Sunset Boulevard, Tokyo.

Ready for Her Close-Up: The Sound of Sunset Boulevard in Tokyo

When the curtain rose on Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard at Tokyu Theatre Orb on 10 July 2026, Tokyo audiences witnessed two returns at once. Sarah Brightman — the original Christine in The Phantom of the Opera — stepped back into musical theatre after three decades as the immortal Norma Desmond. And behind her, invisibly and everywhere at once, an Australian sound design travelled with the production across the water, rebuilt speaker by speaker for one of Asia's great modern theatres.

Presented by IHI and GWB Entertainment, this strictly limited Tokyo season (10 July to 1 August 2026) is the international continuation of the acclaimed Opera Australia and GWB Entertainment production that premiered in Melbourne — a production whose audio system was profiled in depth by AudioTechnology magazine.

An Australian Design Philosophy

The sound design is the work of System Sound's David Greasley and David Letch, part of a company that has been at the pointy end of musical theatre audio since 1979. Their brief, as Greasley described it to AudioTechnology, is the seemingly impossible: a show that sounds completely natural — vocals localised to the performer, orchestra rising from the pit — while also being big, luscious and involving.

The method behind it is meticulous. Every seat in the house hears the same front-of-house mix from multiple time-aligned sources. In Melbourne, the team measured roughly ninety combinations of on-stage zones against zones in the auditorium, deriving precise delay settings for every loudspeaker so that no audience member can point at a speaker — only at the performer on stage. That philosophy has crossed to Tokyo intact, remapped for the Orb's larger room and its sophisticated surround system.

A New Generation of Sound System

The Tokyo rig is built around Meyer Sound, anchored by LEOPARD line arrays and featuring the newly released Meyer Sound ULTRA-X80 — the most powerful point-source loudspeaker Meyer has ever built. A pair of ULTRA-X80s handle centre and downfill duties in a single elegant hang, doing the work that previously required separate systems.

They are joined by ULTRA-X40s, UPJ-1P and UPJunior fills, MM4-XP front fills lining the stage edge, and low end from Meyer 700-HP and 600-HP subwoofers. At the mix position sits a DiGiCo Quantum console, with Waves processing and TC Electronic reverbs shaping the space around Lloyd Webber's score.

In the pit, the orchestra is captured entirely on DPA microphones — chosen, in Greasley's words, because they sound as accurate off pattern as they do on axis. On stage, the cast wear Sennheiser MKE1 miniature capsules hidden in the hairline, invisible to the audience and unforgiving of even a millimetre of drift — precision maintained eight shows a week by the radio microphone department.

The Team in the Room

Mixing the Tokyo season is Chris Pratt, System Sound's production sound engineer — widely regarded as Australia's finest — who not only supervised the system build but is staying on to operate the show himself, a rarity at this level. He is joined by Clifford Veitch, the South African former head of sound from CATS, in the number-two chair, alongside the production's radio microphone department head.

It is a team that reflects how Australian theatre audio is increasingly exported across the region: Broadway and West End designers collaborate with System Sound in Australia, and System Sound carries that vision faithfully into Asia — city after city, night after night.

A Triumph at the Orb

Opening night told the story. Sarah Brightman's Norma Desmond, resplendent in scarlet, brought the Tokyu Theatre Orb to its feet, with Tim Draxl compelling as Joe Gillis. Forty years after she created Christine for Lloyd Webber, Brightman commands his music once more — and this time, every whispered line and every soaring phrase arrives at every one of the Orb's seats at precisely the same moment, from a system designed half a world away.

Sunset Boulevard plays Tokyu Theatre Orb, Tokyo, until 1 August 2026.

The Tokyo Sound Rig at a Glance

The main system comprises Meyer Sound LEOPARD line arrays, a pair of Meyer Sound ULTRA-X80s on centre and downfill, ULTRA-X40s, UPJ-1P and UPJunior fills, and MM4-XP front fills, with 700-HP and 600-HP subwoofers below. Mixing and processing run through a DiGiCo Quantum console with Waves and TC Electronic reverb. The orchestra pit is miked entirely with DPA, the cast wear Sennheiser MKE1s, and a full-theatre surround system completes the design.

Sound design by David Greasley and David Letch, System Sound. Production sound engineer and operator: Chris Pratt. Number two: Clifford Veitch.