Responsibility for the audio design was put in the hands of Bobby Aitken, who has made his first foray into the XTA DP4 Series processors for speaker control, plus some tried-and-trusted Dynamic EQ for tricky vocal parts.
The front of house loudspeaker system is predominantly d&b with a centre cluster of dVDosc and EM Acoustics' new small size base cabinets in the corners of the auditorium. Crossovers and system management is from six XTA DP448s with XTA SiDDs across some of the vocals. "The actors all wear mics up in their hairline in theatre style," says Aitken. "But there are a few points in the show where we use DPA 4061s. When a mic is that close, we use the SiDDs to manage the dynamic EQ a little bit."
The advantages of the increased inputs and outputs on XTA's new 4 Series Audio Management System became immediate obvious to Aitken. "This is the first time I've used the DP448s and they're great," he says, offering up the neat racks that sit behind the scenes at the Aldwych Theatre as testament. "We've reduced the physical rack space needed by 50% by using them. The new software works well for us and set up via a wireless tablet throughout the auditorium was easy."
All sound equipment for this incarnation of Dirty Dancing is supplied by Autograph Sound Recording.
(Chris Henry)
