LAS VEGAS – Known for her incomparable humor and captivating charisma, the Divine Miss M. created Bette Midler The Showgirl Must Go On exclusively for The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. With the help of Meyer Sound and Montreal-based Solotech, Midler’s repertoire fills the room with an energetic, comical and rich-sounding spectacle.
The biggest Midler show ever, The Showgirl Must Go On features a total of 132 costume changes and is framed by curtains created from 75,000 individually painted gold coins. Highlighted by a 13-piece band, 20 back-up dancers and a glittering backdrop of Broadway-style theatre, the production has been a long time in the making. “I’ve been hoarding feathers and fans and sequins and rhinestones for the last fifty years and, hey, I’m ready to throw ‘em all on stage,” says Midler.
Following a five-year run of Celine Dion’s A New Day… through a Meyer Sound system, The Colosseum underwent a redesign, which resulted in a revision to the sound system configuration to provide an optimized audio visual experience for the 4,300 fans who occupy the theatre for each performance. The new system also allows for a seamless transition for the theatre’s three other resident performers who include Elton John, Cher and Jerry Seinfeld. “We had to create a system to accommodate all four artists,” says Dave Torti, The Colosseum’s Head of Audio. “The Meyer Sound system provides great overall coverage, and is a lot more flexible for us.”
The Colosseum’s Technical Director Bob Sandon agrees: “Historically, we’ve always used Meyer Sound, and it was a no-brainer to continue. We have enjoyed our great relationship with Meyer, and its systems hang very cleanly, which is important in a room like the Colosseum.”
According to David Morgan, Midler’s FOH engineer of 15 years, the clarity of the Meyer Sound system is apparent. “I’m very pleased with the detail and dynamics I hear in the mix both as an audience member and as a mixer,” says Morgan. “The system gives me the freedom to mix things very subtly, because the definition and realism are remarkable.”
Designed by Frankie Desjardins (known for his work with Dion), the Meyer Sound system includes left and right arrays of eight M3D line array loudspeakers each and two arrays of three MSL-4 loudspeakers with a CQ-1 loudspeaker at the bottom. Twin arrays of 11 MICA line array loudspeakers are positioned in the center, with the additional seating covered by eight MILO 120 line array loudspeakers. Two arrays of six M’elodie line array loudspeakers are used as sidefills and 14 MM-4 miniature loudspeakers at stage lip serve as frontfills. Four SB-2 parabolic wide-range sound beams provide precisely defined narrow coverage for the far sides. Twelve M3D-Sub directional subwoofers and eight USW-1P subwoofers provide ample low end. Other UltraSeries loudspeakers including UPA-1P and UPM-1P loudspeakers are spread throughout the room. Galileo loudspeaker management system with three Galileo 616 units provides system drive and processing.
“The MILO 120 cabinets are pointing almost straight down,” explains Torti. “And the MM-4s are splayed and delayed to bring the image down from the MILO 120s overhead. It works great. The whole system feels like a set of well-tuned studio monitors. There is no other sound system that can make it sound like you’re mixing in the studio.”
Mixing on a Meyer Sound system is not a new venture for Morgan, but is what he finds a consistently rewarding experience. “I first encountered John Meyer’s systems more than two decades ago, and I have always enjoyed a great deal of success with them,” says Morgan. “Any time I’ve mixed a show on a Meyer system it has always delivered exceptional results.”
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