Barbie Live! musical tours Asia with Meyer Sound
Published: ASIA
ASIA: Meyer Sound M’elodie line arrays are forming the sound reinforcement system for Barbie Live!, a musical for children touring Asian territories including Singapore, Thailand, China, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. The equipment has been provided by US-based rental company Show Systems.
The sound design for the musical, which features performers depicting the famous Mattel Barbie and Ken dolls live on stage, was overseen by Kai Harada. He explained that the choice of M’elodie was particularly suitable for the show’s young audience.
‘It’s a dance-heavy show,’ he said, ‘so we needed a robust system that would cover large theatres or smaller arenas with exceptional clarity but at levels appropriate for children’s ears. I knew that a M’elodie rig would give us those qualities, as well as the flexibility to adapt to different venues. From my experience, M’elodies are exactly what shows like this need. They are highly controllable, with excellent vertical focusing. They are also reliable, and that comfort factor is critical.’
The system deployed for Barbie Live! uses up to 24 M’elodie loudspeakers that can be configured as either left-right or left-centre-right arrays, depending on the venue. The system also includes two 600-HP subwoofers, 16 UPJunior VariO loudspeakers for fold-back, delay, and fill, 10 UPM-1P loudspeakers for front fill, and eight MM-4 loudspeakers for offstage monitoring. A Galileo loudspeaker management system comprising of one Galileo 408 and two Galileo 616 processors supplies system drive and optimisation.
According to Frank Snipes, vice president of Show Systems, who coordinated tour audio logistics, the Galileo system is critical when reconfiguring the system for each venue. ‘Galileo gives us the option to make design changes from city to city very easily,’ he explained. ‘Coupled with self-powered loudspeakers, Galileo allows the road crew to reconfigure the system as needed, with absolutely minimum hassle.’
At front of house is a DiGiCo SD9 console with Madi-linked dual Pro Tools systems for audio playback. The cast sing live using Shure UR-1 wireless bodypack transmitters with Countryman B6 omni microphones. All dialogue tracks for Barbie Live! have been pre-recorded in local languages. The performers on stage mime the dialogue, staying in sync by following low-volume English tracks played on the MM-4 fold-back loudspeakers.
The first performances for the show were in Singapore at Marina Bay Sands, where Mr Harada’s long-time associate Douglas Graves assisted with show design and the initial system alignment. Traveling with the tour, meanwhile, are FOH engineer Tristan Jackson and systems tech Andrea Espinosa.