NEW YORK – For the 65th Annual Tony Awards, Firehouse Productions and Audio Intercom Services were among those providing technical support. The gear deployed included Studer Vista Series audio mixing consoles at the front of house position and in the monitor truck and JBL Professional VerTec line arrays for the live PA system at New York's Beacon Theatre.
The event, broadcast live on CBS, also relied upon RockNet digital audio network including Studer Vista 5 console integration, Artist digital matrix intercom and Performer digital partyline from Riedel Communications. The 154-channel system served as a universal input/output router, with four RockNet RN.343.VI units integrating the consoles into the digital audio network and allowing the inputs and outputs to be remote-controlled, with RockNet's Independent Gain letting FOH and monitor consoles control the gains individually, without interfering with each other. On the stage, 18 RockNet microphone input modules were used.
"RockNet makes distributing audio very simple. Even at a large show like the Tony Awards, which needed to incorporate broadcast and live applications, setup was fast and easy. And the audio quality and routing flexibility are just amazing", said Mark Dittmar from Firehouse Productions. The JBL PA system and the broadcast production's Calrec desk were also integrated with RockNet. RockNet fiber connectors bridged the large distances between the various locations.
Although the Beacon Theatre's house rig includes JBL VerTec line arrays, Firehouse Productions opted to replace parts of the "permanent" system with main arrays situated higher in the air to stay out of live camera shots. There were 3 JBL VerTec VT4888 midsize line array elements per side with a center cluster of four VT4887 compact line array elements. For frontfill, downfill and under-balcony coverage, the system included 22 JBL VerTec VT4886 subcompact line array elements, and 42 Crown I-Tech HD 12000 amplifiers powered the system.
Ron Reaves manned Firehouse's Studer Vista 5SR console at FOH, supplemented with a pair of JBL LSR4328P studio monitors. "We needed to design a system that wouldn't be seen by any of the television cameras and would remain separate from the stage set," said Dittmar. "We were also faced with the challenge of hanging everything from a single point that supported a maximum of one ton. The VerTec line arrays were ideal because they are lightweight and easy to hang, but also provide a tremendous amount of acoustical output power."
With little space available backstage for monitoring, Firehouse Productions deployed "Engine 1," a specially-equipped, double-expanding 48-foot semi-trailer production audio unit parked outside the venue. There, Mike Bove was also responsible for onstage artist and presenter monitor mixes. Firehouse provided a Studer Vista 5 digital console, along with a pair of JBL LSR6328P studio monitors and a Lexicon PCM96 effects processor.
The intercom system managed by Audio Intercom Services consisted of five Riedel Artist mainframes at the various positions such as the OB truck, the FOH, stage or producers. They provided the redundant communications backbone for 18 Artist 1100 series control panels. In addition, 40 Riedel Performer digital partyline beltpacks were used with the matrix intercom. They were integrated into the infrastructure via eight Riedel Performer C44plus system interfaces, allowing calls from Artist control panels directly to selected partylines and vice versa.
"Due the Beacon's lack of wing space on either side of the stage, the show was forced to relocate all of the tech departments locations that would normally be living on stage, to areas outside the venue," noted Anthony Bandelato from Audio Intercom Services. He credited Riedel Artist's flexibility in making that possible. "Riedel's fiber based decentralized approach allowed my assistant programmer, Justin Milner and myself, to make system-wide changes from our location in the comms compound to any of the nodes in the ring via the Director software," which he credited as "both intuitive and user friendly – a huge time saver."
The OB truck's RTS Adam intercom was also integrated into the production comms infrastructure via 4-wire. "We are seeing more truck companies changing over to the Artist system, and when we encounter a truck with Artist on board, the set-up is even easier – we just include the truck's system in our network," Bandelato noted. "After executing the ‘Merge Configuration Files' function in the Riedel Director software, everyone has access to all ports of the entire system."
The 65th Annual Tony Awards featured performers and presenters including Daniel Radcliffe, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Whoopi Goldberg, Chris Rock, Samuel L. Jackson, Kelsey Grammer, Stephen Colbert, Jon Cryer and host Neil Patrick Harris, among others.
"With the Tony Awards, expectations are at their peak, so it's important to ensure the full magnitude of the presentations, videos and performances both engage and immerse the live crowd as well as those watching at home," Firehouse's Dittmar said. "The reliability and user-friendly aspects of the Vista 5s allowed us to perfect the broadcast, even around the block in the mobile broadcast station. This year's event was a groundbreaking show for us. and we were able to provide some excellent new equipment. The Vista 5s are great consoles, and we were very happy with the end results."
For more information, please visit www.harman.com, www.riedel.net and www.firehouseproductions.com.
