All performers are selected from the Umoja School of Performing Arts in South Africa, which gives free scholarships to underprivileged children as a means to enter the entertainment industry.
'Umoja' translates as "the spirit of togetherness" and there was an abundance of positive energy in this vibrant showcase of South African music and dancing. A narrator punctuates a two-hour journey that takes the audience through a history of African music, from early tribal drummers, through the development the distinctive South African sounds. "Our music helped to keep us human," the narrator tells the audience, "for in Africa, rhythm is life itself."
Umoja first opened at London's Shaftesbury Theatre in November 2001 after a successful run in South Africa. It has now expanded to have two casts, which between them have toured in 22 countries. Recently the show played a three-week tour of the UK, beginning in Fairfield Halls in Croydon and ending in Birmingham's Alexander Theatre.
The show's glamorous show producer, Sheila Okonji, first joined the show in a public relations capacity two years ago. She explained: "I got completely wrapped up with the show being on tour with such an enthusiastic cast. They're a great group of optimistic, unworldly people and I simply gelled to such an extent that when they launched a second cast to tour internationally I was invited to become producer of the UK show."
"It wasn't until my first shows approached that I realized the total array of responsibilities, which was pretty daunting. Booking the venues and managing the cast was one thing I was at least familiar with, but I was pretty inexperienced when it came to the technical side of things."
So when the sound company left the show in the lurch three days before they were due to hit the road, she had a problem. She was steered towards Pearce Hire, where she spoke with Andy White: "I told him I needed a PA . . . in three days time! I faxed him the spec I'd been given from my now absent supplier and Andy was fantastic. He got straight on the case, came down to a rehearsal, grasped what was required and saved our lives!"Okonji says: "Umoja is all about music and dancing, so the sound is a critical component of the show. In terms of volume, we have always been insistent that our PA supplier treats this more like a concert than a musical. We want our audience to really feel the drums."
Returning for this second tour with Umoja, White had persuaded Okonji that the PA spec could be reduced. He explained: "With the benefit of hindsight we reduced the overall system and reduced transport costs. We achieved this by downsizing the front-of-house control (from eight seats to three), cutting the separate monitor console and trimming the speaker system. I had to prove to them that our reduced system design was up to the job in pre-tour rehearsals, which it did with ease. They've been delighted with the sound, it's made the load-ins easier and saved them money - so they're happy!"
The PA system was Pearce Hire's own L-Acoustics ARCS system, with up to six subs and 12 mid/high cabs per side, depending on the venue. Camco Vortex and Lab-gruppen amplifiers, all processed by XTA, drove both FOH and monitors.
White commented: "The ARCS is a fantastic theatre system: with such controlled dispersion characteristics they make life very easy when you've got up to 40 open mics on stage. We've also plugged into the in-house systems to augment the sound in the balcony areas where the budget hasn't stretched to additional flown clusters - which has worked fine."
The FOH mixing desk is Pearce Hire's new Yamaha DM1000 digital mixing console, expanded to 40 inputs, including 16 channels for Shure UHF radio mics, band and stage mics and sound engineer Martin Stansfield's various processi
