Bumping in Book of Mormon to Melbourne’s Princess Theatre

Re-Engineering a Large-Scale Meyer Sound System for a Historic Melbourne Venue

As The Book of Mormon transfers from Sydney to Melbourne, the production enters a significantly different acoustic and architectural environment at the Princess Theatre. While the core touring audio system arrives from the Capitol Theatre, the Melbourne season requires a deliberate system redesign to suit a venue that is smaller, shallower, and far more vertically constrained.

System Sound is responsible for the Melbourne bump-in, integration, and optimisation of the production’s large-scale Meyer Sound system, adapting the touring design so the show retains its impact while responding precisely to the Princess Theatre’s geometry and sightlines.

A Historic Theatre With Modern Acoustic Demands

The Princess Theatre presents a very different challenge to the Capitol Theatre. Reduced throw distances, a tighter stalls rake, and an ornate proscenium profile demand greater pattern control, more aggressive downfill strategy, and refined timing alignment to maintain intelligibility throughout the room.

Rather than simply scaling the system down, the Melbourne season focuses on reshaping coverage so dialogue clarity, musical balance, and spatial consistency are preserved from front row to rear balcony.

Meyer Sound System Design for the Melbourne Season

At the core of the production is a substantial Meyer Sound deployment, selected for its predictable coverage, phase coherence, and long-standing suitability for large-scale musical theatre.

Front of House (Main PA)

• Meyer Sound LEOPARD line array loudspeakers

  • 14 per side in main hangs

• Meyer Sound LINA line array loudspeakers

  • 12 units configured as downfill

  • 10 units deployed across two delay arrays

This configuration allows the system to maintain consistent tonal balance and intelligibility despite the Princess Theatre’s shorter depth and complex vertical geometry.

Proscenium Downfill and the Angel Moroni Constraint

One of the defining features of the Princess Theatre is its ornate proscenium, crowned by the iconic Angel Moroni statue. While visually striking, this element introduces a physical obstruction that blocks direct coverage to the front rows.

To address this, the Melbourne installation includes:

• Newly drilled proscenium mounting points to support downfill loudspeakers

• A downfill system designed to project beneath the statue without visual intrusion

• Precise time and phase alignment so the downfill integrates seamlessly with the main arrays

The result is even coverage to the front-of-stalls seating without compromising the heritage fabric of the venue.

Fill, Delay, and Utility Loudspeakers

To support the main system and manage the Princess Theatre’s architectural complexity, the production deploys an extensive network of fill, delay, and utility loudspeakers.

Meyer Sound Loudspeakers

• UPJ-1P

  • 8 units mounted on the rear-of-hall truss

• UPJunior

  • 10 units total

  • 6 × stage foldback

  • 2 × sidefill

  • 2 × utility

• UPM-1P

  • 12 units total

  • 6 × offstage

  • 4 × fills

  • 2 × utility

• UPA-1P

  • 4 units used for rear FX coverage

• Additional Melbourne deployment

  • 2 × UPQ series loudspeakers

  • Approximately 20 additional UPM-1P units integrated across fills and utility positions

Low-Frequency Reinforcement

Low-frequency support for the production is provided by a combination of Meyer Sound touring subwoofers:

• Meyer Sound 700-HP

  • 2 units

• Meyer Sound 900-LFC

  • 4 units

• Meyer Sound 750-LFC

  • 2 units, rigged alongside the LINA delay arrays

This combination provides controlled low-frequency impact for the orchestra while maintaining clarity and headroom in a relatively shallow room.

System Processing and Control

System management is handled via:

• Meyer Sound GALAXY processors

  • 5 units total, providing system alignment, optimisation, and redundancy

Mixing and show control are handled on DiGiCo platforms, supporting high channel counts, snapshot automation, and the rapid scene changes demanded by the production.

The Sound Team

The Melbourne season is supported by an experienced sound department with deep familiarity with the production:

• David Greasley – Associate Sound

• Chris Pratt – Production Sound Engineer

Working alongside System Sound’s Melbourne crew, the team ensures the system translates faithfully while responding to the specific challenges of the Princess Theatre.

Touring Scale, Melbourne Precision

The Book of Mormon at the Princess Theatre demonstrates why successful theatre sound is never a simple lift-and-shift. Every venue has its own acoustic fingerprint, and the Melbourne season benefits from a system that has been re-engineered rather than transplanted.

Through the careful deployment of Meyer Sound loudspeakers, extensive fill infrastructure, and venue-specific tuning, the production delivers consistent clarity, musical impact, and intelligibility across one of Melbourne’s most historic theatres.

Large-Scale Musical Theatre Sound in Melbourne

As audiences take their seats at the Princess Theatre, the technical work behind the scenes ensures every lyric, punchline, and musical accent lands exactly as intended. The Melbourne season of The Book of Mormon stands as a clear example of how modern sound design, when paired with experience and precision, can adapt a large-scale touring system to a heritage venue without compromise.