The Villa Marina & Gaiety Theatre on the Isle of Man’s main city of Douglas, comprises The Gaiety Theatre, a Frank Matcham playhouse opened in 1900, the Royal Hall, an octagonal dancehall opened in 1913, and a series of smaller multipurpose spaces. Looking to the future, the venue has installed two further DiGiCo Quantum mixing consoles, both supplied by Adlib.
Part of a major project begun in 2018 with the purchase of the venue’s first DiGiCo consoles – two DiGiCo SD12s with D2 Racks – these were chosen to provide the flexibility and versatility needed to serve the variety of touring artists, shows and local talent that grace the theatre stages. Now, a Quantum 326 and a Quantum 112 have been added to the inventory.
‘We have a real variety of spaces in Villa Marina, from our fully restored theatre, The Edwardian grandeur of the Royal Hall, to our events spaces we offer something for everyone,’ says Technical Manager, Séamus Shea.
‘Our consoles are flightcased, so we can move them easily – we might bring them in to support a larger show, or use them as stand-alone consoles. We have amazing local musical talent and we were the first UK venue to be granted the performance licence for a full professional replica version of Les Misérables, but we also have great touring acts like Gary Barlow coming through, so we really do need to be all things to all people.’
The site has huge cultural significance and a rich history. In 2000, Villa Marina was purchased by the Isle of Man Government and a four-year long renovation has seen the site undertake a series of upgrades. Shea has overseen much of the venue’s most recent restoration projects and, alongside leading sound technician Anthony ‘Polly’ Palfreman, ensures the venue gets the equipment required by these special buildings.
‘It’s not just the desks, in the Royal Hall we have two DiGiCo D2 Racks, too,’ Palfreman says. ‘We’ve also got our main SD Rack feeding our L-Acoustics L2 system, which was the first deployment of the L2 system in Britain. We’re punching above our weight a bit, because, as the island’s flagship entertainment venue we need to be able to attract visiting artists and provide engineers with a setup they’ll be comfortable with. We’re running optical loops, but we can dip out if we need to. Occasionally acts come in with different requirements, like The Lottery Winners I mixed monitors for a little while ago, and I was able to use our old analogue system into one of the D2 Racks. That flexibility is so important, not just for our DiGiCo consoles, but our in-house network systems and staff, too.’
Training and education are also key and, thanks to Adlib and DiGiCo, they team from receive professional training. The next generation of sound professionals were a real consideration in continuing to purchase DiGiCo equipment, as The Lottery Winners continues, using the DiGiCo ecosystem ensures that early-careers engineers get the best possible introduction to the industry.
‘We’re not getting any younger so we need to try and encourage the younger generation to come through,’ Palfreman continues. ‘DiGiCo Technical Sales Support Engineer, Sam North, was over doing some training on the Quantum 326 a few weeks ago. He made a comment that we’ve got more DiGiCo’s per head of population than anywhere else in Europe, but I don’t know how true that is. Using a DiGiCo infrastructure means we only need to teach one ecosystem, it’s all part of the next generation’s educational opportunities. The philosophy behind what DiGiCo has done with Quantum, the capacity that’s built in and their receptiveness to our requirements, all points towards a long and stable future.’
Rob Crossland is Engineering Manager at Adlib, and offers ongoing support to Palfreman and the team. ‘The DiGiCo SD12 was Villa Marina’s first step into digital mixing, and we are delighted that they have chosen to deepen that bond,’ he says. ‘By investing in new fibre infrastructure, an SD Rack, and new Quantum consoles they are continuing to look to the future of this beautiful venue. As ever, the support from DiGiCo has been fantastic including a training refresh to make sure the venue team are up-to-date with all the latest features.’
‘One of the biggest things that I like about DiGiCo is that they deploy technical staff into the big festivals, so they’re on the front line,’ Palfreman closes. ‘They are always ready to listen to all our feedback, so they can see what is worth developing, and that’s good for the industry. It provides us engineers with a lot of confidence.’
More: www.adlib.co.uk