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An Introspection on Theatrical Sound Design

Where to begin? An empty screen, a blank page, and a freshly printed script. Still warm from the printer. I love designing for theatre. It allows me to experience hundreds of different renditions of the same script. The same story, but from a different perspective. Theatre is the original never-ending story.

Thus, when I design for theatre, I begin by asking myself several fundamental questions. I approach it in its most basic form, a story.

What are some of the thoughts and emotions I feel during the first read-through?

I am currently sound designing and composing for a play titled The Revolutionist. I remember being awestruck, fueled with energy, and rereading passages several times. There were parts that I clung to and others where the action was so quick that it came spilling off the pages. This is what the script felt like for me at this point in my life.

If someone was to map this out they might call it a tension plot. Or a visual representation of the story arc. It might look like a rough line plot with descriptions. It might be a list of points with titles and corresponding symbols with emotive words. It could very well be a single paragraph talking about the story arc’s path. Understanding how the play feels and flows is important as a storyteller, regardless of how you explain the emotions.

Following this, you might begin to form questions or deeper contemplations.

What questions are asked and answered in the play and what is left unanswered? What might this mean for the overall storytelling?

As the collaboration process unfolds, some of these themes and questions will be brought up by the director and other designers. I think by asking questions, wondering why and how, and taking the time to look at the script as a team ultimately leads to a clearer and more cohesive form of storytelling. When you ask questions about the script, you are asking about the story, the author, the period of time it was written, and so many other factors. You are taking a step into that story. I find this perspective is vital when creating the musical world for live theatre.

Keep a dedicated journal or notebook. A sound designer’s grimoire.

I would suggest collecting all of these feelings, thoughts, and questions and writing them in a dedicated notebook. I have used the google drive method of typing notes and keeping my work mostly electronic until I had the pleasure of seeing a costume designer’s personal production notebook. It was cluttered in an artistic and beautiful way. It had swatches of fabric and sketches with descriptions. There were pages filled with words that illustrated her design. What I found on those pages was what I saw in her costumes. It was magical and I knew I wanted that for my artistic process.

I don’t think I could dedicate a grimoire for each design I do, but I do think it is beneficial for large designs and projects I am passionate about. As artists, our ideas flow fast and accumulate. We want to keep them close when we need to remember some tiny forgotten idea. My current one does not contain fabric swatches, but it does have a lot of character analysis, questions, poetry, and snippets of descriptive phrases. I create mood boards to go with the sounds and music I associate with characters and locations. By compiling these thoughts and feelings on paper in one place, I have easy and convenient access to all of it. Plus, you have the opportunity to get a fancy notebook if you choose. I am sure I have sold you on this.

What do these worlds/spaces look like? Sound like? Feel like? What are some keywords, sounds, and images you might associate with the vibe?

Each designer is going to be unique in their artistic approach. Whatever helps you convey what you have in mind is going to be the right approach for you. What something looks like can tell you so much about how it sounds. How big is the space? Are we inside or out? What creatures inhabit it? What kind of weather are they experiencing? Are we experiencing a non-diegetic moment filled with underscore and magical sounds?

Consider the tension plot. Where are we at in terms of emotions that you felt when you first read the script? Maybe you have added and developed these thoughts since then. What do those emotions infer to you? If you were excited and hanging onto every line when you first read it, then an otherworldly underscored moment might be necessary to tell that story and emotion.

What leads the story? The characters? History? An unseen fate? How does that flow? Is it a slow burn or is it staggering? How does this contribute to the story?

You might answer these questions differently compared to others on the production team. You are going to share similar opinions as well. This examination is going to help you further flush out the story’s arc. In Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, shifts in socioeconomics and the unknown fate of the orchard are what drives the plot of the story. In Eric Overmyer’s On the Verge, the story is forcefully pushed along by the three female lead characters.

The answer to these questions hints at how a designer might approach perspective and how their design can emphasize that. Audience members might find it easier to relate to characters unless they have been directly affected by the conflict in the story.  It is also going to help the production team guide the audience through the experience of the story. The actors on stage need our help to do that successfully. When all of these inner workings come together, the theatrical experience is truly magical.

How does the audience interact with the action on stage? Are we in the world or are we spectators? How does sound move around us or in front of us? Is it intrusive or is it invited? What does that mean in regards to how we tell the story?

Finally, we are in the physical theater space. The production team brings the pieces of the world into the playing realm. The play is becoming realized.

These questions will be answered as you have discussions as a team and with your director. The actor playing space will be decided early on. Some parts of the play might protrude out into the audience and some may remain separated. How the action and world move around the theater space is important because the sound might need to emphasize that. Or it might need to represent it solely. It could also contradict in an adverse effect.

This sound support might manifest itself in where you place speakers, effects like reverb and delay, panning and spatialization of sound cues, and the list goes on forever. I mixed a South Pacific where an invisible airplane taxied on stage, took off down the runway, got into the flight, circled around the perimeter of the audience, and flew away. For the most part, that show was separated by the viewer’s veil. The audience members were spectators. However, in that scene, the world of the Pacific crossed that divide and created magic.

Those are the instances that have audience members smiling when they leave the theater. They are special and so much fun for designers. It is a moment to flex your artistic muscles and shine in the spotlight. These scenes are made special because they are precise. The time was taken to consider when the audience becomes part of the world. They are special because they help us tell the story and in turn, we are better storytellers.

 

Doing Sound for Acrobatics Shows

The first time I ran a soundboard from FOH for a show with acrobatics, my main concern was not to get distracted by the act and by the anxiety that watching acrobatics and dangerous acts can cause. This feeling never goes away but you learn how to control it and to focus your attention on your cues and mixing. Especially when your track is a fundamental part of the show, as important as the music and sound effects can be, and especially when troubleshooting needs to be performed as effectively as possible in case of any surprise or technical difficulties because it can affect the act and performer’s safety. I might even claim that your mixing becomes second, safety is always first.

The way to achieve this concentration level starts by learning mainly four things: learn your gear, learn the act/show, learn the cue sheet and learn the music. As with any job, knowing the tools and gear you have to perform your job is fundamental, even getting used to the physical position of it and training your muscular memory can be important to efficiently do your job during a show with acrobatics that requires rapid response and accuracy. Many of the sound cues will be related to visual references, verbal cues, or musical cues during a show with acrobatics, so learning when an artist moves a leg or does a head bow, are as important as learning the key change in the music to trigger the next scene on your console.

As in other types of shows, acrobatics shows have a big crew of technicians backstage running different tracks to make the show happen. During the show (and rehearsals) we are all on Intercoms following a script read by a show caller. These scripts let each technician know the moment to run their specific cue, and it will be something like winch coming in, cue 27 go, door is clear, performers to position, house to 20% go, standby for …, etc. If you are running FOH, 99% of the time you won’t be listening to the show caller because there is a show to be mixed with both of your ears, but you may have cue lights triggered by them or you might have to hear momentarily the show caller channel to trigger your cue. Other show tracks for sound as monitors or backstage will probably hear the show caller during the whole show, adding it to the mix for the in-ears or carrying a belt pack just for coms.

Following artists’ movements to run cues, sound effects, or musical remarks might happen during the show too, like pushing the master for specific impressive moments of the acropachies or triggering sound effects for clown acts. This means that in addition to your audio console and processor you’ll run, you might always have another piece of gear with sound clips for this purpose, like Qlab, LCS Cue consoles, 360 Systems Instant Replay audio player, etc. Learning the acts and the different versions of them will help you follow the artist’s actions, if they decide to repeat an action or not, your cues may vary or not.

It will also be very important what to do in case of an emergency, you’ll be trained to follow emergency protocols depending on the situation (show stops, fire alarm, etc.) like triggering special announcements, playing waiting music, or even assisting artists on stage.

Cue sheets and track sheets are the best way to put together all the learning of the music, the act, and the cues. On them, you can specify preset instructions, the type of reference to take cues, what the cue does, when to take the cue, what the next cue is, and how fast you need to do it, act versions or show versions, etc.

Doing sound for acrobatic shows will always keep your attention to a maximum, there is no chance for missing cues or for big mistakes, and problem-solving will be your most valuable skill.

 

So, You Want to Get an Agent?

I have been a sound designer for almost 20 years and just gained representation earlier this year.  A fellow sound designer friend of mine basically just told me that I need to get an agent now that I’m 100% freelance.  I must admit that I was a little skeptical at first.  I’ve made it this long without an agent, why do I need one now?  Skip to almost a year later, and I’m here to say, it’s one of the best career moves I’ve made.  Here are some of the questions (and recently found answers) I encountered along the way.

What exactly does an agent do?

Your agent is the person who interfaces between you and someone who is interested in hiring you (producers, artistic directors, etc.).  They will handle things like contract negotiation, travel preferences, and even gently declining an offer you are unavailable for.  It’s not necessarily your agent’s job to find work for you, but sometimes that is an added perk.  My agent, for example, has long-standing relationships with many producers and directors, and sometimes they will come to her if they are looking for a specific kind of designer or artist.  If the gig seems like it would be a good fit for me, she will connect us.  In the short time that I have been with this agency, I have already gotten a few gigs that way.

How much does an agent charge?

Generally 10%.  My agent doesn’t make me send all of my jobs through her either.  If I’m taking a lower-paying gig, and I know there’s really nothing tricky with the contract, I can just let her know that I’m taking this gig and that I’ll be handling the contract myself.  She’s totally cool with that.  I just don’t make a habit of it, because I know that she gets paid when I get paid.  I always make a point to discuss these instances with her before diving in to make sure that everyone is comfortable with proceeding.

How do you find the right agent?

Talk to other people with agents in your field.  Mine came recommended by a friend, so we now both belong to the same agency.  It’s also important to note here that just because you choose an agent doesn’t mean they choose you.  Before I was officially in, I had a 3-hour long phone call with my agent.  We were just learning about each other and how we would vibe.  This is the person that will make decisions on your behalf, so they want to be aligned with you, your thoughts, your wants, and your process.  In turn, it is very important that you trust your agent to speak on your behalf.  It’s also ok to decide that you should keep looking if you feel it is not the right fit.

All in all, I have been truly grateful for my agent.  Negotiating contracts, contract language, knowing your worth, and speaking up for what you deserve are all really overwhelming things to take on alone.  Having someone to take on those challenges beside you is a great feeling, and knowing that you always have someone there with your best interest in mind is absolutely incredible.  When you are a freelance designer, you are a business.  You want your business to thrive, and to do that, you need to build a great team for your business.  Start with an agent, and watch your business grow.

 

Music Reading for Drama Technicians

This month’s blog will go over some basic music theory concepts that I have found useful in my work as a musical theatre mixer. Full credit for the title goes to Professor Thomas W. Douglas of Carnegie Mellon University, who taught a class by that name when I was an undergrad. I know that not everyone working in theatrical sound has a formal music education (and I am not suggesting that it’s a requirement) but I think that being able to understand what is going on in a score, follow along in the music, and in some cases, line-by-line mix from the score, are good skills for anyone in this field to have.

 

Part 1: From the Top

 

Here’s a full-size cheat sheet of music theory 101! Courtesy of Thomas W. Douglas.

As with any piece of writing, the most important information about a score is at the top of the page. This first set of symbols gives you a roadmap for what the song should sound like and how it should feel when played. Some of that basic information includes:

Tempo: the “speed” of a song. Sometimes delineated in Italian terms ranging from the slowest (largo) to fastest (prestissimo). Often in modern shows, and especially new musicals, you will see more descriptive tempo terms such as “steady rock beat” or “upbeat.” Some of the tempo descriptions for the new musical I am currently mixing include “bluesy protest song,” “Dylanesque,” “pop 4,” “feverish,” and my personal favorite, “Tempo di ‘Four Seasons.’” Also common in modern and new musicals is a specific bpm marking, e.g., “quarter note = 120.” This is often included even on songs that aren’t played to a click, just to give a specific sense of how the tune should feel.

Time signature: the “meter” of the song. Shown as two stacked numbers, with the top number representing the number of beats in a measure (or bar) of music, and the bottom one showing what note counts as 1 beat. So, in 4/4 time, 4 quarter notes, or any other combination of notes adding up to 4 quarter notes (such as 2 half notes), makes 1 bar of music. Since 4/4 is overwhelmingly the most common time signature, it is often abbreviated by just writing a “C” for “common time.” Additionally, time changes within the same song are more common in show tunes than in pop music, as they can be helpful ways to revisit motifs from previous songs or highlight a shift in plot, mood, or tension.

Key signature: what “scale” the piece is in (or at least, much like tempo and time signature, what key the song starts in.) A good way to learn key signatures is by studying the “Circle of Fifths” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_of_fifths), and learning the shortcuts to analyzing sharps and flats to quickly discern a key. The “signs” section in the graphic above shows the symbols for sharp, flat, and natural.

 

 

Clefs: what note range this part is written in. Most vocal parts for musical theatre are written in treble clef or G clef. A piano-vocal score (or PV) for a show will have the vocal lines in treble clef (sometimes with bass parts shown in treble clef 8vb, meaning that the notes are written in treble clef but should be sung down an octave), and then treble and bass clef lines for the piano part.

 

 

 

Part 2: Following Along in a Score

While plenty of music, both classical and pop, contains a common set of musical conventions, there are some things that I specifically look for when analyzing a musical theatre score. Some of those things are:

Repeats, Codas, Vamps, and Safeties

Repeats are exactly what they sound like: a section of music played through twice (or more times if indicated, but always a specific number of times). See the above glossary for a picture of the repeat symbols in music notation. Repeats can be useful when a song has a clear verse and chorus that are melodically identical, therefore the copyist can just write them into the music once (with both sets of lyrics under the vocal line) and delineate the first and second endings instead of writing the whole figure out twice.

Another thing that repeats allow for is Codas. A coda is the “tail” of a piece and is only played the last time through a repeated piece. When a piece of music says “D.C al Coda” this means “play the piece through as many times as the repeats indicate, but on the final time through, skip ahead to the Coda where the music indicates to do so.” Coda markings look kind of like a set of crosshairs and are often accompanied by the words “to coda” or “al coda”.

What about vamps? Romanbenedict.com defines a vamp as “a section of music that is repeated several times while dialogue or onstage action occurs. It is usually directed by the conductor’s cue, and as such can cope with the unpredictability of long stretches of dialogue or indeterminable theatrical machinations.” Vamps might be used when a song has a scene break in the middle of it because, while an 8-bar section of music always takes roughly the same amount of time to play, the pacing of the script (or the speed of a scenic transition) is not so precisely timed and may vary in length from night to night. The cue to move out of the vamp could be a certain line of dialogue or a scene change completing and will be clearly cued by the music director. It’s good to know where the vamps are in a musical number so that you can keep track of where you are in the song and not accidentally miss a pickup, band move, or a snapshot.

Safeties can be thought of as “optional” vamps, meaning that they could be played or skipped entirely based on timing variations from performance to performance.

Dynamics: Dynamics, as we learn in audio, are variations in loudness. Similarly, in music, dynamic descriptions tell us where this piece of music lands on the soft-to-loud, or in this case, “piano” to “forte” spectrum. In scores, you will find dynamics abbreviated using p for “piano” aka soft, f for “forte” aka loud, and m for “mezzo” or moderately (used in combination with p or f such as mp or mf).

Changes in dynamics: the Italian terms for these are crescendo and decrescendo. A crescendo is a gradual increase in volume and decrescendo means a gradual decrease. They are written either as the abbreviation “cresc.” Or, more commonly, by putting an elongated “<” or >” symbol under the bars of music encompassing the duration of the dynamic shift. There may also be an indication of what dynamic you are moving to or from (such as p<f, meaning crescendo from piano to forte), but this is optional. Crescendo markings are one of my favorite shorthand symbols to use in my mix scripts, so rather than write out “fade band up to -8” I will simply write “B<-8”. I also often use crescendo markings at the end of songs to indicate a big band build, or decrescendo markings on the first lyric after the intro to indicate a small band decrease when the vocal starts.

Changes in tempo: there are a lot of Italian terms for slowing a tempo down; the most common one is ritardando, often abbreviated as “rit.” Other terms include rallantando (rall. for short), or “moso” which means movement, and can have further elaboration such as piu moso (a little faster) or meno moso (a little slower).

Key changes: also called modulations. These can be everywhere in musical theatre but are most common in the final verse of a song, where the music and action take a big emotional shift. You will know there is a key change because in the middle of the music there will be a new key signature that now supersedes the original key for the remainder of the song (until you get to the next key change).

Rubato: this means played freely, without a clear tempo.

Fermata: a long-held note, often at the end of a song as part of the “big finish.”

Button: Buttons aren’t necessarily explicitly defined in the music, but they’re hard to miss. A clean, 1-beat ending to a song. Here is a great thread from Lin-Manuel Miranda explaining the emotional intent of buttons and why some songs do or don’t have them: https://twitter.com/lin_manuel/status/951215051633037312

Pickup note(s): this is when a song begins with an incomplete measure of music. For an example of a pickup, we can revisit the opening of Les Misérables which I dissected in part 1. The song begins with an eighth-note pickup, such that melodically the music starts on the “and” of the 4th beat of the 0th measure.

 

The circled notes are the pickup and first beat.

Part 3: Putting it together

Now armed with the tools to read a score more clearly, the next step is to apply your music theory in action as a mixer!

When should you opt to mix using a PV instead of a script? The answer is “it depends.” Also, the decision to mix from a score does not have to be universal but can be decided on a song-by-song basis.

There are many reasons to use score or not, such as personal preference, designer preference, lack of access to an updated or well-formatted script, and many more. But basically, as always, it comes down to picking the best tool for the job, the job in this case mixing this number of the musical.

So, for a real-world case study, here are some example PV pages for “Finale Ultimo” from my mix script for The Drowsy Chaperone, which I chose to mix on the score for ease of clarity in making the pickups for the layered vocal parts that flow in and out as the main character, The Man in the Chair, sings the melody. This section of PV matches up to approximately 0:30-1:39 in the recording from the cast album linked below.

 

 

 

 

I hope this blog has made you a little more musically “street-smart” and as always, feel free to reach out to me with any questions or suggestions for future blog topics!

 

Shop Prep 101

 

One of the biggest things I had to learn about when I moved from working in regional theatre to working in NYC was the process of shop prep (also called “shop build” or just “build”). It’s a phase of the production process that is kind of particular and unique to doing theatre here, and there is a lot to learn and money to be made doing this kind of work. Almost everyone who works as an A1, A2, or audio stagehand in NYC takes shop calls from time to time, sometimes for shows that they are mixing or A2ing, and sometimes as an additional hand on another show’s shop prep. It’s not uncommon for a sound stagehand to be building one show during the day and running another one at night (though “double-dipping” like this can get exhausting quickly). So, for this blog, I thought I would provide some basic information about shops and shop prep: what it is, who will be there, what goes on there, and a few other things that I wish I had known before showing up more or less clueless at my first shop build in January of 2019.

Part 1: Definitions

What is shop prep?

Shop prep is the part of the production process where all the audio gear that the designer has specified for the show is assembled, labeled, and tested. It takes place before the load-in period, and the goal is to get the sound design package ready to be installed in the theatre.

Why do NYC shows do shop preps?

Unlike most regional theatres, Broadway (and many off-Broadway) houses do not own any gear of their own. Everything the show needs from every department is brought in on a per-show basis and spec’d by the respective designers, especially for use on that show. Rather than purchase expensive new gear for every new Broadway show that comes to town, practically all the audio gear (including cable) is rented from one of the 3 major NYC-area audio rental shops for a weekly fee that is paid to the shop by the producers. Prior to shop prep, the sound designer, production manager, and producers will often go through a bidding process to see which of these 3 shops can fulfill the order closest to what the designer wants and what the producers have budgeted for.

Does every show do a shop prep?

With very few exceptions, every Broadway show and most touring shows will do a shop prep process. Many Off-Broadway shows do a shop prep as well, though some own enough gear that the sound designer can put together the desired system using the venue’s “rep system” or gear that the venue already owns. Some regional productions will also do a shop prep, particularly if the show that they are mounting is a “pre-Broadway Tryout” aka a show doing a run out of town before hopefully moving to NYC. In both Off-Broadway and regional theatre, sometimes a venue’s existing gear will be supplemented by a shop rental, which may or may not be complex enough for the show to need to send a team of workers for a proper shop prep. This is often the case for venues that do mostly plays and therefore might not own the gear that they need for musicals, such as a large-format mixing console and wireless microphones.

What are the “Big 3” shops, and where are they located?

The “Big 3” shops that supply the audio gear for most Broadway and Off-Broadway shows are Masque Sound, Production Resource Group (PRG), and Sound Associates Inc (SAI). Masque and PRG are both in northern New Jersey, and Sound Associates is in Yonkers, NY, just north of The Bronx.

Part 2: Know Before You Go

Ok, I’ve booked my first ever shop prep! Where is the shop and how do I get there?

DISCLAIMER: this travel information is current as of March 2022, so check with a knowledgeable friend in case things have changed since then!

Masque Sound

Address: 21 E Union Ave, East Rutherford, NJ 07073

How to get there from NYC: If you don’t have a car (or a friend with a car), the NJTransit 163 bus from Port Authority Bus Terminal is the easiest way to get there. The bus lets out right by the Staples store on Union Avenue in East Rutherford, and the shop is just down the street from there.

IMPORTANT NOTE: for the morning commute, not every 163 Bus stops at the Staples! You must be on the one that leaves at either 7:40 am or 8:10 am. Look for other sound folks with Pelican cases at the bus station, and they will help you get to the right place.

How to get back: The bus is also an option for returning to NYC, but it’s much easier to walk to the East Rutherford train station and take the train to Secaucus. From there you can transfer to a train to Penn Station.

PRG

Address: 915 Secaucus Rd, Secaucus, NJ 07094

How to get there from NYC: Take the NJTransit 129 bus from Port Authority, Gate 314. You’ll want to make the 7:50 am bus if your build starts at 8:30 am. The bus stops right outside of PRG!

How to get back: The same bus will take you back to Port Authority from the same stop where you got off. But check the schedule because if you miss it the next one might not be for a while!

Sound Associates

Address: 979 Saw Mill River Rd, Yonkers, NY 10710

How to get there from NYC: A friend with a car will be your best bet here. Often shows will rent a car for the Production Audio to get to the build, so reach out and see if you can ride with them. There is a Metro-North train that goes from Grand Central Station to Yonkers (also you can take the subway most of the way there), but neither of these options leaves you within reasonable walking distance, so you will still have to take a cab or rideshare from there to the shop.

IMPORTANT NOTE: if you are driving to SAI from NYC, put “Star Auto Spa” (999 Saw Mill River Rd, Yonkers, NY 10710) in your GPS, not Sound Associates itself! The shop is literally right next to exit 9 on the northbound side of the Saw Mill River Parkway, but you must get off one exit earlier (at Exit 7 – Tuckahoe Rd) to actually get there. Otherwise, you will arrive at the off-ramp for exit 9 only to find that you are on the wrong side of the fence, and Google/Waze will think you have arrived at your destination when in fact you’ve gone too far.

IMPORTANT NOTE WHEN TRAVELING TO ANY OF THE SHOPS: many productions (particularly Off-Broadway) will reimburse your travel costs, so ask your Production Audio if this is the case on your show, and be sure to save your tickets and receipts!

Who all will be there?

On the show side, your team will likely consist of some combination of these people:

On the shop side, your main players are

What tools should I bring?

Most of what you need can be provided either by the production or by your fellow shop hands, so definitely don’t feel like you have to go spend all your money on nice tools before you’ve even gotten your first shop paycheck! That said, once you do a few builds you may find it nice to have your own tools for certain tasks. A great way to carry them is in a Pelican case, and you will see many sound folks bringing theirs into the zone on the first day of a build. But do whatever works for you and your budget. Perishables such as tape, tie line, and zip ties will be purchased by the production; there is no need to bring your own.

Here is a list of the tools and other accessories that I like to have on hand for shop use: screw gun (plus a variety of bits); multi-tool; crappy knife for cutting electrical tape without gunking up your good knife; good knife for non-electrical tape jobs; tape measure; crescent wrench,; headlamp; flush cutters for cutting zip ties; scissors; screwdriver; a good pair of work gloves; Allen keys; jeweler’s screwdrivers or other precision bit set; pens/pencils, P-Touch label maker; cable tester; BNC tool; and my personal favorite: knee pads (for when you’re stuck on the ground building a rack or holding something).

 

Here’s the inside of my Pelican case with most of the above-mentioned tools in it! My label-maker is in the red bag off to the side.

 

Part 3: Let’s Get to Work

Ok I’m at the shop! Now what?

Rather than describe the tasks of shop prep based on how much time they take, I find it helpful to think of the prep process in phases. Shop preps can vary drastically in duration, depending on the show’s budget, how big the rental package is, and how many crew members are available. Typically, a Broadway show or 1st national tour will spend 3-4 weeks in the shop, but some builds may go for even longer if there is a lot of specialty equipment and assembly needs. Smaller Broadway shows and off-Broadway shows might spend between 2 days and 2 weeks in shop prep, so it totally depends. But in most cases, there are some universal tasks that will need to be done, and usually, they go in this order:

Phase 1: Bundling, Labeling, Rack Building

When you arrive in your zone on the first day of your show’s prep, you will likely find a smattering of gear, some empty rack boxes, and lots of cable. To make the load-in process smoother and more efficient, a set of cables that runs from point A to point B (for example, from ampland to front of house) will be loomed together into a bundle. Every single cable will have a specific label, and most designers (or associate designers) will include spare runs for anything fragile like network and video cables. XLR runs will typically be done using G-block multi-cables, which come in varieties from 3-pair all the way up to 19-pair. The associate designer will have put together some version of a piece of paperwork called a “bundle sheet” which tells you the name of the bundle, what cables go in it, and, very importantly, which ends need to be grouped together so that no cable is run backwards! The associate designer will also sometimes generate cable labels using a database program such as FileMaker Pro. Many production audio people and associate designers have spent years putting together their databases to make this process easier for themselves and to avoid having to start from scratch on every new production they do.

A new-ish development in post-pandemic shop work is that show build crews are often doing the actual bundling of cables themselves. Some shows may pay to have the shops do the bundling for them, but this has not been the norm in 2022 in my personal experience. The act of bundling is done by flagging all the ends that begin at one origin (such as ampland) with colored gaff tape, then wrapping friction tape around the entire “girth” of the cable bundle every 3-ish feet, so that all the cables in the bundle can then be easily coiled up and run out together as though they were one very thick cable. It’s gonna feel like major “arm day” by the time you’re done, so prepare yourself. I personally recommend wearing long sleeves and gloves for when you’re laying out 250’ of cable and inevitably getting various dirt and schmutz all over yourself!

Here are some of the completed bundles for the Broadway production of “A Strange Loop.” This is a relatively small Broadway musical, but it still had 70+ bundles!

 

In most cases, the ends of a bundle will find themselves getting plugged into racks. Racks of gear will be designed on a per-show basis by the designer and associate designer and be articulated in a series of rack drawings. These can be made in software such as Vectorworks, Excel, OmniGraffle, or sometimes just sketched out by hand in a pinch.

Building racks means wrangling up all the gear that goes into that rack, screwing it into the slots where the drawing indicates that it should go, then elegantly labeling, running, and connecting the gear’s power supply (if applicable) and short cables known as interconnects that go between the front of the rack (where most of the gear is) and the back of the rack. On the rear side of the rack, you will usually add some sort of panel mount or Stek (brand name) panel with connector barrels on it that merge the bundle ends to the interconnect ends. That way once the crew in the theatre gets the bundles, all they have to do is plug the labeled ends into the back of the rack at the labeled ports without having to dig around inside the rack to find the right port for each connection.

“L: the rack drawing for the Deck Automation rack for the Broadway production of “A Strange Loop”. C&R: the finished rack viewed from front and rear! Rack drawing by Sam Schloegel.”

 

Phase 2: Testing

Once most of your racks and bundles are built, it’s time to move on to testing! Basically, this will involve setting up a mock layout of your show’s ampland in your prep bay, then running out all your bundles between ampland, Front of House, and the other various rack locations. Simultaneously, your A1 will likely be setting up a mock-up of the mix position, both building FOH racks and setting up the basic console file. Just about everything in your bay should be tested before being brought to the theatre in as close to “show conditions” as you can get it. So, for example, to test the conductor camera, you will plug it in near your mock band area, run the bundle that goes between it and ampland, run out any other bundles out from ampland that carry the conductor image to its various destinations, then plug in every video monitor to make sure you see the image. To keep things neat and clear, a common trick when testing cameras is to stick a post-it in front of the lens labeled with what the shot should be, that way when you have 4 monitors all next to each other you can easily diagnose which camera is “MD” vs “FOH IR” vs “LADDER 3” etc. Additionally, all wired inputs, band mics, monitor mixers such as Avioms, wired and wireless com, and program feed sends will be tested, plus any other equipment that is pertinent to your show’s design.

 

A big stack of com racks for tech rehearsals all ready to be tested!

 

Phase 3: Packing and Pushing

Finally, your build is coming to an end, and it is time to prepare the gear to be transported to the theatre for load-in! Racks will get packed into foam-lined rack surrounds with wheels so that nothing gets damaged on the journey. Hardware, such as mic stands and speaker yokes will usually get packed into gray road cases known simply as “greys.” Cable will get packed into road cases. Then your Production Audio will advise on where everything should be packed so that each road case can get pushed to the most relevant location upon arrival at the venue, and you aren’t carrying cable from one location to another excessively. Every box will have a box label with a box number, the contents of what’s in the box, and, for large shows, which truck the box goes on. This also helps streamline the load-in process so that things you need first, such as feeder cable, arrive before things you don’t need until later, such as spare cable.

Depending on the shop schedule, the shop may ask you to leave your boxes packed and labeled in your prep bay, or you may push them to the loading dock yourself before leaving on your last day. Whatever the case is, hopefully, you have set the show up for success so that when the truck arrives for the first day of load-in everything is ready to go!

 

Truck 3 for the Broadway production of “A Strange Loop” is lined up at the dock and ready to get packed!

 

I hope this article will help you feel less overwhelmed than I did at my first shop prep! Please feel free to reach out with any additional questions you have about this process. If there is interest, I would be happy to dive deeper into any aspect of shop prep in a future blog entry.

 

Saving the Show

We all like to think we’re absolutely indispensable, especially in the theatre world. There’s the old adage “the show must go on,” so we push ourselves to get tours into theatres where they barely fit, come to work even when we’re not feeling well because who else can run the show? Once, an actress asked what the A1 and A2 would do if one of us were sick. I told her that whoever’s not sick would mix the show, so she asked what happened if we were both sick. I replied, “then whoever’s less sick mixes with a trashcan at FOH.” Thankfully neither of us ever had to do that, but everyone on the road has a war story of doing a show despite illness or injury, bragging how quickly they came back or how stoically they soldiered through.

Trying to fit the old tour life we knew into a new landscape where Covid dictates so much have proven challenging to say the least. But some good has come from it: now more than ever, we’re focusing more on our physical health. Which is wonderful, and long overdue. However, sailing in uncharted waters leads to so much uncertainty in our lives. That constant stress takes a toll on the mental health of the company. We’re on rigorous testing schedules that race against the efficiency of an ever-evolving virus that threatens cancellations or unexpected layoffs if enough people in the company test positive. Before 2020 most of us would have cheered some unexpected time off and made plans to relax, but now there’s a nagging worry in the back of our minds that our entire industry could shut down again or our show could close for good. We find ourselves half tempted to stay locked in the hotel room in the hope that somehow that will keep a positive test at bay, all the while knowing that our quality of life will suffer drastically if we try to avoid each other completely.

We’re now at a point where being indispensable is a liability, not only to the company but to our own mental well-being. Even more so for the handful of company members who have become linchpins in a Covid world: people that, if they test positive and have to quarantine, have no replacement or understudy onsite to cover, and the show will have to shut down until they can return to work. In most cases, there’s someone, somewhere that could fly out to the tour to cover, but even that would involve at least one or two canceled shows.

At the beginning of January, I ran into both of those situations. Mean Girls had an outbreak of cases and had to cancel a week of shows, which had already happened on a handful of other tours. I found myself with some unexpected time off, but that didn’t last for long because our industry is a very small one. On my first day off, I got a call at 9 pm asking if I could leave on the first flight the next day so I could fill in for the A1 on the My Fair Lady tour, and Tuesday at 10 am I walked into load in to help the A2 get the show-up and running.

This was a job that brought a lot of perspectives. It was a d&b main system and Helixnet com, neither of which I’d toured, and a Yamaha PM10 console, which I’ve never touched before (I have worked on Yamaha consoles, and thankfully that knowledge of the software transferred!), plus a design team that I’d never worked with before. Walking in, I’d toured for long enough that I was able to get the general lay of the land, and the A2 and I worked through setting up FOH and getting the system timed with a few phone calls and emails to design and the A1 to make sure we had the right patches and were getting reasonably close to the original intention of the design.

It was gratifying to see that I’d come far enough in my career that I could take unfamiliar gear in stride or at least know who to ask for help. It also showed me the gap between what we know as someone who runs the show constantly, and what a fresh pair of eyes actually see. Taking that back with me to Mean Girls, I’m starting to covid-proof my system to the best of my ability. So far I’ve added better labeling and color-coding to my FOH setup, taking more pictures of what things look like, and creating a Dropbox folder that I can send someone a link with most of the pertinent information they’d need to load in, run, and load out the show.

Luckily, this leans into one of my strengths. If you threw a dart at a collection of my blogs, you’re almost guaranteed to hit one that either mentions or completely focuses on some kind of paperwork: scripts, console programming, venue advances; I love a solid set of paperwork and some detailed documentation.

One of my projects on the post-Covid version of the tour was creating documentation of the show and my stint at My Fair Lady gave me a better idea of what I want to include:

For some, this sounds like overkill, but I find peace of mind in the idea that I might give someone too much information, but hopefully never too little. I also have a lot of practice doing this kind of documentation because it’s similar to what I’ve done for some of the shows I’ve left, specifically those where I didn’t have much time with my replacement to help train them. The only difference is that this would be a temporary replacement with who I’d have absolutely no crossover, other than answering questions on the phone as I sit in a hotel room in quarantine.

At this point in the touring world, it’s no longer about job security, it’s about sustainability. Eventually, we may move to a point where Covid won’t shut shows down for weeks at a time, but we’re not there yet. Until we make it to that point, we all have to be prepared for the when — not if — of being the person who’s in quarantine. For me, that means lots of time typing on my computer so I can rest just a little easier knowing I’ve done everything I could to make my replacement and my crew’s life as easy as possible.

Production Audio

 

Before Mean Girls was planning to hit the road again, I got the opportunity to work on the re-start of the Cats tour as the production audio. That was a job I had never considered myself remotely capable of pre-pandemic, but as the world started to open back up, I was itching for a chance to get back into a theatre and more than ready for what I now viewed as a challenge instead of an impossibility.

I’m sure more than a few people reading this have never heard of production audio before. It’s not a job that’s billed on the front of the playbill like the designer, and they’re only with the show to get it up and running, so you’re not going to see them in the theatre when you go to watch a show. So what do they actually do?

 

So. Very. Much. They’re responsible for the logistics of taking a show from theory to reality. Given paperwork from the designer, they interface with production, design, and the shop to get all the equipment needed and figure out how everything goes together. How will all the gear fit into racks? What cables do you need to connect everything? Do you need infrastructure for MIDI or timecode? Networked computers so you can operate amps, consoles, or programs remotely? Who in the crew will need com and/or video and how does it get to them? Which speakers will need rigging hardware and do you know where they’re going to go or should you bring multiple options?

It’s a parade of endless questions

Which requires an extremely organized person, a good communicator, and a lot of technical knowledge. My pre-COVID hesitation had always been the last part. I knew I was organized and could keep people in the loop, but I know the tech-heavy aspects of sound don’t hold my interest nearly as much as the more artistic side of things, and I’d always assumed that meant I would be a disaster in such a job.

Thankfully, with the tour re-mounting instead of being a brand new production, the system was already built and sitting in a warehouse. That removed the most complicated technical part of the job from my plate, plus I’d worked with the original designer and production team before, so I was familiar with how they built their shows. That was actually why I got the call for the job: I may never have done production before, but I knew how to tour and what I’d be working with.

With that part already taken care of, my job was mostly coordination and improving efficiency. On a new show, the crew has two or three weeks in the shop to get all the gear, rack it up, cable, and test everything. For the remount, we took the existing system back to the shop and we had two weeks to make the changes the designer and production manager had agreed on so the show could load in and out faster. (It was going to a schedule with shorter stops and more frequent moves.) I had a list of items that were getting cut (under-balcony speakers, remote com stations, etc) and substitutions that were being made (drums mics swapping out for an e-kit, the console changing over from an SD7 to an SD10), as well as evaluating anything we could tweak to make the touring crew’s life easier.

The shop crew consisted of me as the production audio, the A1, A2, and a few locals who are audio people that work on or around Broadway. I was in charge of hiring the local crew which was something completely new to me, but I was fortunate to have friends in the NYC area who were veterans of plenty of shop builds and were both available to work and willing to help me navigate a job I had never done before. Pro tip: hire people smarter than you and listen to them. A large portion of the success of the show can be directly attributed to my shop crew. They helped me work through technical questions, pointed out when I’d missed things or might have incorrect information, and offered advice when I needed help or they knew a better solution. With their help, I didn’t have to know all the technical answers and could lean on their expertise.

At the end of the two weeks, we packed everything on a truck, and the A1, A2, and I went to tech. Now I was back in familiar territory, just in a different role. Instead of loading in the show in my usual role as the A1, my job as production was to take care of setting up anything that the road crew shouldn’t have to touch on a normal load in or out: cameras that live in electrics truss, speakers that are mounted to set pieces, setting up for an orchestra rehearsal that would only happen in tech, etc. My goal was to always be one step ahead of everyone else, whether that was having tech tables set up before designers came in, making sure speakers had the correct hardware and were ready for the crew to set up, or ordering supplies to make sure we had everything we’d need.

I liked this part of the production process the best. After almost a decade on tour, I’d tried many ways to streamline shows and I knew what worked, what didn’t, and what could make a project less of a pain. So I rigged up speakers, spiked placement, color-coded cables, and did my level best to make the system as easy as possible to move.

All in all, I consider my first go at production a success. Did I do everything perfectly? Nope, definitely not. But the fact that I was willing to ask for help and advice meant that most of the problems I encountered were minor or the crew knew it was an honest mistake and were willing to give me some grace while I fixed it. Am I going to change my career trajectory now that I know I wouldn’t be an abject failure at production? Again, no. It was empowering to try something new and I truly enjoyed the work, but in the shop I still found myself wishing every once in a while that I was the one building the racks instead of answering endless emails and phone calls, printing labels, and fielding questions. In tech, I occasionally itched to push faders instead of sitting at my tech table placing yet another online order and looking over what seemed like endless lists of projects to do and fixes to make. On the other hand, I wouldn’t automatically turn down the opportunity as I had in the past. It was gratifying to see my to-do list slowly dwindle down as we went through tech and I loved the feeling of accomplishment when I knew I’d made some part of the tour just a little bit easier to load in. Since it was the A2’s first tour, I was also able to give him advice of pitfalls he should avoid and the best ways I’d found to speed up my workflow. Touring is a very odd combination of skills, and it was good to know I could pass on my accumulated knowledge to make someone else’s life easier.

This past 18 months of pandemic gave me a good opportunity to reevaluate my skills and realize that, not only was I capable of more than I thought, but I had a wonderful community around me who wanted to see me succeed and was willing to help make that happen. So, maybe, as the entertainment world comes back to life, try something new. You might find yourself pleasantly surprised!

Not a Solo Project

Whether you work in theatre, concerts, studio, or podcasting, it’s unlikely that you are a team of one.  All of these disciplines tend to be very collaborative, and often our teammates are scattered around the city, state, country, or even the world, making thorough communication extremely important.  Sometimes an email chain or group text just doesn’t cut it, so when you need to beef up your communication style, consider one of these communication platforms (in no particular order).

Slack

Ok, I said no particular order, but this one is my favorite.  Maybe it’s because this is the one I use the most.  The user interface is great, and it can be used via web, mobile, or PC.  It integrates well with other apps like Google Calendar, Drive, and Zoom, making productivity an all-time high!  File sharing and adding attachments is straightforward and easy, and the notification system allows for deciding which kind of notifications you would like to receive, or receive none at all during Do Not Disturb mode.  You can assign different channels or threads, so everyone doesn’t have to be involved in every conversation if that is not the end goal.  You can also @ mention specific people if you need to specifically draw someone’s attention to a particular subject.  The search function is quite robust and handy, and best of all (cause I’m a sucker for emojis) customizable reactions make this team app super fun!! Two enthusiastic thumbs up from me!

Teams

If you are a heavy Office 365 user, you might love this additional integration into Microsoft land.  Teams is all about productivity and increased focus on work, and the very professional/business look of the interface really supports this idea.  If you’re into a little more of a fun chat environment, you can still add reactions, gifs, and emojis at will. This software is pretty user-friendly and is entirely cloud-based, so your teammates can access info anywhere.  Teams have channels like Slack but also integrate Tabs within the channels as another layer of organization.  The default tabs are Posts (storage of every chat within a channel), Files (storage of shared docs within the channel), and Wiki (a smart text editor for editing, drafting, and chatting).  You can also add and customize additional tabs.  Teams also features outside app integration like Dropbox and Google Drive and also allows for video and audio calls without leaving a chat.  It’s been reported that there are maybe too many similar tools, but maybe that’s better than not having enough?

Google Hangout Chats

I know there are many Google tool users, so if that’s you, this is your platform!  Of course, the most attractive part of this is the total integration with all of the Google apps like Gmail and Google Drive, but I must let you know that it’s not so easy to integrate with Office 365, so if that’s important to you, maybe stick with Teams.  This platform requires no installation and it’s free, so setup is a breeze.    Messaging in Google Hangout Chats is easy and efficient, and you can add a layer of organization to your chats by using Rooms.  Screensharing and file sharing are available, although file-sharing can be a little clunky.  Like most of the other apps, audio and video calls, as well as instant messaging, are available.  Video resolution could be better, but hey, it’s free. This is a pretty basic app, but free and easy to use are really top features, especially if you’re just getting into collaboration platforms for the first time.

If these communication platforms don’t live up to your expectations, I implore you to jump down the internet rabbit hole where many, MANY more options exist, but my advice is to give these three a shot first so that you know what you do and do not need in your everyday team communication.

 

 

 

 Tips for Tech

My last blog covered tips for touring, but before you truly hit the road, you have to get through tech. Which is hectic and stressful as you try to combine speakers, lights, sets, and props into an actual show.

The tech period is a progression of the show that slowly adds elements into the mix

First is load in with just the crew. Everything comes in from the various shops (lighting, sound, scenic) and you put it all together physically for the first time. Once things are mostly set up, lighting gets a day or two to focus (the rest of the crew will work on projects offstage or at FOH) and sound gets quiet time to tune the system, usually without any other crew in the building (love them dearly, but let’s face it, carps are always better at being unseen than unheard). Next is dry tech where the SM and the crew run through lighting transitions, scene changes, and automation moves without the actors, working through timing and how the SM will call the show. Then the actors leave the rehearsal studio to join the crew at the venue for cast onstage, teching the show with all elements except hair, wardrobe, and the orchestra. After a few days of that, the musicians get settled in the pit and are added to rehearsal for the last few days. Finally, you have the final dress rehearsals with all elements, including hair and wardrobe before you officially open!

It’s a grueling schedule with a lot that has to happen in a short amount of time. I’ve had some tech periods where I worked almost every day from 8 am to midnight for a month straight without a day off. I’ve done others where we had a practically luxurious 8-5 schedule with the rare treat of getting to see the sunset for a week or so before the actors got to the theatre.

Somehow, everything eventually comes together, but opening night seems like it’s very far away when you stand on an empty stage and hear the roll doors of the loading dock clatter open. Even then, opening night is a milestone, not the endgame. Your goal throughout all of load in and tech is to learn the show, learn the system, and get it ready to take on the road.

 

Assume that you won’t remember anything, so document everything

This is the one time where it’s okay to be glued to your phone as you take pictures of how speaker carts or cases pack, how cases line up in the truck, or mic placement in the pit (especially things like drums and percussion that can easily have twenty to thirty mics to set up).

When I take reference photos, I’ll try to get close-ups on things like speaker rigging and mic placements, but also have wider shots where you can see the entire drum kit, the full stage, or where the cluster truss hangs in the space, etc. Details are always good, but having photos of the big picture help establish context. I only take reference photos in tech for specific items, but I’ll take archive photos in every venue I go to: of the layout of the audience, my FOH set up, how I installed the system, where racks lived backstage, etc. When I go back to a theatre on a different tour, I have the photos from the last time I was there as a reference to jog my memory when I’m figuring out my plan for load-in.

 

Keep in mind that tech is the most time you have to spend with the design team

Once the tour’s out, someone from design might stop by for a day or two in a major market (LA, Chicago, DC, etc) or, if the show plans to run for several years, there may be plans to make regular checkups (say every 6 or 9 months), but that’s about it. So make sure to take advantage of the opportunity to get to know your designer. If you’re like me, making a point to spend time with someone for professional reasons feels disingenuous and presumptuous, something akin to greasy schmoozing rather than sincere conversation. It helps me to frame it as a genuine effort to build a relationship rather than a mercenary pursuit of future jobs. Plus, your designers also want to get to know you, not only to see if you’re someone who can take care of this show now, but if you’re someone they might want to work with in the future. I ended up moving from Les Mis to Saigon because I was a known entity to the design team. They felt more comfortable having me pass Les Mis, a show that was already up and running, off to another A1 and move over to Saigon so they didn’t have to gamble with bringing on someone unknown to start a show.

How you interact with your crew during tech will set up the tone for the rest of the tour

Especially with your A2. The A2 is backstage during tech while the rest of the sound team is at FOH, so make a point to include them when you can, usually during meal breaks and post-tech at the bar. This is something that might seem obvious, but that’s not always the case, which I, unfortunately, found out when I spent one tech as an A2 being routinely forgotten by the associate designer and production audio. That show was seven years ago, but the fact that I was made to feel inconsequential by design and unsupported by my A1 left a lasting impression. Now, if I have the opportunity to socialize with design, I try to make a point to invite my A2 or make sure they know where we’ll be for a meal break. That means the A2 has the opportunity for face time with the design team and hopefully conveys that I, as the A1, respect and appreciate their work and view us as part of a team.

Another overlooked aspect of tech is music

Usually, you have a keyboard in the house while the actors are on stage, then the full orchestra joins for the last couple days. However, several days before that, they’re somewhere in the theatre rehearsing (the lobby, a rehearsal room, etc). Whenever you have a moment, go and just listen: it’s one of the few times you have to hear what they sound like on their own. For the rest of the tour, you’re focusing on how they sound through the system or how they’re blending with the cast in the mix, or how inconveniently loud they are in the lobby during load-in while you’re trying to time the room. I’ll try to peek in for a moment during cast breaks onstage, even if it’s just listening to the MD give notes and work through a passage. Few people know the music better than the MD, and hearing how they explain things to the other musicians can give you a better understanding and appreciation of the music.

Finally, a few practical tips

Tech is stressful and tiring, but it can also be fun. You’re meeting new people, taking on new challenges, and getting to mix a new show for the very first time. Enjoy the thrill and get some sleep when you can!

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