Stage Directions: Currently one of the hottest tickets on Broadway, the musical Hadestown has won no less than eight prestigious Tony Awards. One was for Nevin Steinberg and Jessica Paz’s sound design, which features 28 Alcons Audio V-series pro-ribbon monitors. The Tony was the icing on the cake for Steinberg and Paz, who also won a Drama Desk Award for the Hadestown sound design, as well as being nominated in the Outer Critics Circle Awards.
5 comments:
Who doesn't love Hadestown! I never had the change to see it live, but I am glad there are occasional videos of the production on YouTube. I actually got the chance to meet and work with one of the Hadestown sound designers this Summer! At the Old Globe theater in San Diego, California, Nevin Steinberg was working on a play by Steve Martin. I was initially there working as an Overhire for the Old Globe but they also found me an internship with the lighting designer for this play that was directed by Walter Bobbie. Although I was mainly focused on how a designer lit a professional show, I also got to talk to Nevin and his experiences for a little. It was great to have these professionals talk to me and be their company for the show they were working on. I got a lot of new experiences and Nevin showed me a few tricks on Qlab I haven't learned before.
Who doesn't love Hadestown! I never had the change to see it live, but I am glad there are occasional videos of the production on YouTube. I actually got the chance to meet and work with one of the Hadestown sound designers this Summer! At the Old Globe theater in San Diego, California, Nevin Steinberg was working on a play by Steve Martin. I was initially there working as an Overhire for the Old Globe but they also found me an internship with the lighting designer for this play that was directed by Walter Bobbie. Although I was mainly focused on how a designer lit a professional show, I also got to talk to Nevin and his experiences for a little. It was great to have these professionals talk to me and be their company for the show they were working on. I got a lot of new experiences and Nevin showed me a few tricks on Qlab I haven't learned before.
-Pablo Anton
Hadestown is a very technically stunning show on Broadway right now. I think one of the most forgotten designs is sound design, because we take for granted the fact that we can hear everything clearly. The use of audio in Hadestown is stunning, as everything is clear as day, the microphone effects really add to all the moments, and in general it creates the desired atmosphere that the show is trying to live in. It makes me smile that of all the designers to write about in Hadestown, they chose sound, because it's often not the one they would fixate on. After doing the stagecraft mini for sound here, I have a new appreciation for sound designers. That was hard, because it requires so much focus to figure out what chord needs to go to what amp room, and all the crazy things on the signal flow chart that I can barely understand because it is so complex..
Sound is one of those fields that, to a lot of people, is seen as too technically complicated to be understood by the average person, and therefore hard to talk about casually or without a lot of background or "dumbing things down." I really loved that this article was written ust as I've seen any other technical review of a show be written. You often see pieces talking about cool new lighting fixtures and their colour ability or scenic techniques that result in incredible texture, but I so rarely see these times of commentary on sound, and I definitely think there should be more of them. Especially as so much of theatre today relies on sound not only to ensure that everything is heard but also to help carry and tell the story. Just like lighting equipment is customized to every show, sound is too, and I think making more people aware of the awesome and complex thoughts that go into choosing this equipment is definitely for the best!
I think sound design is an element that can easily be overlooked because, if it is done well, we should be hearing everything very clearly and well-balanced so it would be unnoticeable. When sound design is noticeable, usually its for the wrong reason, so it is interesting to get a look into what goes into acclaimed sound design. For Hadestown specifically, it is interesting to read about the collaboration between Jessica Paz and Nevin Steinberg that led them to the Tony. Understanding the reasoning and impact that different speaker choices have on the experience of the show feels a lot like discussing other elements that are based in technology, like lighting. It is something that I look forward to learning more about during my time at CMU because I've really grown to appreciate how things sound and would like to understand better what makes things sound good in a production, especially a musical.
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