Profile for emg_sound

I saw it last night and left rather annoyed that I had spent an evening viewing some rather beige art. Now, I feel that everything (performers, technical elements, etc.) was serviceable and technically well executed, but it was all in service to a misguided book and direction which castrated the source material and made it remarkably bland.While I understand that I'm watching a musical rather than the iconic film, (with Jeunet's signature inventive quirkiness) this production missed the mark....

As a sound designer, I am mad as hell about this. The problem is between the opinions on various message boards (much more ATC than here), and even an analysis of previous winners, a lack of understanding of what we do (at least in plays) has been perpetually reinforced, making such an announcement not entirely unsurprising. For the record, I prefer to work much more in Plays rather than musicals, so the following rant comes from a very specific place! More than any other design element, a se...

Having seen it, I completely understand why that is the only space on Broadway where this could feasibly work (although I'd still wish for it to go into Studio 54 in some sort of modified form). The Circle in the Square is perhaps the quirkiest space on broadway, but able to keep the audience size manageable. I'd think the most important thing would be to keep a slightly non-traditional schedule (late night shows on Saturday, for instance)... Here's hoping! (Fingers crossed!)

If this were to transfer uptown, does no one see the poignancy of putting this show into Imelda's favorite place in NYC, Studio 54? A disco dance musical in the shrine of disco? That would be downright Site Specific! (Crazy, don't you think?)

I saw this while it was in previews, and had exceedingly high expectations (As I was expecting a collision of two maximalistic aesthetics [Des's and Wayne's]). The analogy I'll give is I was expecting the second coming of Christ, and all I got was an obscure 14th century saint. As far as reviews, I agree almost entirely with Bob Verini's rather eviscerating review in Variety. Rather than giving a line by line complaint list, I'll give a couple bullet points... 1: If you go in expecting a rema...

Rather than take your survey and skew the results, as a fellow sound designer, I will ask the following questions... 1: Your description and question of Cinematic/Stylistic is inherently problematic... Since, frankly, the use of surround sound is a clear stylistic choice (I look to Rob Kaplowitz's design for Fela! as a clear example of this). 2: Frankly, one X factor you're forgetting is the musical style of the piece... If it is a Rock/Pop based musical, the sound designer has a completely d...

First off... It's not LCD, it's LED displays... (Here's a hint, if on a close up, you see a bunch of dots behind the artists instead of a coherent image, it's probably a Light Emiting Diode array)... Secondly: I think, one of the advantages of LED arrays which hasn't been exploited as much is the malleability of LED's, where you can array them in a more sculptural way to create a far greater three dimensional construct for the performers to interact with... For example, if you look at the lin...

I haven't seen Gatz, but I have seen two other recent Elevator Repair Service pieces where they would read a novel on stage, The Sun Also Rises and The Sound and the Fury. Lugubrious pacing aside, I found both pieces fascinating! Personally, I felt that Sound and the Fury was probably their best theatrical adaptation by far, due to the hyper kinetic quality of how they treated the text and the concept of character (All of the characters were played by no less than two different actors, who we...

1: PM Me on this board and we can continue this discussion... 2: I've spent the past three Augusts in Edinburgh at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and personally, shows which I gravitate towards are usually experiential by nature. Some examples include Internal by the Belgian Company Ontroerend Goed, which was a twenty five minute speed date/group therapy experience which I had to follow with excessive drinking. Another artist who deals with some fascinating promenade theatre is the Scottish ar...

So... Hypothetical... Would they hold it up, let him become more of a major star, and then have him do a 6-month run on Broadway, which would be far more lucrative for all?

Adam Cork deserved the award for Enron, he won for Red, either way, his designs had a million times more pop than both of his competitors! Rob Kaplotwitz! Quite deserving on a variety of fronts!

I wouldn't say that the ALNM nomination was obvious (I live in LA and am out here infrequently, when I do, usually I gravitate towards seeing plays, but I did see ALNM, Fela and American Idiot [AI in Berkeley]), but if I were a nominator, I probably would have included it, but would have ceded something to American Idiot as well (which had, in addition to the amplification aspects, some interesting content choices throughout the show). As far as a win, my money is on Kaplowitz's work in Fela,...

adamgreer... For a Traditional (R&H, Sondheim, etc.) MUSICAL, forgetting there's a sound designer can be important (that being said, Dan Moses Schrier pulled some amazing tricks in ALNM in placement of the orchestra throughout the theatre... definitely a design choice), I acknowledge that completely (Hence my comment for Scott Lehrer's brilliant work in Musicals) For a straight play however, the concept of a sound design has a greater emphasis upon Content, Enron has that in spades, View From...

I'm still on the fence about the show, having seen it last night... I wasn't bored at any time, but I was never completely enthralled. Since I work in design, though, I had enough to look at to keep me interested when the text got too didactic. I'm going to go out on a limb, though, and say that this show will bring in some Tony hardware, since it's the only play nominated with an extensive sound design (Cork's work on Red was serviceable, and I forgot there was a sound designer for A View fr...

To the previous comment about bands not releasing concept albums anymore, I shall give y'all exhibits A-C against this... A: Cursive: Almost every album by this Emo band has a very well defined structure and thematic construct... Personally, I have a vision to stage their album Happy Hollow as a classic touring religious tent revival. B: David Byrne: He recently released the album "Here Lies Love" a 22 song meditation on Imelda Marcos. Admittedly, this was conceived from a more theatrical per...

Well, could we at least get a cast recording? I'm guessing at least an extension will be planned! I'd love to see it again, I saw it twice here in LA and loved it, but would love to see how it has been tightened up. All that being said, I'm glad that it is getting the press it is!

An early Rave (!) from Matthew Murray at Talkin Broadway. I've got a sneaky suspicion that this might be the trend (especially how Isherwood [I can't remember if it was him or Brantley] who reviewed the concert version last year, loved it!) http://www.talkinbroadway.com/ob/4_06_10.html

I remember hearing that Marianne Weems of the Builders Association was at one time associated to direct this. But frankly, this feels much less broadway and more St. Anns Warehouse fare. This project was also originally conceived as a stage piece, with it's premier in Australia a couple of years back... you should look at David Byrne's website for a more comprehensive discussion of both his goals and intentions behind the piece. All that being said, I'd love to see this fully staged somewhere...

Having seen this at the Berkeley Rep, this reminds me of how powerful the very first moments of this show were. Unfortunately, for me, the rest of the show never got past the initial jolt of the top of show, and frankly, I feel that the choreography felt rather one-note after this initial barrage. That being said, I do like that they changed the scenic construct slightly, and not having the show starting with the three male leads watching TV's downstage (facing towards the audience), it gives...