Yamaha PM5D mixes ?Shrek El Musical?

Following its success on Broadway and the West End, the new Spanish-language version of Shrek the Musical is proving to be huge hit at Madrid’s Teatro Nuevo Apolo (New Apollo Theatre), with a Yamaha PM5D console at FOH.

Production company Theatre Properties, which specialises in musicals and has a number of Yamaha digital consoles in its inventory, specified a Yamaha PM5D-RH to take care of FOH mixing.

“The PM5D-RH was specified for a number of reasons,” said Jacinto López of Yamaha Music Europe Ibérica. “A prime one was that the company’s sound engineers have a lot of experience of mixing previous musicals like Annie and Peter Pan on Yamaha consoles, so they knew the PM5D would be the right console for this kind of production.”

With the exception of the Monkees’ ‘I’m A Believer’ (sung in Spanish except for the choruses), the production features an entirely new set of songs, encompassing a multitude of genres, including rock, blues, pop, boleros and a rap. Delivered by a 12-strong band playing instruments ranging from horns to mandolins, the entire production is programmed on scenes in the PM5D.

“High quality automation was very important,” López continued. “Several of the musicians play more than one instrument and so programming everything on scenesmade the changes seamless. The PM5D also provided enough bus outputs and, of course, its rock-solid reliability was really important.”

Playing in Madrid until January 2012, the production will then head out on a nationwide tour.