In the New Republic, workers live underground and the revolution is underway. The Rise, the new large-scale production by choreographer, composer, and director Romain Rachline Borgeaud and his RB Dance Company, immerses 34 dancers and singers in this universe.
This post-apocalyptic musical, performed in English, features a multi-level kinetic set design composed of trapdoors and moving platforms, along with a soundtrack ranging from industrial percussion to symphonic orchestrations and blues-rock.
The production has been designed for venues with capacities ranging from 4,000 to 6,000 spectators. It premiered at the Dôme de Paris in April 2026, where it sold out ten performances. It will return to the French capital for a full season in March 2027 before embarking on a national tour of France’s Zénith arenas later that autumn.
Designing an immersive audio experience for musical theatre
A production built around a multi-level kinetic set leaves no room for traditional speaker towers on either side of the stage. Furthermore, a score as dense as this one, featuring 34 live voices layered over pre-recorded tracks, requires a sound system capable of separating each sonic layer without pushing sound pressure levels (SPL) to uncomfortable limits in an enclosed venue.
RB Productions brought in lead FOH (Front of House) engineer Arnaud Bayssat and system engineer Pierre-Louis Charles, with support from Jaï Louvet, who was responsible for the original system design. Together, they proposed a solution based on L-ISA Immersive Hyperreal Sound.
Bayssat has been working with L-Acoustics for nearly two decades:
For musical theatre productions that demand exceptional sonic definition without reaching excessive acoustic levels, L-Acoustics has always seemed like a natural choice to me. For The Rise, L-ISA was the obvious solution: it allowed us to position the loudspeakers in a way that better suited the stage design and, above all, provided the sonic separation required to manage such a dense mix, he explains.
System planning with Soundvision
Bayssat began the design process in a studio environment, developing the L-ISA pre-production workflow on a smaller system composed of X8 loudspeakers and KS21 subwoofers. When the system was scaled up to the full L2-based deployment at the Dôme de Paris, everything translated perfectly: the pre-mixed sessions behaved in the venue exactly as they had in the studio.
Charles used Soundvision to model L-ISA coverage at the Dôme, a circular arena with no straight sightlines, confirming that 88% of seats would receive consistent levels and tonal balance across the five main loudspeaker arrays, while 98.8% of the audience would fall within the system’s effective coverage. “At first, I was somewhat skeptical that the coverage simulated in the studio would translate faithfully to the venue”, admits Charles. “But the result was even better than I had imagined”.
Soundvision also made it possible to calculate the system’s total weight and rigging loads, a critical factor given the large amount of suspended scenery and machinery already competing for overhead space.
An L-ISA system designed around the stage
The L-ISA Scene system installed at the Dôme de Paris is built around five main arrays, each consisting of one L2 and one L2D, together with six KS28 subwoofers flown in a central cardioid configuration. Fifteen 5XT loudspeakers provide spatial fill; two pole-mounted X15 HiQ speakers serve as out-fills, complemented by two additional flown L2Ds for wider venues. These are deployed with a 70° Panflex configuration and a supercardioid preset to preserve L-ISA’s spatial imaging and minimize interaction with the Scene system.
The system is completed with:
- Four X12 loudspeakers for stage announcements.
- Eight 5XT loudspeakers for backstage coverage.
- One pair of X4i and X12 loudspeakers dedicated to special effects on stage.
At FOH, an L-ISA Processor II handles all real-time object-based audio processing, accompanied by a P1 Processor for system optimization and LA Network Manager running on a dedicated Mac Mini.
The amplification network consists of:
- 14 LA7.16 amplified controllers
- 5 LA12X
- 4 LA4X
Everything operates over a redundant Milan-AVB network using 14 LS10 switches. The amplifiers are flown alongside the Scene system to minimize cable runs, and all arrays except the out-fills use CLAMP-1000 rigging systems.
Comprehensive support from L-Acoustics
Throughout the project, L-Acoustics Applications Engineer Jean-Charles Schmid was involved from the earliest design discussions, including an introductory visit to the Marcoussis campus, through to the final premiere, providing regular technical reviews and optimization support at every stage.
Jean-Charles was an ideal partner throughout the process, from design and pre-configuration to working in the large venue. We all benefited from those exchanges, comments Bayssat.
Live sound the audience could hear
The production was carried out without stage monitors, a decision made to protect the integrity of the live vocal performances and eliminate acoustic spill on stage. This was made possible by the high directivity of the L2 loudspeakers, which kept both the stage and backstage areas remarkably quiet.
Rather than causing problems, this quiet environment was appreciated by the technical team carrying out concentration-intensive tasks behind the scenes.
The audience noticed it too. “It’s rare for people to talk about the sound after a show”, says Bayssat. “We were surprised that so many audience members mentioned it specifically to say how excellent it was”. The system experienced no failures during the Paris residency.
For Bayssat, the defining moment came earlier, during the first rehearsal in which all 32 singers performed simultaneously using the full L-ISA system. “It worked far better than I could have imagined”, he says. “It was absolutely fantastic”.
A concert-grade sound system ready for touring
The ten performances in April 2026 at the Dôme de Paris sold out completely, and The Rise will return for a full Paris season beginning in March 2027 before launching a national tour of France’s Zénith arenas in the autumn. The team is already working on rigging adaptations that will allow faster system deployment during the tour.
For Bayssat, the message to any engineer considering L-ISA is straightforward:
Don’t be afraid of it. Invest in training and learn the fundamentals. After that, it becomes a true revolution.
Image captions:
- LA_The Rise Musical_1 - Les Arènes © Las Peloch. L-Acoustics L-ISA immerses audiences in The Rise, a spectacular new musical.
- 2. LA_The Rise Musical_2 - Les Arènes © Las Peloch. RB Productions deploys an immersive L-ISA audio experience for this spectacular dance-and-song production featuring 34 performers.
- 3. LA_The Rise Musical_3 - Les Arènes © Las Peloch. The production was designed for Zénith-format venues with capacities ranging from 4,000 to 6,000 spectators and premiered at the Dôme de Paris.
- LA_The Rise Musical_4. L-Acoustics L-ISA was the obvious choice thanks to its innovative loudspeaker deployment approach and seamless integration with the stage design.
- LA_The Rise Musical_5. From left to right: Léo Houdry (Monitor Technician), Wilfried Goffard (Monitor Engineer), Arnaud Bayssat (Lead Engineer / FOH), Pierre-Louis Charles (System Engineer), Thomas Lascoux (Q-LAB Operator / PA Technician), Jules Ronot (RF Coordinator), and John Dada (Composer and Arranger).
- LA_The Rise Musical_6. At FOH, an L-ISA Processor II handles all real-time object-based audio processing, alongside a P1 Processor for system optimization and LA Network Manager running on a dedicated Mac Mini.
