CBeebies has been playing to audiences of nearly 15,000 a day, in arenas all over the UK, laid out in the popular new 'academy' format, which sees the stage moved to the middle of the venue, and seats sold in the remaining U of the arena. With capacity for 4,500, the month-long production was playing three shows a day, spending two days in most venues.
SSE Audio Group provided the show, which is produced by BBC Worldwide and Telltale Productions, with a Nexo GEO T system. In nearly all venues, the system configuration featured 11+2 arrays of GEO T cabinets, flown left and right of stage, with 2x Nexo CD18 subbass units per side. The GEO T system was flown high and gave good sightlines to stage. The principle characters were all on a SSE-supplied Sennheiser in-ear monitoring system, and 4 x GEO S boxes were used per side for sidefill.
The exception was at the Manchester Evening News Arena, where tickets were sold down the sides of the stage. Here the SSE team provided an additional two hangs of 8 x GEO S805 cabinets to address this seating, another example of the complementary relationship between the two GEO ranges. Nexo's compact PS8s were used as front-fill along the front of the stage. All power was provided by Camco's Vortex 6 amplifiers, and SSE was using its new Drive Station as a drive rack.
SSE's Rich Rowley commented: "It was great to have the opportunity to work with children's theatre on such a large scale. With GEO T, our crew have such a fast in and out, and the array was so unobtrusive that sightlines to stage and the large video screens was not compromised." SSE's Ollie Waring was the sound operator for the production, mixing from a Yamaha PM5D digital FOH console, supported by SSE's Craig Pryde, overseeing stage sound and the show's complex radio requirements.
(Chris Henry)
