The Singapore creative facility uses FreeSpeak II wireless intercom system at its state-of-the-art Gateway Theatre, both for professional productions and services
Gateway Entertainment has installed Clear-Com’s FreeSpeak II wireless intercom system at its new venue – Gateway Theatre (GT). Gateway Theatre is a new multi-theatre venue located in the heart of Bukit Merah Central. It aims to be a creative arts space that promotes Made-In-Singapore works and talents of all cultures, while developing an appreciation of the arts within the heartlands of Bukit Merah and in Singapore.Its two main venues are the 930-seat Main Theatre and the 160-seat modular Black Box theatre. Within the building are two studio spaces for multi-purpose use, an outdoor roof garden and small balcony gardens for open-air performances. Gateway Theatre aims to fill this building with performances big and small, of various genres and styles.
Gateway Entertainment chose to implement the FreeSpeak II base station with a total of 10 FreeSpeak II transceiver antennas placed in strategic positions in its theatre’s production area to create a large wireless coverage zone in the 1.9GHz frequency band. An additional 10 1.9GHz wireless beltpacks, two CC-300 single-ear headsets with rotatable boom microphone, and 15 CC-220 double-ear headsets with rotatable boom microphone were also purchased for the production team. The entire FreeSpeak II wireless system is seamlessly connected to a Clear-Com Encore analog partyline intercom, enabling all users on the Clear-Com to communicate.
“Gateway Entertainment’s goal in choosing FreeSpeak II wireless intercom system was to ensure reliable communications between stage managers and their crews during live productions and services,” said Mik N. Su, Technical Director, Gateway Entertainment. “The company selected Clear-Com products due to positive experiences with Clear-Com intercoms, which had shown themselves to be reliable and rugged.”
FreeSpeak II’s wireless beltpacks are feature-rich with up to five user-configured, full-duplex channels per unit. Each beltpack has a wireless range of more than 450 feet/150 metres in good radio conditions. Ergonomic form factor, intuitive operation and a rugged housing make the beltpack ideal for extended use. The beltpack offers up to 18 hours of continuous talk time on a full battery charge. Each beltpack can be easily registered with the base station over the air, saving time for setup. Moreover, each unit comes with the “Listen Again” audio memory to replay the last 15 seconds of audio, for use when a user missed an instruction.
“For over 16 years, Gateway Entertainment has contributed and served Singapore’s Arts & Entertainment landscape with its portfolio of world-class productions,” said Hans Chia, Regional Sales Manager, South Asia Pacific at Clear-Com. “To support their needs and future growth, they turned to Clear-Com for expanding their intercom system into the wireless domain. Easy operation, excellent audio quality and coverage, and extended use during productions were the essential requirements, and Clear-Com delivered with ease.”