Sound Design
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Assassins
Nov 2018, Flint Repertory Theatre (Flint, MI)
Sondheim's musical about Presidential assassins was conceptually set in a run-down, twisted carnival. Partnering with the scenic and lighting designs, I created various soundscapes evoking vintage arcades and carnival games, and partnered the many gunshot effects with bells and buzzers as the assassins "won" or "lost."
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The production was staged in Flint Rep's Elgood space, a 3/4 thrust stage that put the actors in the laps of the audience. A seven-piece band, directed by Frank E. Pitts, was housed in a vestibule behind the seating area. To overcome the challenges of the space, I elected to use the natural projection of the actors and sparingly miced the company, uniquely presenting a musical projected mostly by the actors.
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The production was assisted and engineered by Scott Griffus.
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Photos courtesy of Flint Repertory Theatre/Mike Naddeo
Scenic Design by Shane Cinal, Costume Design by Loren Shaw,
Lighting Design by Chelsie McPhilimy, Directed by Michael Lluberes
The Boatman
Oct-Nov 2018, Flint Repertory Theatre (Flint, MI)
An original play concerning the boatman on the river Styx, The Boatman challenged me to create the sounds and music of the underworld.
Initially I composed several synthesizer themes and drones that scored certain moments and characters in the play, evoking a sense of post-industrial, synthetic "unrealness" in the world.
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In addition to real moving and splashing water on the stage, I incorporated vast soundscapes of lightly moving, atmospheric water, caves, and certain spaces "out of time." Each soundscape took advantage of a surround-sound speaker placement suspended above the thrust playing space, and a large, powerful subwoofer that drove the most explosive moments of the play.
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Photos courtesy of Flint Repertory Theatre/Mike Naddeo
Scenic Design by Shane Cinal, Costume Design by Brandon R. McWilliams,
Lighting Design by Scot Gianelli , Directed by Michael Lluberes
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Dec 2017, Flint Youth Theatre (Flint, MI)
Influenced by WWII-era British classical music and partnering with an immersive, theatre-spanning walking design from all departments, I scored both environment and music to plant the audience directly into Narnia.
The audience was greeted outside the wardrobe to BBC news reports and air raid sirens, crossed through the wardrobe into a howling winter wind, trekked into a forest with birds and insects, followed the Witch with a creepy, haunting tone, and found Aslan at the Stone Table with regal horns and springtime soundscapes. Fight scenes were scored with pounding drums that shook the house, the Witch’s spells planted a deep low tone that enveloped her terrifying demeanor, and our heroes were joined by a chorus of angelic symphony notes.
This was by far one of my most challenging and delightful designs. It spanned across two speaker systems and covered almost every space in Flint Youth Theatre. There was rarely a moment where the audience was not experiencing sound.
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Photos courtesy of Flint Youth Theatre
Costume design by Adam M Dill, Scenic Design by Ray Zupp, Lighting Design by Ken Willis,
Directed by Michael Lluberes
Little Women
Oct 2015, Flint Youth Theatre (Flint, MI)
Influenced by popular classical folk music of the Civil War era, I utilized piano music from Stephen Foster and others to ground the audience in the war and remind them of the piano-playing "Little Woman," Beth. Music scored transitions and underscored some scenes.
Some pieces, including "He's Gone Away" and "Pat a Pan" were recorded and produced by myself with pianist Gary King on the same piano used in the show.
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Photo courtesy of Flint Youth Theatre
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The Cat in the Hat
August 2015, Flint Youth Theatre (Flint, MI)
The general design behind the show was set in the same period as writer Dr. Seuss worked: the 1950s, and the Cat himself would be a 50s style rock star.
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I was particularly inspired by Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, and other guitarists of the blues-rock age for their raw energy and up-beat performances. The pieces I selected underscored fantastic action sequences that were choreographed to the music.
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Photo courtesy of Flint Youth Theatre
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The Diary of Anne Frank
April 2015, Flint Youth Theatre (Flint, MI)
As the Associate designer, I was tasked with creating many of the effects necessary to immerse the audience in the Frank family's tiny annex.
Given the 3/4 thrust set that was almost exactly the size of the real annex, I found it crucial to surround the audience with sounds the Frank family would hear from their perspective: footsteps up the stairs, church bells out the window, a police siren in the distance.
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Photo courtesy of Flint Youth Theatre
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boom
July 2015, OhR'lyeh Theatre Co. (Clio, MI)
With limited resources but a very intriguing script, I was tasked with immersing the audience in a post-apocalyptic underground bunker, complete with futuristic computer noises and an incoming atomic bomb.
My music choices scored the transitions with twangy and atmospheric indie rock, which can sound apocalyptic in its own way.
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Photo courtesy of The OhR'lyeh Theatre Company
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Click to play examples
As You Like It
March 2019, Columbia University (NYC)
As Sound Supervisor for Columbia University's Theatre Arts MFA Directing projects, I facilitated this design for director Mikhaela Mahony.
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Using music chosen for the production, we established a stark contrast between the court and the forest; a sharp divide between heavy, industrial percussion and flowing, folksy string arrangements. I also helped score original music written for the production by composer and company member Jessica Niles using ambient string accompaniment.
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The forest was established with deeply immersive soundscapes communicating a harsh late-winter wind, the various creatures of a forest at night, and melting snow as spring begins.
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Photos courtesy of Rob Strong
Scenic Design by Ao Li, Costume Design by Nicole Slaven,
Lighting Design by Dallas Estes, Directed by Mikhaela Mahony
All New People
While directing All New People for my senior capstone project, I devised, recorded, and created multiple effects to score key moments in the play; one such effect was a flashback sequence used for the climax of the play that involved two planes crashing.
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Click to play examples
The Local
Set over the course of twenty years at a local music venue, The Local proved to be a challenging piece to score given over twenty scenic changes and an ever-present feeling and energy of punk rock.
For transitions, a local rock group "Hawk & Son" was brought in, fully miced on a moving platform, and performed their own music live during the show. For scenes taking place outside the venue, I utilized an effect that muffled a recorded track and sounded clear and loud when the venue door opened.
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Photo courtesy of Mark Baker
The Learned Ladies
Performed in the style of French Restoration, our director wanted to use short and choreographed "dumb shows" for transitions in order to keep a flowing action on stage. Using classical composers Vivaldi, Bréval, and Boccherini, I fit music to choreography in the dumb shows.
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Photo courtesy of Mark Baker
Class Projects
During my time at UM-Flint, I made several pieces for a class in audio production.
I approached these pieces with the idea of sound design for the radio, much like the production styles of "This American Life" and "Radio Lab"
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PSA - Cell Phones
News Story - Farmer's Market
Radio Story - Arctic Sounds
Final Project - "Riverside" radio play