Established in 1985, Hilarities 4th Street Theatre is Ohio’s go-to comedy club. Located in Downtown Cleveland’s entertainment hotspot, the venue is complete with a cocktail bar, VIP cabaret space and Pickwick The Restaurant – a 185-seat eatery specializing in rustic American cuisine. One of the largest comedy venues in the USA, Hilarities delivers more than a line-up of gold-standard global comedians – it’s a night out to remember complete with an impressive sound solution from Renkus-Heinz.
With a capacity of 400 and several internal venues to consider, Hilarities was on the lookout for a reliable and memorable sound system for the first time in 20 years. The club’s owner, Nick Kostis, contacted NPi Audio Visual Solutions, an integrator he knew he could rely on for a complete system overhaul. The project was split into three sections: Frolic Cabaret Bar, Hilarities main stage and the Martini Bar. NPi chose Renkus-Heinz’s IC Live X models, as well as the IC8 line arrays and point source C Series loudspeakers.
“I’ve used Renkus-Heinz in multiple projects across my career and in my last 7 years at NPi,” begins James Wise, systems operations manager at NPi. “They have never let me down. Hilarities needed a solution that would give them full-range audio with an accentuated vocal spectrum, as 90% of what they do is focused on speech. The main room was quite challenging to configure, so the beam-steering capabilities really helped. While other companies have attempted to duplicate this technology, there’s some secret sauce that Renkus-Heinz has that outperforms everything else.”
The building is also almost 200 years old, so care had to be taken when fixing the loudspeakers to the walls. For the main stage, NPi chose the IC Live X models with Dante. One set of loudspeakers is placed on the ground level of the venue and the other set is fixed to the balcony for full-range response during the comedians’ performances and the musical intros and outros of the show. “They don’t always fill the balcony seating, so we wanted to be able to shut off the upper-level speakers when they’re not needed to minimize reflections in the room,” explains Wise.
“In the Frolic Cabaret room, we chose the IC8 boxes with an SA112 subwoofer. This system is used for comedians, but it also hosts a Mystery Dinner theater show that Hilarities runs for half the year. Even and consistent sound throughout this specific space was key, as well as a full 20 Hz – 20 kHz spectrum of audio for the actors, backing tracks and sound effects.”
In the Martini Bar – a VIP area that has music separate from the rest of the venues and a live performer – NPi added Renkus-Heinz’s CX82s. These models deliver high-quality, full range audio which is exactly what the smaller space needed.
As part of the project, NPi also installed a complete control system throughout the building, along with an AV-over-IP solution. All control is carried out via a QSC QSYS Core 110F V2, including audio, video, stage lighting and individual control for the multiple venues. The system was designed so that each space can act as its own separate dedicated venue or as one large integrated club. This design has opened new business for Hilarities, as the venue is now able to host large events including weddings and parties without any technical constraints.
With a busy seven-day program that incorporates every element of performance arts, the new Renkus-Heinz sound system ensures Hilarities can carry each show seamlessly, from its cabaret dinners to world-class comedians. Industry-leading beam-steering and point source technology makes the brand an ideal fit for the comedy club circuit, as the sound is delivered clearly and consistently, no matter where you’re seated in the venue.
“Nick wanted Hilarities to be world-renowned, so to achieve that we had to look at what would set it apart from the rest,” concluded Wise. “Some of these solutions are still in the works, including a video wall and architectural lighting, but the system from Renkus-Heinz has already delivered a cutting-edge audio experience that goes beyond most other comedy clubs. Hilarities has been a fun and rewarding project that has been great to watch come together. We started this venture in July 2023 with many meetings and design changes to meet and exceed their expectations, and a year later we have installed a sound system that has done just that.”
