The new musical "Masquerade" has been captivating visitors and critics alike in New York City since the end of July 2025. The reinterpretation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's classic "The Phantom of the Opera" is an immersive experience that transcends traditional theater boundaries. Instead of having fixed seats, guests move freely through a multi-story building in Midtown Manhattan and are right in the middle of the action. The special room architecture and the constant change of audience positions have placed extreme demands on the sound system, for which sound designer Brett Jarvis was responsible. That challenge has been solved with an extensive LD Systems audio installation.
[An Immersive, Ghost-Busting Adventure]
The venue has been completely remodeled and transformed into a world of experience at every performance. Each floor presents its own settings, from opulent ballrooms to mysterious catacombs. Drama, music, dance, and detailed set design fuse into a production that the audience experiences up close and from constantly changing perspectives.
The requirements for the entire audio and PA system were extraordinary: uniform sound distribution across several very differently designed rooms, maximum speech intelligibility at every angle, minimal susceptibility to feedback with headsets and lavalier microphones, natural high-frequency reproduction for classical arrangements, and powerful low-frequency reproduction for organ sounds, all embedded in an immersive sound design. In addition, the loudspeakers had to be integrated so unobtrusively into the scenery that they did not disturb the immersive experience, especially as the audience is often only a few metres away from the performers.
“From the very first meeting with sound designer Brett Jarvis and Andrew Lloyd Webber producer Lee McCutcheon, it became clear that we had to pull out all the stops for Masquerade,” explained Jens Kleinhuis, pro audio field application engineer with the Adam Hall Group. Together with Ivan Klepac, integrated systems field application engineer from the integrated systems project support team, an audio setup was created over the course of several demo dates and training sessions that is unrivalled in the history of LD Systems and Adam Hall Integrated Systems: over 1,000 speakers, including around 660 CURV 500 satellites, 186 DQOR, and over 80 MAILA array systems alone, ensure that the audience is right in the middle of the action at Masquerade wherever they are.
In addition to MAILA, DQOR and the CURV 500 systems, the Masquerade producers have made use of the entire LD Systems portfolio: MAUI i1 in-line speakers and CFL in-ceiling systems through to the new ICOA PRO SUB 21 A high-performance subwoofers. Even a pair of ANNY 8 Bluetooth PA speakers was used. The complete system is driven and controlled by 68 IPA 424 T 4-channel installation amplifiers, each equipped with an X-EDAI Ethernet and Dante expansion card to integrate all components into the existing Dante network.
"This project was anything but ordinary,” confirmed Ivan Klepac. “We have supported Brett and his team at all levels to help them realize the full potential of the LD Systems portfolio. Our project support team was available around the clock to help solve installation issues. Working closely with other departments such as Mechanical Engineering and R&D, we were able to ensure a smooth set-up and configuration.”
“Brett Jarvis was faced with the challenge of providing five completely different floors with a stable and consistent sound throughout, said Rob Olsen, sales director for Adam Hall North America. "When he discovered the LD Systems product range, tried it out and heard it at the Adam Hall headquarters, he knew he had found the perfect solution.”