dBTechnologies enters Stage Right for Peter Pan
- Details
Part of the system is already deployed in the Deco theatre in Northampton for the annual star-studded pantomime. This year’s production of Peter Pan features Coronation Street’s Nick Cochrane as Smee, The Voice finalist Lydia Lucy as Wendy, Grange Hill’s Colin Ridgewell as Captain Hook, West End actor Chris Wills as Peter Pan, and Northampton’s own Naomi Wilkins as Tiger Lily.
Stage Right operates in a wide range of sectors in the event industry, from outdoor concerts, to corporate events to theatre shows. The company has been investing in dBTechnologies products for over 10 years and held a large amount of the DVA T4 and S20 modules. However, as Stage Right’s production manager, Craig Burgess explains, the time was right to invest in new technology.
“The DVA T4 system has served us valiantly for many years, but we felt that now the time was right to invest in some new gear, and of course more recent technology. Earlier in the year, CUK Audio organised a visit to the dBTechnologies factory in Italy to see how the products are designed and manufactured. We were extremely impressed with VIO’s capabilities and functionality so investing in VIO seemed like a natural progression and an obvious choice for us in adding new PA to our inventory.”
The Stage Right team decided to use VIO on Peter Pan for its crystalline clarity for speech, its dynamic frequency response for show playback and for the efficiency of the L210 long throw modules. The L210s also provide smooth, even coverage due to their 110-degree horizontal dispersion pattern.
“This allowed us to cover the whole auditorium with just two hangs of PA,” enthused Burgess. “Another feature we really like is that we can monitor and control all the modules remotely from the new Aurora Net control software. What’s more, our recent purchase of the VIO S118 subs made it possible to fly all the PA - this was ideal as the venue has limited options for ground stacking due to the size of set. We also stock the beefier VIO S318s but felt they were not suitable for this production due to their larger footprint. The results for Peter Pan are amazing and a clear improvement over Deco’s in-house line array system which struggles to cover the circles and lacks the punch and clarity of the VIO.”
Overall, Burgess is delighted with the company’s investment. “I feel that dBTechnologies have really stepped up their game with the VIO which is a serious contender sitting next to other large format systems,” he remarked.
Stage Right invested in a total of 10 L210 2-way active line array elements, two S3118 triple 18” active subwoofers, two S118 single 18” active subwoofers plus the requisite hardware and accessories for flying and ground stacking. All except the S3118 subs are currently in use for Peter Pan, controlled on a PC with the new AURORA Net software via an RDNET Control 2 hardware interface.
(Jim Evans)
