The Break
Music by Michael Kooman, Book & Lyrics by Christopher Dimond
Directed by Scott Weinstein
Constellation Stage & Screen
Waldron Auditorium
June 6th - June 23rd, 2024
Production Team:
Music Director: Brandon Magid
Scenic Design: Christopher Rhoton
Costume Design: Dana Tzvetkov
Lighting Design: Jennifer Fok
Sound Design: Brandon Reed
About The Play
Charlie and Samantha are at a crossroads in their relationship. As they near their tenth anniversary, the question of marriage looms large. They’ve always professed to be the type of couple who doesn’t need to get married, but lately… maybe something’s changed? They’re both feeling pressure to commit, but for reasons they can’t quite articulate, are hesitant to do so.
When Charlie finds an engagement ring hidden in Sam’s underwear drawer, they are forced to confront the issues they’ve been avoiding for years.
Having met in college and never seriously dated anyone else, the pair realize what they need before they take the plunge into marital bliss: A thirty day break. A relationship rumspringa, if you will. A month-long respite during which they can each sow their proverbial wild oats, at the end of which they plan to tie the knot.
We follow them both as their sexual walkabouts take them through the hilarious and heartbreaking trials and tribulations of dating in the modern world. Their separate journeys lead them on paths of self-discovery, and though they may not end up where they expect, their relationship evolves into something more complex, more mature, and ultimately more profound than they could have possibly anticipated.
Audio clips of the live mix are not included due to actor’s equity restrictions as well as recordings not accurately representing the theatre space.
Please check with the producing organization if interested in quality of the mix, which I proudly stand behind.
Photos taken courtesy of Zach Rosing
After speaking with our director Scott, the desire was for this show to have a system design that was able to have a great deal of dynamic range. This brand new musical features several intimate songs as well as a few numbers that want to be bigger and in the audience’s faces. To further add to this, the scenic design was set up to be in a three-quarter thrust configuration. We also had a three piece band that is on stage near the playing area. All of this stacked up to be a challenging but rewarding piece.
To first tackle the system design, I went with a mono point source system due to lack of speakers. I gave each audience section a designated speaker that delivered both vocals and band. The center bank being the largest had two. I also had two subwoofers under the center bank, which not only gave low end to that bank, it also provided the two small ones on the side adequate low end. Giving the cast was only two actors, I chose to double mic them both since they never left the stage.
For the band, we had a keyboard player (who was also the music director), as well as a bass player and a drummer. Given the dynamic range and how close the actors were to the band, I needed the noise level to be as quiet as possible. Both the keyboard and bass were direct off the instruments into DI Boxes. The drums were mic’ed but I did not mic the cymbals. We also put a drum shield in front of him and worked with him throughout tech and dress rehearsals to figure out his dynamics. We used an Audix D6 for the kick, Shure SM57 on the snare, and Sennheiser E604s for the toms. For their monitoring, all three had headphones and were using the Behringer P16 monitoring system to build their own mixes.
The mix for this was incredible and I deeply enjoyed working on this incredible new musical.
The Sound Design
