Monitors & Displays

When Tony award-winning director Michael Mayer conceptualized "American Idiot," a stage show set to the music of rock band Green Day's music, he realized that the ethos and the songs required visuals that would stand up to the aggressive score. The story of angst-driven youth caught in the political and cultural quagmire of the early 21st Century needed to be visually compelling and still appeal to the band's fan base. Mayer told the New York Times in April that, "It would be foolish of me and my designers not to embrace video and projection in a really giant way." The Tony-nominated musical does just that by taking the live production a Broadway audience is familiar with and adding the elements of a modern rock concert to create what's being called the most technically advanced show on Broadway.

Currently performing at the St. James Theatre in New York, this contemporary musical leverages the latest in new media tools - including high-definition displays and camcorders from Sony Electronics - to deliver a unique, sensory theatre-going experience. Part documentary - part music video, the entire stage set of American Idiot comes to life, thanks in large part to the technology used. Each of the 44 Sony LCD professional displays operates independently, showing nearly 500 digital media assets that interact with the live actors, projections, lights and sound. Live video shot by three Sony professional HD camcorders is interspersed with clips from George W. Bush-era news segments, still images of art and soundbytes from prominent media personalities.

The efforts of the team have been validated by receiving Tony nominations for Best Musical and Best Scenic Design. Video director Darrel Maloney scenic designer, Christine Jones and audio/visual technical production company, SennovA all collaborated with the choreographer to integrate monitors, cameras and projectors seamlessly as part of the performance. This vibrant and complex production also leverages hundreds of miles of cable, 17 top-of-the-line Green Hippo media servers to engage with the performers and the audience for an innovative live theater experience.

"Broadway productions are continuously pushing the boundaries with new media as part of storytelling," said Arianna Knapp, producer at SenovvA and project leader for its role in American Idiot. "When the designer and director explained their vision for the role of media and television in American Idiot, we delivered with a wall blanketed with Sony monitors and driven by the most comprehensive Hippotizer media server technology set-up that ever been -all designed to tell Green Day's story."

Brandi Gil, senior manager, marketing Sony Electronics' Arts & Entertainment Group said, "Sony's display and production solutions offer top quality and flexibility - enhancing the live experience for fans at a Broadway theater, at the opera house or at a concert hall. Our innovative broadcast, audio and display technology is the choice of production teams and systems integrators throughout the world."