Said to be the first Broadway show about a gay woman, Fun Home is a memory play about 42-year-old cartoonist Alison and her chaotic upbringing. It is also theater magic, most critics agree.
Tuesday, October 06, 2015
‘Fun Home’ on Broadway Audio
Said to be the first Broadway show about a gay woman, Fun Home is a memory play about 42-year-old cartoonist Alison and her chaotic upbringing. It is also theater magic, most critics agree.
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I am sure that a lot of things had to change in Fun Home from when it was at The Public to where it is now at The Circle in the Square Theatre. It went from a proscenium show to in the round, which has a totally different, feel to it. It was probably a big challenge for the sound designer because he needed to make sure everyone could hear everything from every seat in the house. Musicals are difficult to sound design in the first place and they often are not done in the round. Harada had to make different areas with many speakers in order to get all the sound out that he needed. He wanted the audience to feel immersed in the show especially since they were sitting around the all of the action. There had to be sound coming from the middle of the stage going outwards in all directions.
I don't understand everything about this articles especially when they talked about the physics part of it but I like the idea of doing something challenging and outside of the traditional- theatre- sound norms. I still think that sound department is very impressive and interesting to learn and honestly my personal thoughts coming from a music background I pay my most attention on sound and so I thought sound should be rewarded and recognized (and also not even considered cutting from one of the trophies category for the sake of media…. Should I said that?). Can this be the reason behind why people are trying to push more challenge to the sound and have them more become a key elements? I heard several shows we are about to produce here this year will be super heavy sound involved in especially challenging in terms of technical parts and I would love to wait and see if this is true and if it is true I would really love to see how it turns out.
As someone who is much more familiar with the more obviously visible theatrical design elements such as scenery and costumes and lighting, those were more so the elements of Fun Home I paid attention to and was able to appreciate when I saw it this past August. I commented on a previous article here which included an interview with Fun Home’s scenic designer about how impressive it was to have created such a versatile yet realistic and stylized world while keeping into consideration at all times mobility and the sight lines of such an unorthodox theater space. However, because I know very little about the nuances of sound design and equipment, I didn’t even stop to think about how the sound design of Fun Home would be affected due to performing at Circle in the Square, but after reading this article, it seems obvious to me that sound travels differently in the round, and a very specific arrangement of equipment is required to make sure all audience members can experience the show equally. Articles like this remind me about how exciting it is to be entering the professional world of theater, where people are clearly so incredibly passionate about what they do that they will spend an immense amount of time and care in their craft.
I can really appreciate all the work that went into perfecting the sound design for this show. As the article discussed, staging a musical in the round is very difficult due to the complex needs of live music. Harada did a great job transitioning to an in-the-round space, especially considering how close the audience is to the performers. I’m intrigued by all the math that Calustka had to do for all 50 speakers and 27 zones. I wished she had gone into more detail about what specific adjustments she had to make to get the theoretical speaker matrix to sound acoustically correct in the actual venue. I can only partially understand how difficult it must have been to tune and EQ this system, but I can imagine it was no easy feat (considering it took them three weeks of tech). I’m also interested in how they did the sourcing to determine which of the 27 zones the actors were in. This design is definitely impactful and well thought-out.
Hot damn that is cool. It's so true that getting it "right" in the round is a real challenge, especially for the sound designer, AND especially when there is live music (AND especially for a MUSICAL!). The solution the design team found for this show is impressive and has clearly paid off. Creating a fully immersive experience is an extremely important part of many contemporary productions, and can be the most powerful for shows staged in the round. I think this staging and design lends itself perfectly to this play too, telling an intimate story and taking you into the emotion of the characters. For many audience members, it may be hard to relate directly to what it means to be queer, or to have a parent with who has struggled with their identity. But many, many people have dealt with struggles of there own, and if the design team can work to help the actors convey the story and draw the audience in, the play can hit the key points necessary to illicit not only sympathy, but feelings of empathy from the audience. That is the power of an immersive story.
Now where's the Tony? Is it really so hard to see the importance of the sound design to this performance (and the many other plays making use of strong sound design), and the hours of work behind it? Until proper recognition is given, sound designers will have to keep on their grind as always.
I think it's so important that shows that deviate from the Broadway norm are getting recognition. It really leads to greater diversity in theater. But I agree with Scott, shows often aren't recognized for their sound design as they are for scenic or costumes or directing. I think the absence of a sound design Tony is disrespectful to entire community of artists, especially in shows such as this where sound design is so important.
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