MK 5 switchable capsules for the CMC6UXT body. ‘The DPA 4061 lavalier microphones are very open and warm, so it’s easy to get a very natural sound out of them,’ adds Schreier. ‘For the orchestra, we primarily placed Schoeps on the strings and woodwinds, as I believe these microphones are fantastic for emitting a wonderful, transparent sound. They are the heart of the orchestra rig.’
When designing the sound system for the show, Schreier was continually impressed with the theatre’s remarkable architectural build: ‘It’s a dream house to work in,’ he reports. ‘The theatre was built in 1903, when architects carefully thought out acoustical layout, as it boasts an entirely wooden interior. Even the back of the orchestra pit has a curved wall so that the sound projects outward. It was a pleasure to work with Masque Sound to bring my sound vision for this beautiful space to life. The crew offered my team incredible support and they knew exactly what equipment would keep us within our budget while making the show sound fantastic.’
