The first Spanish adaptation of the musical Wicked in Mexico City's Teatro Telcel sold a record-breaking 50,000 tickets in its first five weeks. Using the Meyer Sound Constellation® acoustic system, renowned Broadway sound designer Tony Meola has created a dynamic soundscape that enriches the audience experience.
Constellation combines the physical acoustics of a space with patented algorithms to create acoustics with natural characteristics and flexibility. This technology allows the sound designer to create multiple acoustic environments during a show and transport the audience into the story.
"Constellation works amazingly well with amplified musicals in houses like Teatro Telcel,"; observes Meola. "Amplified sound in a dead acoustical environment makes it sound like the room doesn't have any dimension to it. But with Constellation, all of a sudden the sound is given dimension, and everything sounds much more real. I was surprised when I heard the effect, and I imagine it would be very welcome in many of the road houses where Wicked tours will play well into the future.";
To ensure Teatro Telcel would accommodate events ranging from symphonic concerts and operas to hard rock shows and Broadway musicals, the architects specified a dry baseline acoustic signature so it could be augmented as needed through Constellation's acoustical adaptability. The heart of Constellation is a D-Mitri® digital audio platform with 20 modules and 57 ambient sensing microphones. After the patented VRAS™ acoustical algorithms are applied, sound is distributed to the system of over 200 Meyer Sound loudspeakers and subwoofers. The Constellation system was installed by Naucalpan de Juárez-based Teletec.
"The effect of Constellation is remarkable,"; says Meola. "In final rehearsals for Wicked, when we had the system off, the associate director commented that ‘It sounds very canned.' We turned on Constellation, and I never heard that comment again.";
For sound reinforcement, Meola has specified a Meyer Sound system based around line arrays of MINA™ and M1D line array loudspeakers.
PRG (Production Resource Group) Mexico provided and installed the sound reinforcement system, in conjunction with the technical crew of OCESA. OCESA, Mexico's leading theatrical and concert promotion organization, operates Teatro Telcel.
Located in Mexico City's trendy Polanco district, Teatro Telcel was conceptualized by famed Spanish architect Antón García-Abril and executed by Mexican architect José De Arimatea Moyao.
Wicked has broken numerous box-office records on Broadway, and on national and international tours.
Design Team
- Tony Meola, sound designer
- PRG (Production Resource Group) Mexico, equipment supplier
- OCESA, theatrical and concert promoter
- Teletec, systems integration
- Meyer Sound, audio technology manufacturer
Equipment
Constellation
- D-Mitri
- 114 Stella-4
- 18 Stella-8
- 48 UP-4XP
- 38 MM-4XP
- 13 UPJunior
- 24 MM-10XP
Reinforcement
- 20 MINA
- 22 M1D
- 6 UPJ-1P
- 7 UPA-1P
- 9 UPJunior
- 9 UPM-1P
- 16 UPM-2P
- 52 MM-4
- 4 700-HP
- 2 600-HP
- 5 Galileo 616