Avid Helps Gareth Owen Bring the Biggest Musical Theater Productions to Broadway and The West End
Award-winning sound designer relies on Avid VENUE | S6L to deliver pristine sound for some of this year’s biggest musical theater productions, including A Bronx Tale, Bat Out of Hell, Wind in the Willows and 42nd Street
Avid® recently announced that award-winning sound designer Gareth Owen relies on Avid’s flagship live sound system to support some of the world’s most popular musical theater productions. Avid VENUE™ | S6Lprovided Owen with the sound quality and versatility to meet the demands of multiple, concurrent stage productions this summer, including Bat Out of Hell, Wind in the Willows and 42nd Street—all running in London’s West End, as well as A Bronx Tale and Come From Away on Broadway.
Working on a diverse range of high-profile productions, Owen needs a live sound system with the power and flexibility to create the perfect sound for each production regardless of the genre. As long-time members of Avid’s distinguished user community, Owen and his team were the first to adopt Avid VENUE | S6L for Broadway and West End productions, using its extensive programming capabilities to craft much of each show during the production phase.
“Every show is different, and some are polar opposites of each other in terms of sonic requirements—for example, Bat Out of Hell is a balls-to-the-wall rock and roll musical, as loud as any concert, while 42nd Street is the traditional book musical, all about subtlety and transparency,” said Owen. “The S6L takes these varying musical styles in its stride, tackling them all as if it was designed specifically for that purpose. The sound quality is far ahead of any other console I’ve used. There’s a clarity and transparency to the sound of the S6L that’s a new experience for me. And it gives me the power to explore my creativity without being hemmed in by the technology.”
Owen and his team are currently using the Avid VENUE | S6L console for several shows, including Come From Away (Broadway), A Bronx Tale (Broadway), ,42nd Street (West End), Young Frankenstein (West End) and Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame (Germany). They will also be using the console for a number of upcoming productions, including Donna Summer (Broadway), Come From Away (Toronto), Prince of Egypt (Denmark), Bat Out of Hell (Toronto), Starlight Express (London) and Strictly Ballroom (London).
“We are honored that one of the world’s top sound designers relies on Avid’s comprehensive tools and workflow solutions to mix the biggest musical theater productions,” said Avid President, Jeff Rosica. “As well as giving Gareth and his team the control and creative flexibility to support the most sophisticated productions regardless of genre, the Avid VENUE | S6L console’s sound quality is second to none.”