Multimedia Magic

How theatres are embracing multimedia on stage and what’s in store for Act II

By Allan T. Duffin

At Henry Ford Community College in Dearborn, Mich., a spellbound audience wearing 3-D glasses leans forward in their seats as glittering lights zoom overhead. Onstage, actors garbed in futuristic spacesuits are bathed in orange and red fire as an electrical storm rages around them. The production, which premiered in 2003, was a science-fiction staging of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.” But this version of the well-known play sported a fresh twist: the cast meshed with riveting three-dimensional multimedia, creating an aural and visual experience that blended classic stagecraft with cutting-edge digital technology.

Dr. George Popovich, director of the Virtual Theatricality Lab at the college, began his adventures in multimedia in 1995, when the college’s technology investment fund awarded him a grant to explore the use of computer-assisted teaching aids. During the next five years, Popovich investigated the latest in computer hardware and software, animation and 3-D stereoscopic projection. His science-fiction take on “The Tempest” hit the stage soon thereafter, followed by a production of Caryl Churchill’s “The Skriker” in 2006. Popovich is currently preparing the children’s play “Dinosaurus!” for its premiere late this year.

“Rather than produce a ‘freak ‘em out in your face’ style production,” noted Popovich during the run of “The Tempest,” “we wanted as many traditional theatre audience members as possible to view our show. The point was to demonstrate how digital techniques could be applied to traditional theatre and not just the obvious choices such as performance art and other stylistic experiments.”

The advantages of digital technology include “improved quality of audio and video, increased flexibility, and simplification of technical systems at the operator level,” says Jim Tetlow, owner and principal consultant of Nautilus Entertainment Design, Inc., in La Jolla, Calif. The company helps create lighting, audio, video and special effects systems for theatres and other entertainment facilities like cruise ships, Las Vegas hotels, and even the Senate and House chambers in the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.

With digital lighting equipment like the DL.3 and Barco DML-1200, for example, “users can change their set design on the fly, thereby reducing hardware costs and labor time,” says Debi Moen, marketing communications specialist for High End Systems. “Panoramic set-ups are also achieved quickly, thereby eliminating or reducing the need for actual structural sets.”

Audio, lighting and video

One of the most difficult things about working with multimedia is that the technology encompasses such a huge variety of equipment. From front- and rear-projection screens to drapery and audio systems, the sheer number of “multimedia” elements can seem overwhelming. Although it might feel like digital technology has been around for a long time, it’s worth noting that Virtual Theatricality Lab’s version of “The Tempest”-the second production in the world to use 3-D stereoscopic projection and real-time virtual-reality scenery-premiered just five years ago. For theatres that are experimenting with multimedia or are simply exploring the possibilities, a variety of consultants and equipment vendors stand ready to help.

Jim Tetlow separates the multimedia world into four areas: audio, lighting, video and integrated control. When designing audio systems, says Tetlow, “We have been specifying all-digital audio consoles for most new theatres, using predominantly products manufactured by Yamaha including the PM1D and the PM5D.” Digital consoles offer control over a large number of audio channels in a compact space, says Tetlow. In addition, the consoles contain most of the audio processing needs-equalization, limiting and effects, for example-that used to be done by separate pieces of equipment.

In the lighting arena, “while we are still dependent on more traditional theatrical lighting fixtures,” notes Tetlow, “the use of LEDs (light-emitting diodes) is becoming more prevalent with new products coming to market on a continual basis.” Tetlow points to LED products manufactured by Color Kinetics, Pulsar, and SGM of Italy.

Vendors like Rose Brand and High End Systems supply gear and technical support to theatres around the world. Secaucus, N.J.-based Rose Brand handles multimedia sales through its Dynamic Scenery/Technical Services department. “We deal with LEDs and fiber optic drapes,” among other items, says Product Manager Jeff Brown. Rose Brand serves as a distributor for products like the Soft-LED drapery from Mainlight, the ShowLED line of lighting effects, and additional products manufactured by Acclaim.

The newfangled video technology you have at home is becoming more prevalent in the theatre, where Tetlow notes a dramatic increase in the use of plasma and LCD video displays from manufacturers like NEC, Samsung and Sharp. Playback of video for productions is typically handled by a media server like Rose Brand’s Panorama or High End Systems’ Axon.

Video displays can also be used in the house and lobby to run previews and other advertising. “Most of the theatres we’re looking at these days are embracing the lobby video monitor,” says Randy Willis, supervisory consultant and manager of media systems at McKay Conant Hoover, Inc., a consultancy with locations in Westlake Village, Calif., and Scottsdale, Ariz. During a show, says Willis, the large flat-panel displays in the lobby can show video of the performance. That way, “folks who come late and don’t want to interrupt the performance don’t have to miss anything happening onstage while they wait to take their seats,” he explains.

Integrated Control

Having a solid collection of multimedia equipment can be helpful, but theatres need a piece of computer hardware to automatically coordinate everything onstage. An integrated control system like those made by AMX and Crestron allows a production to control various multimedia elements through an “Internet Protocol,” or IP, network. IP is a communications protocol that provides a speedy method for hardware and software to talk to each other. “The user interface is typically a small color LCD touch screen that is used as the operator interface for lighting, audio, video, rigging and other effects,” explains Tetlow.

From the home page of the integrated control system an operator can select a different page for each subordinate system and then control many of the system options. For example, on the audio page, an operator can select an audio device such as a microphone or CD player and then adjust the volume of each device. On the lighting page, recorded presets can be recalled for both the house lighting and theatrical lighting systems. On the rigging page, the operator controls curtains and projection screens. “If a show has been pre-programmed, then the entire production can be started and stopped from this simple-to-operate control panel,” says Tetlow.

The bottom line: budget and capability

Digital audio and video might be snazzy, but the technology can also be quite expensive. When shopping around for new equipment, “make sure you know what you want and what you want to do,” urges Popovich. “Always have the company come to your venue and demonstrate the equipment.”

Popovich’s multimedia facility is a rarity in that he, his staff and students purchased and installed all of their equipment-everything from $40,000 in Barco projectors, to $160,000 in Vicon motion-capture cameras, to a $1,500 Behringer MX 9000 sound mixer. But for most theatres, sitting down with a design consultant is critical in making the shift to multimedia, especially when budget is a key issue. Brown notes that renting a media server can cost $700 a week, while an outright purchase runs between $7,000 and $10,000 depending on what options are installed.

In Arizona, McKay Conant Hoover is currently consulting on a 1,500-seat theatre that has “just started to touch on the multimedia aspect of what they can do,” says Willis. Among other possibilities being discussed, the theatre would like to be able to run a lightly staffed show with very little setup, and to use video presentations during dance performances. Willis is preparing information about product configurations that match the theatre’s requirements.

Knowledge needed

Keyboards, touch screens and interactive graphics might make your new digital equipment seem simple to use, but the bells and whistles can be deceiving. “At the operator level,” says Tetlow, “it provides a simpler interface for complex systems. However, at the set-up and maintenance level it can be more complicated and require a background in IP networking.”

Brown notes that the Panorama media server was designed for the skilled theatre technician with little or no experience on such a piece of equipment. “We like to think that a skilled technician can be using Panorama in a day,” he says. “Obviously, like all theatrical control equipment, the operator will become more skilled with more use.” Furthermore, he says, the system can be installed by the theatre staff or by a technician supplied by the vendor. “We’re happy to send out one of our technicians to install and train, if that’s the client’s desire,” says Brown.

Why not stick with the tried-and-true?

If your theatre is happy with traditional methods of staging, is there any need to convert to digital multimedia at all? “In the big picture, I don\'t see the transition from analog to digital as an option, but rather a necessity,” says Tetlow. “The question becomes, at what point do you change to digital systems, and how do you deal with it?” The best way to prepare, he adds, is to retrain existing theatre technicians and look carefully at the résumés of new or potential employees to see if they have the background to work with digital multimedia and networks.

Unfamiliarity shouldn’t be a roadblock, says Willis. Theatres are becoming more comfortable with using multimedia technology in their day-to-day operations, as opposed to loading in video and audio equipment for a specific performance. “It’s now part of the thread of their everyday production,” he says.

“My advice is not to be scared of the new video technologies,” notes Brown. “Most of the best products are not difficult to understand and use-and they can change the nature of scenic and lighting design.”



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