Just for One Day, New West End Musical, Relies on Shure Gear

	"The cast, besides loving the audio quality, are particularly taken by the robust nature of the handhelds. We haven't had a single failure. Not bad for twenty-four handhelds in use, eight shows a week," Owens adds. Photo: Evan Zimmerman

The new musical Just for One Day, now playing at the Shafestbury Theatre in London's West End. commemorates the Live Aid concert, staged to raise awareness and funds for famine relief in Ethiopia. The production makes extensive use of Shure Axient Digital wireless technology.

The musical features hit songs by some Bob Dylan, David Bowie, the Who, U2, Elton John and more. Sound designer Gareth Owen, relied on 84 channels of Axient Digital Wireless and PSM 1000 in-ear monitoring system, among other Shure equipment.

"The sheer volume of RF equipment on most musical theatre shows means we just need a system that works. We can't deal with unreliable RF for a musical like this one, and Shure delivers time and time again when it comes to reliability," Owen says.

To meet the needs of the musical with a cast of 26 artists singing over 30 legendary songs, the technical team turned to Shure, selecting chrome ADX2 handheld wireless microphones transmitters, KSM11 capsules, ADX1M micro body pack transmitters, and ADX3 Axient Digital plug-on transmitters with ShowLink.

"The cast, besides loving the audio quality, are particularly taken by the robust nature of the handhelds. We haven't had a single failure. Not bad for twenty-four handhelds in use, eight shows a week," Owens adds.

Shure software WAVETOOL and Wireless Workbench (WWB) play a crucial role, too, providing a centralized solution for remote listening, while simultaneously monitoring RF and battery levels.

Owen adds, "Using the remote management of Shure devices to change settings and make updates is an incredibly useful workflow in our system. We can update gain, frequency, and other settings remotely from Wireless Workbench, which is a massive time saver."

"Gareth and I have built a strong relationship over decades of collaboration. Supporting him on many of his exceptional projects has given us a deeper understanding of the unique technical needs of theatre productions. It's relationships like these that allow us to deliver the right technology to help create truly memorable experiences," says Tuomo Tolonen, senior director, strategic market development at Shure.

Directed by Luke Sheppard and written by John O'Farrell, the new show donates 10% to The Band Aid Charitable Trust, with 1 million pounds already raised.