Pius XI plays it by ear in new theater

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Pius XI High School’s Father Robert V. Carney Performing Arts Center and Wendy Lindsey Theater

When the stage lights shine and the performers sing in the darkened Wendy Lindsey Theater at Pius XI High School, patrons might feel as if they are in a towering cathedral.

They’re not. But they are experiencing the acoustical acrobatics of a state-of-the-art sound system in the Milwaukee high school’s 500-seat auditorium, part of the new Father Robert V. Carney Performing Arts Center.

The system is designed to mimic the acoustics of much larger spaces.

“It’s like a giant, professional, surround-sound system,” said Kim Leonard, president of Wauwatosa-based Professional Audio Designs Inc. “We’re introducing reverb and reflections in the room to simulate a much larger room via electronics and multiple speakers.

“To the naked ear it just sounds like you’re in a bigger room.”

Leonard, and her husband and business partner, Scott Leonard, designed the sound system. Installation took about six weeks, she said.

The system uses 72 strategically placed speakers and a series of microphones suspended 6 feet below the ceiling. System settings can be adjusted to support bands, choirs, lectures, musicals and other programs, Kim Leonard said.

That kind of flexibility is exactly what officials wanted when they targeted the high school’s old gym for reuse as a performing arts center after building a new field house. The center opened in March 2012 and took about a year to build.

“This opens up lots of opportunities for kids to practice on stage, do behind-the-scene work,” said Melissa Douglas, Pius XI’s marketing and communications manager. “It really provides an on-site home for our renowned arts program.”

That program, which has alums performing on Broadway, used to be homeless, Douglas said. In the past, the program operated off site, renting performance halls such as the Pabst Theater in downtown Milwaukee.

Both the field house and performing arts center were focal points of a major push to raise money. Douglas said the renovation was principally financed through donations from parents, alumni, arts supporters and foundation gifts.

“It was really important to complete that project,” she said, “and have all the money before we started it.”

Along with the auditorium, the performing arts center includes two art galleries. Douglas said students and alumni have shown art there, and the school might one day host professional showings.

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