NEW TECHNOLOGIES
BRIAN LIBBY
sTuepcphor t
Venues are taking advantage of new technological tools
to deliver better flexibility, sound and even new audiences
LED screen walls
The human element will always be what
customers pay to see, but technology is
giving both venues and the acts they host
new tools to play with. A case in point
is the spectacular MGM Theater in
Macau, China, which is making
technology a direct part of the
performance, combining theater, digital
imagery and sound in new ways.
“One of the most interesting things
happening right now in the world of
live entertainment is that technology
is playing a much bigger role in every
single type of production that we bring
in,” explains Sylvain Guimond, vice
president of entertainment at MGM.
Flexible staging
The theater boasts a massive
programmable LED screen that can
provide a complete backdrop to the stage.
The idea behind it is flexibility; it enables
the venue to host a wide array of events,
keeping the calendar fully booked.
Before coming to Macau, Guimond
spent 20 years in Las Vegas, building
sets for Cirque du Soleil. He remembers
how sold-out shows would give way to
empty theaters when these productions
went on hiatus. “There was nothing else
that could be performed in those theaters,
because they were purpose-built,”
Guimond explains. “The shows were big
successes, but as soon as they went dark
they didn’t have revenue.”
In Macau, Guimond and MGM
wanted a venue “that could receive a
resident show like they have in Vegas,
but would never be locked in”.
“At the MGM Theater, we have the
capacity to shape the room to cater to
anyone who comes to us,” says Guimond.
26 AUDITORIA 2019 VOLUME ONE