#Showboat lyric opera chicago series#

#Showboat lyric opera chicago series#

And even if arts lovers and philanthropists sought to preserve 19th century opera works in the 20th century through the opening of the majestic Lyric Opera House in 1929 and the founding of Lyric Opera of Chicago in the mid-1950s, isn't it time to acknowledge the change in musical theatre preferences and recognize the durability of so many musical theater classics?Ī 2012 production of 1927's Show Boat began to make the case for Lyric productions of Broadway musicals, and upon the urging and guidance of soprano Renée Fleming, the company committed to a series of annual stagings of Rodgers and Hammerstein classics, beginning with Oklahoma! in 2013. If opera was the most popular musical theatre genre of the 19th century in Western culture, surely musical theatre surpassed the popularity of that art form in the 20th century.

Dubbed 'Broadway at Lyric,' these shows have been among the company's most popular events, but beyond the marketing benefits of bringing such well-known and much-loved titles to the 3,500-seat Lyric Opera House, this programming has artistic justification as well. We just don’t find that whole range of support with other manufacturers.Since 2013, Lyric Opera of Chicago has presented full-scale productions of musicals from Broadway as a sort of bonus offering in their seasons of mostly 19th century European operas. And the seminars that they do all over the world, which we’ve participated in and hosted, are amazing. They stock deeply – the parts are always available. ‘It’s so important when you’re putting multiple loudspeakers next to one another that they all sound exactly the same, and I don’t think Meyer has any peer. ‘John and Helen have such a dedication to consistency and quality,’ Cech adds. ‘We’ve been a Meyer Sound dealer for 18 years – Meyer is also the primary loudspeaker brand in our rental department and live event business. ‘Without a doubt, this has been some of the best sound we’ve had in our auditorium.’Ĭhicago-based sales, rental, and live events company TC Furlong provided the Meyer Sound package: ‘It’s our go-to loudspeaker,’ says Jeff Cech, general manager at TC Furlong. ‘The line arrays are such an elegant solution for getting a lot of sound into the house yet really being precise about where that sound is going,’ Landmesser continues.

Specifically, the sound system comprised ten M2D line array loudspeakers, 16 MM-4XP self-powered loudspeakers, two CQ-1 loudspeakers, one 700-HP subwoofer, a Galileo loudspeaker management system, and two MPS-488HPe power supply units. ‘Where we’re focusing that and how we’re using it is a matter of great precision.’ ‘It’s a deep auditorium and we do not want the sound from our speaker system to be slapping the walls and coming back as unwanted reflections,’ Landmesser begins. In fact, amplified sound represents a significant departure from the company’s reliance on its house acoustics. To stage Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein’s 1927 masterpiece, the theatre brought in a large complement of sound reinforcement equipment from Meyer Sound. To get everyone’s diction – their song and spoken words – and to be as crisp and clear as possible is quite a challenge.’

‘This is a 3,600-plus-seat house, a huge hall to be doing a musical. ‘As a company, we’re not just doing the great works of European culture but also the great works of American culture,’ says the theatre’s Production and Technical Director, Drew Landmesser. Certainly, the Lyric Opera of Chicago operated to the highest of standards – including its use of sound.Īmong its recent productions was a grand presentation of Show Boat. Esquire magazine reckons that it is ‘one of the best opera companies in the world’.