Following a successful limited run world premiere at the Oriental Theatre in Chicago in March and April earlier this year, Pretty Woman – The Musical made its expected move to Broadway in the summer enhanced by a comprehensive Point Source audio system from KV2 Audio.

Based on the 1990 film Pretty Woman, the book for the musical was written by the film’s director, the late Garry Marshall, and screenwriter J.F. Lawton. Pretty Woman – The Musical features an original score with music and lyrics by Bryan Adams and his songwriting partner Jim Vallance. Orchestration was by Will Van Dyke with sound design by renowned Broadway sound designer, John Shivers, and long-time collaborator, sound designer and audio engineer, David Patridge. Even before it’s official opening on August 16, 2018, the musical broke the Nederlander Theatre box office record for an eight-performance week.

Having used KV2 Audio gear for more than 10 Broadway musicals – including the audio refit of The Lion King – Shivers and Patridge specified a system based around KV2s SL412 point source speaker system for the centre and two actively driven, narrow footprint full range ESR215s at left and right and supplemented by a variety of application-defined loudspeakers from the KV2 portfolio, including the passive ESD Series and the active EX Series.

According to Patridge, “Working in Broadway theatre is always a challenge physically. Locations for speakers are often dictated by architecture such as box seats and sight lines. Fortunately, the narrow width of the ESR215 is a real asset. It has become our go-to loudspeaker for a main system at the proscenium.”

“Clarity and detail of the soundstage is most noticeable,” Patridge said. “Point source also ends up being more economical and easier to deploy in a theatre environment. Another benefit is the rejection of feedback when forward of the PA as compared to a line array. On Pretty Woman this came in handy because much of the action is staged on a passerelle located where the railing of the orchestra pit would normally be – downstage of the speakers! We find KV2 loudspeakers are closer to working with something hi-fi.”

KV2’s audio has been received well by everyone involved with Pretty Woman – The Musical: “We got raves from everyone involved,” added Shivers. “Everyone from the producers to the director, choreographer, music supervisor, orchestrator/arranger and music contractor has commented on how amazing the system sounds. The smiles on the faces of the patrons and critics confirms it.”