The South African live events industry has had to be patient when it comes to L-Acoustics’ L-ISA technology, with the COVID-19 pandemic putting paid to the efforts of early adopters. However, after a long and bumpy road, event design and production company Multi-Media led the way this summer, rolling out the technology on actor and singer Jonathan Roxmouth’s hugely successful My Favourite Broadway produced by Howard Events. Featuring the newly launched 32-piece Egoli Symphonic Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Adam Howard, the production proved to be a huge hit, with Johannesburg’s Teatro theatre close to capacity for each performance of the eight-show run.
“We had been looking for an opportunity to get the L-ISA system deployed in South Africa for a long time, but we were aware that it needed to be the right project if it was going to make the kind of impact we wanted,” said Jason Fritz, Director of Production and Technical at Multi-Media, explaining the backstory behind the project.
An early adopter of L-ISA, Multi-Media had already invested in the equipment required. All that was needed was the right production to deploy it on and, importantly, the people with the training to pull it off. “This is where Duncan came in,” Fritz commented, referring to DWR Distribution’s Duncan Riley. “He drove the training side of things, arranging for 12 of the country’s top audio engineers – including three of our team – to come to our studio and do the L-ISA training.”
Photos: Lauge Sorensen
