After almost sixteen years, close to 4,000 performances, four million visitors, the final curtain fell on Soldier of Orange – The Musical on 12 July. The show has seen 29 different casts, and is the longest-running production in Dutch theatre history.
Since its Royal Premiere on October 30 2010, an Alcons Audio pro-ribbon system was central to the audience experience.
Set during the Second World War, the musical tells the true story of Dutch resistance fighter Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema and his fellow students, who faced life-changing choices after the German invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940. It was staged in the purpose-built TheaterHangaar at the former Valkenburg naval airbase, one of the first Dutch military targets attacked by German forces on 10 May 1940.
Raked seating for 1,100 people was installed on a 30-metre diameter turntable, revolving with a 180-degree video projection between stage sets around the hangar. Actors moved between the sets as the audience turned.
The scale and realism extended far beyond a conventional theatre experience. The audience rotated past sets including a student residence, a palace, MI6, a real beach with water and dramatic rain effects, while in another scene actors rode full-size motorcycles around the seating area. For the finale, the hangar doors opened to reveal an outdoor scene—in all weather conditions—featuring a real Douglas DC-3 Dakota aircraft, recreating Queen Wilhelmina’s return to the Netherlands following the country’s liberation.
Because of the construction’s weight, the loudspeakers were installed outside the turntable. The moving audience passed through their coverage areas, demanding consistent on- and off-axis response, tonal balance, localisation and speech intelligibility.
Sound designer Jeroen ten Brinke selected nearly 100 Alcons LR14 pro-ribbon line-array cabinets. Signals travelled via optical cable on a drum system turning through 7,000 degrees without twisting or breaking.
Each scene featured left-centre-right LR14 arrays with a double 15-inch subwoofer. Fourteen arrays surrounded the venue and were powered by 30 Alcons ALC4 2 x 2kW amplified loudspeaker controllers. As the seating revolved, the right-hand array of one scene became the left-hand array of the next.