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West End’s Newest Theatre Premieres First Musicals with Autograph
Autograph Sound Recording has been awarded the design and equipment supply contracts for the first two musical productions to be staged in London's newest theatrical venue, Trafalgar Studios. Sweeney Todd is coming to the end of it's scheduled 12-week run before a transfer to The Ambassadors theatre and will be immediately followed by Simply Heavenly, which was previously seen at the Young Vic Theatre.
Formerly the Whitehall Theatre, Trafalgar Studios is two new theatre studios, designed by architects Tim Foster and John Muir, under one roof in the heart of the London's West End. The larger space has approximately 380 seats, the smaller one, with around 80, will open this autumn.
Chris Full, one of Autograph's sound designers, has worked with this particular production of Sondheim's Sweeny Todd since it's successful staging at the Watermill Theatre, Newbury earlier this year. Celebrating its 25th anniversary, Sweeney Todd is set in darkest Victorian England and tells the infamous tale of the demon barber of Fleet Street.
Meyer Sound loudspeakers were chosen by Chris, utilising the ultra series UPA-1Cs and USW-1C subs. The versatile Cadac A-Type mixing desk is also employed along with a Sennheiser SK50 radio microphone, which is used to reinforce the small company of 9 cast members, who take on the role of musicians too.
"It was really exciting working in a totally new auditorium, one which does not seem to have a bad seat in the house," claims Chris. "The thrust stage always makes loudspeaker placement a little challenging, but I'm delighted with the end result."
Fellow Autograph sound designer Nick Lidster, whose design for Pacific Overtures at the Donmar Warehouse last year earned him a nomination for a Laurence Olivier award, will be following Chris into this new creative space, with the highly acclaimed production of Simply Heavenly. 'Simple' the leading man, has a rather complicated life. With an ex wife, a fiancée and a weakness for the local goodtime girl, things often become troublesome. But when faced with choosing between temptation and responsibility, he doesn't always pick the right path.
As the new auditorium is quite different from the traditional style at the Young Vic, Nick plans to alter the sound design to suit this modern studio space, while maintaining the atmosphere and spirit of a 1950s Harlem bar. A Meyer Sound loudspeaker system will also be employed along with an E-Type Cadac mixing console, sound effects playback will be via an Akai S6000 and mini-disc players.
The Trafalgar Studios look set to become an existing new venue in the west end and Autograph, who are almost a permanent feature at the Donmar and the Bridewell, are delighted to have been asked to supply their expertise in this genre of venue
29th September 2004
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