UK – The Villa Marina & Gaiety Theatre is a stunning period multi-space arts and entertainment venue situated in the Island’s main city, Douglas. It comprises of The Gaiety Theatre, a Frank Matcham playhouse opened in 1900, the Royal Hall, an octagonal dance hall opened in 1913, plus a series of smaller multipurpose event spaces, all situated on the Harris Promenade on the Isle of Man. A major project in 2018 saw the venue purchase its first DiGiCo consoles: two DiGiCo SD12s with D2 Racks. These are still in use today and, as the team look to the future, they are making further investments, this time into the Quantum series, with the addition of a brand-new Quantum 326 and a Quantum 112 both supplied by Adlib.
The site has huge cultural significance and a rich history. In 2000, Villa Marina was purchased by the Isle of Man Government and a four-year long renovation began. Since 2004, the whole site has benefitted from several upgrades. Technical Manager, Séamus Shea, is very aware of the requirement to fully justify every purchase. He has overseen much of the venue’s most recent restoration projects and alongside leading sound technician, Anthony ‘Polly’ Palfreman, ensures the venue gets the very highest quality equipment required by these special buildings.
With strong community ties and Government ownership, choosing DiGiCo is one way to ensure lasting quality, a return on investment, and deliver the experience that high-profile visiting artists expect.
“We have a real variety of spaces in Villa Marina, from our fully restored theatre, The Edwardian grandeur of the Royal Hall, to our events spaces we offer something for everyone,” Séamus explains. “Our DiGiCo consoles are flight-cased, so we can move them easily. We might bring them in to support a larger show, or use them as stand-alone consoles. We have amazing local musical talent and we were the first UK venue to be granted the performance licence for a full professional replica version of Les Misérables, but we also have great touring acts like Gary Barlow coming through, so we really do need to be all things to all people.”
For this venue, flexibility and versatility is a fundamental requirement. There are a variety of touring artists, shows and local talent coming through each night, means that Polly relies on the familiar workflow and full capacity of the DiGiCo Quantum 326 and SD12s, plus the infrastructure to provide quick, reliable service throughout the entire complex.
“It’s not just the desks, in the Royal Hall we have two DiGiCo D2 Racks, too. We’ve also got our main SD Rack feeding our L-Acoustics L2 system, which was the first deployment of the L2 system in Britain,” Polly recalls. “We’re punching above our weight a bit, because, as the island’s flagship entertainment venue we need to be able to attract visiting artists and provide engineers with a setup they’ll be comfortable with. We’re running optical loops, but we can dip out if we need to. Occasionally acts come in with different requirements, like The Lottery Winners I mixed monitors for a little while ago, and I was able to use our old analogue system into one of the D2 Racks. It’s brilliant and it just works. That flexibility is so important, not just for our DiGiCo consoles, but our in-house network systems and staff, too.”
Training and education are also key for the venues, thanks to Adlib and DiGiCo they benefit from regular professional training. The next generation of sound professionals were a real consideration in continuing to purchase DiGiCo equipment, as Polly continues, using the DiGiCo ecosystem ensures that early-careers engineers get the best possible introduction to the industry.
“We’re not getting any younger so we need to try and encourage the younger generation to come through!” he continues. “DiGiCo Technical Sales Support Engineer, Sam North, was over doing some training on the Quantum 326 a few weeks ago. He made a comment that we’ve got more DiGiCo’s per head of population than anywhere else in Europe, but I don’t know how true that is! Using DiGiCo infrastructure means we only need to teach one ecosystem, it’s all part of the next generation’s educational opportunities. The philosophy behind what DiGiCo has done with Quantum, the capacity that’s built in and their receptiveness to our requirements, all points towards a long and stable future.”
Rob Crossland is Engineering Manager at Adlib and offers ongoing support to Polly and the team. He is proud of their long-standing relationship and, as he and Polly conclude, it is the strength of these relationships and the trust between manufacturer, supplier, and end user that keeps clients coming back for more.
“The DiGiCo SD12 was Villa Marina’s first step into digital mixing, and we are delighted that they have chosen to deepen that bond,” Rob expands. “By investing in new fibre infrastructure, an SD Rack, and new Quantum consoles they are continuing to look to the future of this beautiful venue. As ever, the support from DiGiCo has been fantastic including a training refresh to make sure the venue team are up-to-date with all the latest features.”
“One of the biggest things that I like about DiGiCo is that they deploy their technical staff into the big festivals, so they’re on the front line,” Polly finishes. “They are always ready to listen to all our feedback, so they can see what is worth developing, and that’s good for the industry. It provides us engineers with a lot of confidence.”
