| *V*I*R*G*O* AUDIO NEWSLETTER - August 2010 |
There's a chill in the air that can only mean the Summer is coming to an end. My Summer season with the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival is also nearly done, and I'll sure miss the spectacular scenery up here as much as I'll miss working with this uniquely talented group of people every day!
In just a few short weeks, I'll be returning to Bristol Riverside Theatre to start technical rehearsals for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (which runs from 9/28 through 10/17/2010). My sound design for this fresh adaptation of the classic thriller is dark, evocative, and VERY intense, taking inspiration from the seamy underbelly of London at the height of the Industrial Revolution.
As I announced via Facebook earlier this month, I just signed on to design and run BRT's upcoming production of The Little Prince, (which runs from 1/25 through 2/13/2011), and I'm really looking forward to working on this beautiful setting of such a magical story. I'm still working out the details, but it looks like I'll also be designing a prior production of the show at Cape May Stage (which runs from 11/26 through 12/31/10). Stay tuned for more details as they're finalized.
I have a few more tidbits in the works that I hope to share with you next month. Until then, I hope you're reaping all of the bounty the end of the Summer has to offer!
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Project Spotlight: Julius Caesar
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This week, HVSF's apprentice company production of Julius Caesar exploded onto the stage at Boscobel. Director Christopher V. Edwards set the show amid the vibrant colors and exotic rhythms of India, Africa, and the Middle East, and creating a sound design to complement his unique vision for the production proved to be an intriguing project.
First, Chris provided a number of musical selections as a starting point. From these, I chose appropriate selections to underscore each of the scene transitions. I also added some of the ethnic percussion to underscore key moments in the story, such as Caesar's assassination, Brutus' and Cassius' suicides, and the end of the play. To create a sense of building tension in some moments, I used vaguely unsettling textures created from the sounds of screeching subway wheels, factory machinery, vuvuzelas, and even the famously anachronistic clock chime found in Shakespeare's script. These textures were added together during the course of the scenes, building over time to create a very dense and dramatic underscoring for some of the more intense moments.
Perhaps most enjoyable challenge for me, though, was to embody the hundreds of thousands of Roman citizens who populated the world of the play but are never seen onstage. To make their voices heard, I conducted a series of recording sessions, where our cast of 8 improvised various moments of the play (over and over again), portraying the background characters who would impart authenticity to each scene. After hours (and hours!) spent editing and layering the material, I had successfully added what sounded like THOUSANDS of voices in the background: the colorful (if easily manipulated) people of Caesar's Rome. Sure, I could have used "canned" crowd sound effects to represent the masses, but by putting in that extra effort, we ended up with a soundscape that was unique and customized to our production. Well worth it!
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New/Recent Projects
BRT: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Sound Designer/Sound Engineer)
HVSF: Julius Caesar (Sound Designer)
HVSF: Taming of the Shrew (Sound Designer/Sound Engineer)
HVSF: Troilus and Cressida (Assistant Sound Designer/Sound Engineer)
HVSF: The Bomb-itty of Errors (Sound Engineer)
BRT: Closer Than Ever (Sound Engineer)
BRT: Jewish Theatre Festival (Sound Engineer)
AffWiz: Audio Interviews (Editor) |
Sound Byte
Monthly tips, musings, and other audio-related randomness.
This month's Sound Byte is a really interesting and informative video interview between legendary Broadway sound designer Abe Jacobs and longtime West End sound designer Andrew Bruce.
The interview was recorded during the 2009 Broadway Sound Master Class, as they discussed how the world of theatrical sound has changed since they pioneered the field in the 1970's. What a treat - enjoy!
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That's it for this month. Till next time...
Cheers,
William Neal
*V*I*R*G*O* Audio
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