The 65th Tony Awards at the Beacon Theatre were broadcast live on CBS television. One of the major challenges of this year's ceremony was the new location as the event was moved from the Radio City Hall to the much smaller Beacon Theatre. This meant that the equipment that usually would have been installed next to the stage, now needed to be installed in trucks and tents outside the venue resulting in a more complex setup.
For providing the live and the broadcast audio distribution, Firehouse Productions used a 154 channel Riedel RockNet system. At the heart of the audio installation were two Studer Vista 5 digital mixing consoles serving as FoH and monitor mixers. Four RockNet RN.343.VI integrated the consoles into the digital audio network providing remote control over the RockNet inputs and outputs.
RockNet's Independent Gain feature allowed both the FoH and the monitor consoles to control the gains individually without interfering with each other. On the stage 18 RockNet microphone input modules were used. With little space available backstage for monitoring, Firehouse Productions deployed 'Engine 1', an especially equipped, double-expanding 48ft semi-trailer production audio unit parked outside the venue.
"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.
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. Furthermore, 40 Riedel Performer digital partyline beltpacks were used in conjunction to 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.
(Jim Evans)
