68 APRIL 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM
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from ABBA. He had heard my work
on another show and was eager to
collaborate. The London show is the first
one to be produced after Mamma Mia!
The Party in Stockholm, which has been
a huge success since it opened three
years ago. That is not to say this one is
a mirror image of Stockholm, as that
production was done by another designer.
I did go and see the show, but my design
isn’t based on the Stockholm one. The
producers wanted an entirely fresh
approach - and of course, the rooms are
not identical, each one presents different
acoustic requirements.”Owen is known to be a d&b audiotechnik
devotee and his design at the O2 is
testament to that. At first glance, it would
appear that almost every type of d&b
loudspeaker is hanging in the taverna -
V8s form the main east and west arrays,
with Y8s flown in the centre; Y7Ps look
after the central table seating, but the
hidden gems are the little dynamites
from the E-Series that work in all the
balcony areas and pillar corners. Low-
end comes in the form of SL-Subs and
V-Subs. “The range of loudspeakers that
d&b manufactures is so comprehensive;
each one being totally compatible with
the others. In such a complicated room,
d&b’s range enabled me to create even
coverage and punchy sound across the
performance area, which is essentially
the entire room.” Owen’s confidence in
his choices was well-founded. “The initial
design that we planned was pretty much
exactly what went into the room. Wedidn’t need to make much in the way of
changes as we went along - we prepared
for all eventualities, as they say!”“d&b’s consistency has been a huge
factor here,” he continues. “It doesn’t
matter if it’s the V-Series or the E-Series,
line array or point source - the vocal
reproduction is seamless. For example,
I needed the power and impact of the
larger V box, but the physical space
available prohibited me from squeezing
them into the centre position, and the Y8s
do the job perfectly. As for the E-Series:
we use the small E-series boxes all over
the place. They are discrete enough
that you can hide them amongst the
foliage, but powerful enough to be useful.
Because of the nature of this show, with
the cast performing in every corner of the
room, I can be fairly sure that they will be
standing in front of a speaker somewhere
which, to be honest, is by far the toughest
part of the show. This, combined with
the sometimes rock-concert volume,
made for some interesting gain before
feedback challenges. But, once I’ve EQ’d
the feedback out of one box, it doesn’t
matter whether the actors are performing
in front of a line array or point source box,
small or large, we are still feedback-free.
This makes my life so much easier.”FOH, the audio team has been fortunate
to maintain a presence in a relevant part
of the taverna. In other, similar immersive
productions, where every square foot lost
is a significant financial constraint, there
is a lot of production pressure to hideB From top: ABBA’s Benny Andersson and
Björn Ulvaeus at opening night in London
Comedian Sandi Toksvig, who wrote the
adaptation for the London show
Rob Jones, head of sound for MM!TPPhoto: Luke DysonPhoto: Arron KleinPhoto: Arron KleinPhoto: Gareth Owen