When the touring production of the hilarious, five-time Tony® Award-nominated 80’s musical Rock of Ages hit the road to rock its way across America for a third season, Masque Sound, a leading theatrical sound reinforcement, installation and design company, went along for the ride, supplying a custom audio equipment package to support Sound Designer Craig Cassidy and his team.
Set in 1987 on Hollywood’s famed Sunset Strip, Rock of Ages tells the story of a small town girl who meets a big city rocker at Los Angeles’ most famous rock club, The Bourbon Room. This arena-rock love story is told through the mind blowing, face-melting hits of the greatest bands of the 80’s including, Journey, Night Ranger, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister, Poison, Asia, Whitesnake, Bon Jovi and more.
Recreating the heavy, arena-rocking sound that defined the big hair 80’s with a PA system that would be able to move in and out of the theatres quickly enough for the tour’s rigorous schedule was Cassidy’s biggest challenge in designing the sound. To make this happen, Cassidy collaborated with the team at Masque Sound.
“Gary Stocker at Masque Sound was instrumental in creating a tower design that would provide us with the flexibility and sound we needed for the production,” says Cassidy. “Getting the SPL of a rock concert without having the cast run around with handhelds all night long is not an easy task — Masque Sound’s support and technical services played a big part in pulling it off.”
In order to create the hard-rock sound Cassidy envisioned, Masque Sound provided a DiGiCo SD 10 Digital Console for the front of house and a DiGiCo SD 8 at the monitor console. A line array featuring Meyer Sound MICA compact high-powered curvilinear loudspeakers and Meyer Sound 600 HP subwoofers were incorporated into the towers. Masque Sound also provided the production with Sennheiser 5212 transmitters, matching 1046 receivers and coupled them with DPA 4066 omnidirectional headset mics. In addition, Masque Sound supplied its expert frequency coordination services for the over 30 channels of wireless that are being used for the show.
“I have enjoyed a long relationship with Masque Sound, and it is my shop of choice,” adds Cassidy. “I can really lean on the staff’s expertise in a lot of areas. If I run into any problems, they always have someone there who can solve it for me. They are really top notch.”
About Masque Sound
Founded in 1936 by a trio of Broadway stagehands, Masque Sound evolved into one of NYC’s most successful theatrical sound reinforcement, installation and design companies specializing in theatrical, house of worship, sporting, corporate, TV broadcast and live concert events. Celebrating more than 75 years in the industry, the company is lead by Geoff Shearing, the firm’s 3rd generation owner, and Vice President and General Manager Stephanie Hansen. The company also operates Florida-based Professional Wireless Systems, a leader in the development and implementation of wireless technology. Credits range from major Broadway shows and tours including “Phantom of the Opera,” “Mamma Mia!,” “Lion King,” “Jersey Boys,” “Memphis,” “The Book of Mormon,” “Newsies,” “Once” and “Kinky Boots” to yearly Super Bowl broadcasts and installations of varying sizes, including New York’s New Victory Theater and historic St. Bartholomew’s Church. Masque Sound’s 70,000 sq. ft. corporate headquarters and main assembly facility is located at 21 East Union Ave., East Rutherford, NJ, 20 minutes from midtown Manhattan. For more information, call (201) 939-8666 or visit www.MasqueSound.com.
