Lookingglass Alice
From the works of Lewis Carroll
Adapted and Directed by David Catlin
From the works of Lewis Carroll
Adapted and Directed by David Catlin
Lookingglass Theatre Company Water Tower Water Works April 30th - July 31st, 2022 Scenic Design: Daniel Ostling Costume Design: Mara Blumenfeld Lighting Designer: Christine A. Binder Sound Design: Ray Nardeli Composer: Andre Pluess & Ben Sussman Audio Supervisor: Brandon Reed |
Photos taken courtesy of Liz Lauren
|
Lookingglass Alice is the star child of Lookingglass Theatre Company and has been responsible for establishing them as the regional theatre that they become as well as the type of work that they've become known for. It takes a familiar story that everyone knows and loves and infuses it with a creative and mind blowing energy that features circus arts, imaginative story telling, and thrilling design work. Every so often the company revives the show or takes it out on tour across the world, with each version of the show being more refined and featuring new elements from new actors. It was also my first proper production as the Sound Supervisor where I guided the load-in, patched, tuned, and ran the show from beginning of the process to the end.
With how many times this show has been produced, there never existed proper documentation on what it takes to produce the sound design (or it's been lost to time). There was also much confusion on what was done in the Lookingglass sit-down location or what was done on tour. Because of this I had to have many conversations with the sound designer as well as previous Sound Supervisors who have produced the show. Once I felt I had proper information I created my own original documentation that featured speaker plots, section views, patching, routing, and even a guiding document to help inform what I've learned to future supervisors that may remount the show without me. Space for this show was a massive undertaking with over twenty-two speakers in our tiny black box space, as well as wireless microphones for effects, and for live foley done via the actors. Audience configuration was setup in an Alleyway that featured an east and west seating bank with the playing space for the actors in the middle. There was also a balcony level on each side so that meant duplicating the sound system for both the house and upper levels. There was also north and south towers that had scaffolding that actors scaled and performed various stunts from as well as hid various props and sound equipment. Space throughout the theatre was tough with it being the topic of conversation on many production meetings from sound, scenic, lighting, and circus.
For the outputs, we had over twenty-two speakers in the space. With each side of the alley having a wide Main Left and Right speaker for both the house and balcony levels (total of eight QSC K12s). To save output space, I ran XLR from the grid to the balcony level and then daisy-chained to the lower level speakers. To cover the middle sections of both side of the alley, I hanged additional pipe underneath the center catwalk and added two QSC K12s that shot in the opposite direction. Each side also had a side fill left and right, which was hung from under the balcony for the house level, with me adding additional pipe from the grid for the balcony level to have side fills (total of eight EAW UB12s). Similar to the main left and right, I ran NL4 from the grid to the balcony level, and then daisy-chained to the house level to save on outputs. The north and south towers also contained two EAW JF80s to source sound effects. Finally, we added two Meyer USW-1P subwoofers under the audience risers on the house level to add the necessary low end. System tuning was done via two Ashley Protea units in the booth.
For the inputs, we had three wireless microphones for various effects within the show. The Red Queen had a lav hidden in hair wig to help add reverb and pitch-shifting effects to help emphasize her scariness and make more moments impactful and similar to the original story. Dodgeson also had a moment where he appeared upside down in the dark, so we had him wear an ear-rig to for reverb to make it feel he was coming from everywhere before lights revealed where he was and the reverb vanished. We also used that same mic for Dodgeson as well as a lav hidden inside of the cat toy Alice had in the beginning of the show to help provide vocal reinforcement due to them being hidden by a curtain until they are revealed. We also had two condenser mics hidden in the north and south towers for actors to provide foley effects during select moments in the show. All processing effects and microphones were operated via MIDI controlled from QLab, which served as our main playback software for the show.
It was an honor to be a part of such an impactful show and become a piece of the legacy for this company.
With how many times this show has been produced, there never existed proper documentation on what it takes to produce the sound design (or it's been lost to time). There was also much confusion on what was done in the Lookingglass sit-down location or what was done on tour. Because of this I had to have many conversations with the sound designer as well as previous Sound Supervisors who have produced the show. Once I felt I had proper information I created my own original documentation that featured speaker plots, section views, patching, routing, and even a guiding document to help inform what I've learned to future supervisors that may remount the show without me. Space for this show was a massive undertaking with over twenty-two speakers in our tiny black box space, as well as wireless microphones for effects, and for live foley done via the actors. Audience configuration was setup in an Alleyway that featured an east and west seating bank with the playing space for the actors in the middle. There was also a balcony level on each side so that meant duplicating the sound system for both the house and upper levels. There was also north and south towers that had scaffolding that actors scaled and performed various stunts from as well as hid various props and sound equipment. Space throughout the theatre was tough with it being the topic of conversation on many production meetings from sound, scenic, lighting, and circus.
For the outputs, we had over twenty-two speakers in the space. With each side of the alley having a wide Main Left and Right speaker for both the house and balcony levels (total of eight QSC K12s). To save output space, I ran XLR from the grid to the balcony level and then daisy-chained to the lower level speakers. To cover the middle sections of both side of the alley, I hanged additional pipe underneath the center catwalk and added two QSC K12s that shot in the opposite direction. Each side also had a side fill left and right, which was hung from under the balcony for the house level, with me adding additional pipe from the grid for the balcony level to have side fills (total of eight EAW UB12s). Similar to the main left and right, I ran NL4 from the grid to the balcony level, and then daisy-chained to the house level to save on outputs. The north and south towers also contained two EAW JF80s to source sound effects. Finally, we added two Meyer USW-1P subwoofers under the audience risers on the house level to add the necessary low end. System tuning was done via two Ashley Protea units in the booth.
For the inputs, we had three wireless microphones for various effects within the show. The Red Queen had a lav hidden in hair wig to help add reverb and pitch-shifting effects to help emphasize her scariness and make more moments impactful and similar to the original story. Dodgeson also had a moment where he appeared upside down in the dark, so we had him wear an ear-rig to for reverb to make it feel he was coming from everywhere before lights revealed where he was and the reverb vanished. We also used that same mic for Dodgeson as well as a lav hidden inside of the cat toy Alice had in the beginning of the show to help provide vocal reinforcement due to them being hidden by a curtain until they are revealed. We also had two condenser mics hidden in the north and south towers for actors to provide foley effects during select moments in the show. All processing effects and microphones were operated via MIDI controlled from QLab, which served as our main playback software for the show.
It was an honor to be a part of such an impactful show and become a piece of the legacy for this company.