Ask the Experts – Mixing for Broadway and Theatre

What is the role of the Sound Mixer in theatre productions?

The Sound Mixer/Engineer develops or sources music and sound effects according to the Sound Designers specifications. The sound crew sets up the sound system for a production and runs it during the course of each performance. The Sound Mixer/Engineer takes all of the sound in a show – Actors’ voices, environmental noise, sound effects, the orchestra – and balances them to create a rich and exciting sound for the audience to experience.

Ask the Experts – Mixing for Broadway and Theatre. This is your chance to ask professional sound mixers/engineers working on Broadway questions.

Feb. 3 at 3 PM PST

Register here and post your questions

Moderated by

Elisabeth Weidner

Elisabeth is a Sound Designer and Composer for theatre. She served as the Sound Director/ Resident Sound Designer/Composer for 10 years at PCPA-Pacific Conservatory Theatre,  before going full freelance in 2019. Elisabeth is also an adjunct professor at California  Polytechnic State University SLO where she teaches Sound Design and Engineering for  Theatre, and she sits on the USITT Sound Commission jury for the Current Practices and  Research in Sound papers submissions. In 2020 she was elected to serve as Co-Vice Chair of the TSDCA )Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association). She is also the producer of the podcast: No One Likes Us. www.elisabethanneweidner.com Read Elisabeth’s Blog

Sound Mixers/Engineers

Heather Augustine

Heather is an audio engineer currently touring around the US with Broadway-style shows. She graduated from Penn State University with a BFA in Theatrical Design and Technology, with an emphasis on Sound Design, and has been on the road for the past 7 years. During her touring career, she has worked on a variety of shows including Billy Elliot, Dirty Dancing, Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables, and Miss Saigon. Currently, she is the A1 for the first national tour of Mean Girls. Read Heather’s Blog

Becca Stoll

Becca is a theatrical audio engineer.  She specializes in mixing musicals and is especially passionate about mixing new works.  Pre-pandemic, her main gig was Head of Audio on Rock of Ages (Off-Broadway at New World Stages). Other New York credits include: Two’s A Crowd (59E59), A Strange Loop (Playwrights Horizons), Antigone in Ferguson (St. Ann’s Church); We Are The Tigers (Theatre 80).  Tours: Million Dollar Quartet (A2).  Selected Regional: The Donkey Show (OBERON), Caucasian Chalk Circle (A2, Yale Rep), 3 seasons as Production Audio Engineer for the Goodspeed Opera House.  Education: Carnegie Mellon School of Drama, NHSI “Theatre Cherubs”.  Member: TSDCA, USITT, SoundGirls

Cassy Givens

Cassy is a New York City-based theatrical audio engineer. Her mix credits include the Broadway productions of Frozen, Something Rotten, Newsies, Memphis, and The Scottsboro Boys. She has also mixed various theatrical shows and events on tour, Off-Broadway, and regionally at venues including Huntington Theatre Company, Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Old Globe, Glimmerglass Opera, and The Public Theatre in NYC. When she isn’t mixing musicals she works as a sound designer, system technician, as well as a wireless microphone technician. Proud member of IATSE.

Julie M. Sloan

Julie was, before the world shut down, the production sound mixer for Tina: The Tina Turner Musical on Broadway. Previous Broadway musical credits include Ain’t Too Proud, SpongeBob Squarepants, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, On Your Feet, Jesus Christ Superstar (2012 revival), Guys and Dolls (2009 revival), and over ten years of Jersey Boys. Tours: Hairspray, Jesus Christ Superstar, Aida, Annie Get Your Gun.

She holds a degree in Audio Technology from the Indiana University School of Music, where she once mixed a tree-planting ceremony with the Dalai Llama and monitors for GWAR on the same day.