Project: ‘1830’ Musical Spectacle
Products: Allen & Heath dLive, Shure AD-1 Body Packs, Shure Axient Digital Wireless System, Waves System EVP380 Event Players
Done by: Twin4u

About The Musical

When you come to see ‘1830’, you can expect to find yourself in a beautiful, authentic, and compelling story. The revolutionary wave that swept through Europe in the 19th century spread like a wildfire until it also reached our regions. This was to the great displeasure of the Dutch who, under the leadership of King William 1, had authority over the Belgian territories. The Belgians increasingly express their dissatisfaction with his style of government, until one evening whole Brussels is thrown into turmoil… Gradually we get to know a Brussels family that experiences everything from close by. 

Whereas the previous shows of Historalia always took place on the water surrounding the castle, during ‘1830’ the audience discovers the entire domain. The actors perform in three locations that are within walking distance of each other. 

The audience is split into two different groups and over two different pop-up theaters. Group A starts in the Dutch Theater, Group B starts the show in the Belgian theater. In both pop-up theaters, the audience discovers the story of the Belgian Revolution, from each side of the story.

The end of the show takes place in a covered grandstand for an impressive outdoor apotheosis. The front of the castle is part of the decor where Hollands & Belgiums best theater actors take part in a play by Luc Stevens. 

Technical Background

Because the musical exists of 3 different locations (Belgium, Holland & Apotheosis), there are a lot of technical difficulties because all the actors and the audience from the Belgium and Holland stage come together at the Apotheosis. RF and sound had to be the same for all locations, for the audience but also for the cast and their in-ear monitoring.

In general, 107 Shure AD1 body packs, for the wireless in-ears and Shure Axient Digital transmitters, were used. Besides that, there were several wireless intercoms and walkie-talkies in the ether. We can talk of a complex production regarding RF & system management. 

Allen & Heath dLive Controls Everything

“Because of the importance of being connected, we chose to use Allen & Heath dLive consoles since they are based on network control”, says Philippe from Twin4U. On location, they have used three dLive consoles on all three locations, but in practice, they actually used 4 dLive systems: 

• Belgian Theater: C3500 + DM64 + DANTE card
• Dutch Theater: C3500 + DM64 + DANTE card
• Apotheosis: S7000 + DM64 + DANTE card
• PC editor + DM0 + DANTE card

Waves System EVP380 Event Players For Music & DMX-Controls

Because the audience had to move between three different locations, the Waves System EVP380 Event Players were used across the castle domain for background music and DMX-controls. During the shows, visitors had to wear wireless headphones with 3 available channels, one channel for each stage. To make it easy for the visitors, the audience didn’t have to change the channels themselves. This was done by the production team thanks to the Waves System Event Players, which make it able to control the headphones remotely. 

The players were also used for “Ding Dong Calls”. These were notification calls that let visitors know when the shows were to start and also to give emergency calls in case of fire or other emergencies. The whole audio system was provided with emergency batteries for the reason that if the power cuts off in case of emergency, the production team would still be able to assist the visitors towards the exit safely. 

All Shure, Waves System & Allen & Heath systems were linked using a 1.2km fiber network loop on which network control, Dante audio, video, … were all connected. 

The technical setup of the musical production has been set up by Twin4u.