zactrack Powers Austrian Hit Musical Maria Theresia
Following the summer break, the new hit musical by Vereinigte Bühnen Wien returned to Vienna’s Ronacher on 12 September 2026. Behind the scenes, the theatre has relied on zactrack SMART since 2023, providing the lighting and sound teams with precise positional data for performers and stage elements.
Maria Theresia – Das Musical celebrated its world premiere at Vienna’s Ronacher on 10 October 2025. zactrack plays a key role in bringing Lighting Designer Ben Cracknell’s and Sound Designer Carsten Kümmel’s designs to the stage, providing real-time positioning data for both lighting and audio. Performers wear small Trackers throughout the show, while anchors installed around the stage and auditorium determine their precise positions.
“For this production, we use a total of ten Anchors and 21 Trackers. The area covered by the zactrack system spans around 80 to 100 square metres in 2D and extends up to approximately six metres in height in 3D,” explains Florian Andratsch, Head of Lighting at the Ronacher.
The Trackers are hidden in wigs or custom-made costume pockets, while the black Anchors blend discreetly into the Ronacher’s truss structure.
More Than a Followspot: Tracking as a Creative Tool
The visual world of Maria Theresia is defined by contrasts: around 1,500 lighting cues, integrated pixel LEDs and a variety of haze effects accompany the transition between large ensemble scenes and intimate moments.
“Maria Theresia has an extraordinary musical and visual landscape. We’re telling the epic
story of a remarkable woman at the centre of enormous political and personal change,” says Lighting Designer Ben Cracknell. “My approach was to create a design with a huge visual vocabulary that could be beautiful, sculptural and theatrical in one moment, then explode into something bold, contemporary and spectacular in the next.”
zactrack forms an integral part of the lighting design, with positional data allowing multiple fixtures to be aimed at performers simultaneously.
“For me, the exciting thing about zactrack is that it isn’t simply a replacement for the traditional followspot. It has become another creative tool within the lighting design.
On Maria Theresia, we use tracking to allow multiple fixtures to follow and sculpt performers
simultaneously from different angles,” Cracknell explains.
Precision on Stage
The number Ist viel jemals genug shows how this works in practice. “In ‘Ist viel jemals genug’, Maria Theresia stands in a single backlight that follows her continuously. Effects like this would not be possible in the same way without zactrack,” confirms Andratsch. The system is used for lighting in almost every scene.
“zactrack ensures that we can reproduce the lighting design reliably from one performance to the next. That allows me to concentrate on the overall picture,” says Cracknell.
Before each show, the trackers are charged, checked and handed out to the performers. During the performance, the team monitors the system via the Web Monitor, where speed presets, offsets and freeze values can also be adjusted live to ensure precise tracking.
122 Loudspeakers: Precise Spatial Sound
The sound design of Maria Theresia combines immersive spatial audio with powerful sound reinforcement. “The orchestra performs in the orchestra pit, while drums and percussion are located in purpose-built studio rooms in the basement,” explains Patrick Polly, Head of Sound for Musical Productions.
122 loudspeakers are installed throughout the auditorium and stage, including 50 surround speakers across all levels. They reproduce atmospheres, effects and individual instruments, creating an immersive spatial soundscape.
“We have an extremely broad stylistic range, from Baroque-inspired recitatives to hip-hop, all within an acoustic environment that is particularly demanding for sound reinforcement,” explains Sound Designer Carsten Kümmel. “To address this, I opted for separate PA systems, one for the orchestra and one for the singers. In addition, large parts of the sound design are strongly based around 3D audio, giving the audience the highest possible level of immersion.”
Performer Localisation Enhances the Listening Experience
For precise localisation of the voices, zactrack is used together with TiMax. The performers’ positional data ensures that the audience perceives each voice as coming from the same direction as the performer they see on stage.
“This gives the audience precise localisation of the soloists at all times,” Kümmel explains. At the same time, he uses zactrack for stage monitoring: soloists hear themselves 6 dB louder at their current position. This allows overall stage volume to be reduced and minimises bleed into the auditorium, improving speech intelligibility and creating a cleaner overall sound.
“In the implementation, the sound design and sound department work closely with the Musical Supervisor, Musical Director, orchestra and directing team,” Polly emphasises, with the shared goal of creating the best possible listening experience for the audience.
Technology That Fades into the Background
zactrack can also process PSN (PosiStageNet) data, which is used as positional data in combination with Stage Precision Grid software.
“We also use PSN data from the fly system, including individual battens, point hoists and cable systems, to track individual scenic elements. In this production, for example, that includes a flying bridge and the Center Track, a moving platform in the middle of the stage,” Andratsch adds.
The video system also uses this data, for example to adjust the spatial representation of content in line with the movement of the backwall, a moving LED wall.
Up to eight times a week, zactrack operates quietly in the background.
“Ultimately, that’s what I value most about the system. The technology becomes almost invisible, providing greater creative freedom while allowing the audience simply to experience the story,” Cracknell concludes.
Lighting Technology
Control
2 × grandMA2 consoles with 10 × Processing Units (PUs)
zactrack
zactrack SMART system with 2 servers
Fixtures integrated into zactrack
Lighting: 86 fixtures integrated, approx. 50 used for MT
Martin MAC Encore
Prolights Astra Wash19Pix
Prolights Astra Wash7Pix
Audio: 28 OSC fixtures
Automation: 6 PSN fixtures, providing positioning data for audio, lighting and video
Lighting Fixtures
62 × Martin MAC Encore Performance CLD
1 × Martin MAC Ultra Performance CLD
40 × Martin ELP CL
6 × Martin MH6 Wash
50 × Prolights Astra Wash19Pix
12 × Prolights Astra Wash7Pix
6 × Prolights LumiPix XB 1000
10 × GLP impression X5 Bar 20
37 × GLP impression X4 Bar 20
8 × GLP impression X4 Bar 10
12 × GLP JDC Burst 1
3 × Robe FORTE
62 × Astera Titan Tube
16 × Astera Hyperion
28 × Tour Bar 64
6 × Tour Bar 32
8 × Cameo Spots
Atmospheric Effects
6 × Look Solutions Unique 2
2 × Look Solutions Cryo-Fog
6 × Look Solutions Viper NT
2 × MDG ATMe
Pixel LEDs
Approx. 350 m of RGBA LEDs integrated into the set
LED Controllers
36 × DigiDot C4 – 12
All photos © Vereinigte Bühnen Wien
