Pioneer Theatre Company Unveils 'Best Theater Sound System in the State'

With an estimated $200,000 worth of state-of-the-art sound equipment, Pioneer Theatre Company can boast "the best theater sound system in the state."

Christopher Lino, Pioneer Theatre Company's managing director, recently led a demonstration and formal presentation of the system to members of the company's Board of Trustees and donors.

Each speaker within the theater have been upgraded to Meyer Sound's Point Source line arrayable loudspeakers that are controlled and processed by Meyers' Galileo processor, Lino explained. The front-of0house mixing console has been upgraded to a Midas Pro 9 series control surface with multiple I/O racks placed off stage left and orchestra pit. A location inside the theater previously used as an amplifier room is now a digital-signal processing space.

"It's been an absolute pleasure to not only install, but to know that I'll be designing sound on the best theater system in the state of Utah for the foreseeable future," said Joshua C. Hight, Pioneer Theatre resident sound designer.

According to Kirsten Park, director of marketing for Pioneer Theatre, the Midas Pro 9 series sound board is an enviable piece of equipment and "sound geeks recognize that thing in an instant and lust after it."

Other improvements include all head-worn microphones upgraded from the brand Countrymen to the brand DPA, and all orchestra microphones are now a combination of DPA, Neumann and a few top-of-the-line Shure products. The wireless systems are now all ULX or UHF systems by Shure.

Additionally, the Qlab system is now run through a BSS Summing Matrix that stacks on top of the front-of-house system, so that both systems can be used independently and simultaneously. The Qlab system can now program effects with any combination of 36 different outputs, either in the theater or on stage.

A fully professional theater in-residence at the University of Utah, Pioneer Theatre produces a seven-play season running from September through May that includes a mixture of classics, large-scale musicals, and contemporary dramas and comedies. Over the past 10 years, the theater has developed a reputation for Broadway-quality productions, including mounting Utah premieres as well as regional premieres.

Pioneer Theatre opens the Tony Award-winning "Peter and the Starcatcher," Dec. 5-20. Guest artist Jenn Thompson directs the production. Thompson currently serves as a co-artistic director of TACT/The Actors Company Theatre in New York City. Making his Pioneer Theatre debut in the role of Black Stache is Leo Ash Evens, who appeared on Broadway in "Jesus Christ Superstar."

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