Blurring fact and fiction, Nevermore – The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe reckoned to take audiences at NYC’s New World Stages performing arts complex on an unforgettable journey. The show used haunting music, a complex soundscape and ingenious stagecraft to tell the story of a tormented yet visionary writer who has fascinated the world for more than a century.
With sound design by Wade Staples, theatrical sound reinforcement, installation and design company Masque Sound took on the audio equipment package.
Staples had designed the sound for previous productions and tours of the show, informing his design for this latest off-Broadway version: ‘One of my main goals was to make sure that every person in the audience can clearly hear the story that is being told,’ he says. ‘Since there was no existing full audio system in place at New World Stages, we needed to design one that would optimise the sound in the space, provide full coverage from over balcony to under balcony and serve the needs of the production and its audiences. Masque Sound put together the package that we needed to be successful.’
One of Staples’ main challenges was the production’s continuing evolution: ‘Having a flexible system that works well and can adapt to the progressive changes of the play is very important,’ he explains. ‘Nevermore successfully toured using the Yamaha DM2000 console, so bringing the console to New World Stages made logical sense and allowed for some programming continuity and integration of the music and sound effects playback systems.’
For the loudspeaker system, Staples combined his system design background with the experience of the production sound company and team at New World Stages. As a result, the package uses an assortment of Meyer Sound loudspeakers: ‘With Meyer’s products, I am able to take the CAD files of the venue and set and put them into Meyer’s MAPP Online Pro acoustical prediction software program to do a lot of modelling,’ he says. ‘I have found with their equipment that I can walk into the space, and the response I am going to get is very accurate.’
The full package included Meyer Sound CQ-1 loudspeakers for the orchestra left, right and centre down fill. The mezzanine used CQ-2s on the left and right and a CQ-1 for the centre. Front fills were Meyer Sound MM-4s, which were used for the first few rows to pull the image down. Additionally, Masque Sound provided Meyer Sound UPM-1Ps to use as on-stage speakers for on-stage monitoring and effects. The team used a USW-1P sub upstage centre, Meyer Sound 500-HP subwoofers for the mains with UPM-1Ps for the over balcony and under balcony. Eastern Acoustic Works JF60zs complemented the package and were used for surrounds.
The mics used included Sennheiser MKE 2 Golds and ten channels of Sennheiser wireless, with Masque Sound managing RF frequency coordination for the production. From a creative standpoint, Staples wanted to use a combination of different effects on the microphones to engulf create a ‘storybook feel’. To accomplish this, delay and reverb were heavily used within the surround sound system to help pull the listener into the story while, at the same time, keeping the vocals clear.
‘This production was a wonderful collaboration with a lot of talented people,’ Staples reflects. ‘Joshua Reid, my assistant sound designer and A1, worked closely with Masque Sound to build the equipment package specified, and his knowledge of the venue and mixing expertise was extremely helpful. My A2 Chet Miller also did an excellent job looking after the cast and the RF microphones. In addition, Masque Sound’s commitment to respecting the wishes of the designer is great. They worked toward the budget and put together great packages in the shop so that when we got to the installation, we were able to plug in the equipment and everything worked spectacularly.’
More: www.masquesound.com
