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Sound Design
What were the biggest challenges in designing the sound for this show?
The size of the room for sure; it is a very shallow but wide room with only nine feet of ceiling
height. This doesn’t give you much room to play with. The room also isn’t symmetrical in any
way, so if you came up with an idea for one side of the stage there was no guarantee that you
could do the same on the other side. There are two support pillars in the middle of the room,
one is round and the other is square. These also created rather large shadows in the room, so
we had to install more speakers to fill in those areas. Along with the physical elements of the
space, the show itself brought its own issues. Every song we cover is completely different from
the other songs; being able to make each song sound the way it is supposed to sound was
not an easy task. From drum EQs to reverb settings, each song had its own set of challenges
to overcome. The Ozzy and Lita Ford duet is my favorite part of the show, but making that
sound good was very challenging, and it still isn’t 100% perfect. There were a few moments
where I just had to start go back and start from scratch on that song in order to get it just right.
Is there something new that you learned working on the show? How does Power Balladz
compare with other productions that you’ve worked on?
Power Balladz was actually a nice blend of all types of shows that I have worked on, and
therefore a very pleasant experience. I was able to
meld my experience from rock ‘n’ roll shows with my
experience on Broadway. I feel that there is something
to be learned on every show; that is part of what
attracts me to my job. On this show in particular, dealing
with limitations was a big learning experience for
“I wanted to get the
right balance of crisp,
clean sound versus punch.”
—Alex Ritter.
Left to right: Dieter Bierbrauer, Mary Mossberg and Scott
Richard Foster in Power Balladz, a show that features crowdpleasing
rock anthems from the ‘80s, then let’s the audience
join the band with post-show karaoke.
me. There are a lot of restrictions in this space that
you don’t find in big arenas or Broadway houses, so
learning to work effectively in spite of those challenges
was rewarding.
What prior experience have you had with
Broadway shows and rock concerts?
I started my career working for Special Event Services in North Carolina. While with that
company I toured with Hootie and the Blowfish and Joe Bonamassa. I also spent some time on
the road with Joyce Meyer and Joel Osteen Ministries. When I moved to New York a few years
ago, I started working for ACME Sound Partners. For them I have assisted on Ragtime and have
worked on Minsky’s Hair and Bernstein’s Mass.
The post-show karaoke element of Power Balladz is novel. What are usually the biggest
sonic challenges in dealing with this aspect of the production? Have there been any
funny moments that have resulted from random strangers taking over the mic?
I first learned about the karaoke part of the show a few weeks before we started building in
the shop and was very interested in the idea. It’s not something that is done in theatre or rock
‘n’ roll, so besides me going to a karaoke bar with a bunch of friends I really had no idea what
to expect. The challenge of karaoke is making the audience feel like they are performing on an
arena stage with big sound and lights. However, for the most part the people that are coming
up are not trained professionals. As a designer and the engineer especially, you never know
what is going to happen once someone gets up on stage. They may or may not sing into the
mic, or they might scream into the mic, you just never know. So I would say the biggest hurdle
to overcome was not knowing anything; the only constant was the band. Also the dynamics
and EQ of karaoke singers is a big obstacle. There is no one setting that is going to sound good
for everyone, so you kind of have to create something that will work for most situations and
then deal with the rest as best you can.
26 October 2010 • www.stage-directions.com