OLD LYME, CONNECTICUT: More and more opera companies are using sound reinforcement, but contrary to what the traditionalist and technophobes might say, the change is a good one. "Today's audiences, weaned on TV, expect a level of intelligibility that can only be realized through sound reinforcement," commented Herb Lagoski, Sound Designer and Engineer for both the Houston Grand Opera and the Starlight Theatre in Kansas City. "However, the type of reinforcement is key - from my perspective it must be completely transparent, both visually and sonically. From the microphone end, these requirements can be achieved by wireless microphone systems -provided they're reliable!"

Lagoski began using another leading manufacturer's microphone systems in the Starlight Theater several years ago. "I would have gone with Sennheiser first," recalled Lagoski, "but this was during the U.S. Summer Olympics, and all the wireless rental houses I worked with were sending their Sennheiser systems to Atlanta." A few months later he heard the Sennheiser 5000 wireless series being used by the Broadway touring company of Peter Pan and talking with the local Sennheiser sales rep, R. J. Throckmorton, Lagoski decided on using Sennheiser wireless. Lagoski contacted by Bob Dietsch, president and principal consultant at Harvest Productions, an equipment rental and sound design company in Kansas City to provide all the SR equipment for both venues and purchased thirty Sennheiser EM-3532-U receivers. This single rack space features two true diversity receivers and is designed to cope with the most demanding conditions in musicals, theatre and broadcasting.

"Sennheiser backed up their receivers with world class support," noted Lagoski. "A question to the factory was immediately answered. At one point during setup, the factory suggested we return ten of the units for frequency adjustments. Off they went to Old Lyme, and in three days we had them back...now that's service!" he concluded. The rest of the system includes Sennheiser SK50 transmitters, SKM5000 handheld transmitters, AB-400 Antenna Boosters, GZA-1036-9 antennas and SAS-432 Antenna Distribution system. "All of Sennheiser wireless systems are interchangeable. So if decide to upgrade to the 5000 receivers, we can still use the same transmitters," remarked Lagoski.

The frequency agility and functionality of the Sennheiser system impressed Lagoski as well, "the software that came with the system allows me to do a frequency sweep of the house to anticipate and avoid frequency conflicts. This feature keeps me from worrying about a cab calling home base during an aria..." Pre-show announcements, using a handheld microphone are made on different frequencies than those used for the actual show, a change that is made seamlessly with Sennheiser's silent switching capability.

The Houston Grand Opera, winner of a Tony, two Grammys, and two Emmy awards, is in its 45th season and dedicated to both new and traditional productions. While their indoor home is in the Wortham Center, the company recently performed Puccini's Madame Butterfly at Houston's Miller Outdoor Theater on the ground-breaking Multimedia Modular Stage. The stage is flanked by two video screens for live-action video and animation, three additional screens to accommodate crossfading still projections, risers for an on-stage orchestra, hydraulic lifts, etc. - it's basically the same setup that is successfully used for rock concerts.

In Madame Butterfly, the entire company was outfitted with head-mounted, Broadway-standard Sennheiser MKE2 lavalier microphones. "Most of the singers hadn't worn them before, but welcomed the idea," recalled Lagoski. In addition to the MKE2s, the cast wore the Sennheiser SK50 body-pack transmitters outfitted with three battery packs to maintain power during the five to six-hour long rehearsals.

At an earlier opera-cast, indoor performance of Sondheim's "A Little Night Music" at the Wortham Center, Lagoski again used the same Sennheiser wireless systems on the entire cast. Given the great acoustics of the opera house, however, very little processing was used on the vocals. The result was natural sounding with dialog boosted only insofar as it enhanced intelligibility. Greg Weber, Technical Director at the Houston Grand Opera was quite pleased. The house system Lagoski designed for this production included EAW KF650s in a left, center, right flown configuration with EAW JF80s for the underbalcony, KF300 for fills and SB-1000 subwoofers. Crown Macro-Tech 3600s provide the amplification, delay functions were handled by TOA 2040 DSPs and SFX playback software greatly enhanced the effects.

At the 8,000-seat, outdoor Starlight Theater, Lagoski is using twenty-six Sennheiser wireless systems mostly for Broadway productions, such as Grease, Annie, and the King and I. For Grease, he decided the Sennheiser NB2 headsets would provide greater intelligibility given the rock 'n roll type score and necessary volume levels. The cast was thrilled with vocal clarity of their performance in light of the stage's problem with echoes from a distant back wall. Another unique use of Sennheiser wireless was for the band stage mic during the famous Grease prom scene. Lagoski found an old RCA mic, gutted it and put an SK-50 transmitter and MKE-2 mic inside creating a 'live wireless mic' that looked wired. The elements fit together perfectly

"At Starlight Theater, I was able to mix for a transparent, natural sound as opposed to the sometimes grating, musical-theatre sound. With the opera, it was a minimalist approach - clean, unobtrusive reinforcement enhancing everything that is sublime about opera," concluded Lagoski.