Merrily We
Roll Along
Role
Sound Designer
Company
Wesleyan Theatre Company
Year
2021
Director
Anne McAlexander
Music Director
Talea Bloch
The final musical of the 2020-2021 school year was Merrily We Roll Along, A Sondheim classic of complicated harmonies and rhythms as we follow frank backward through his life. As Sound Designer and front-of-house engineer, Emily was responsible for building sound effects and soundscapes, coordinating the micing and balancing of cast and a live band, and mixing the show every night.
Sound Library
Protagonist Frank's song Good Thing Going is sung by Frank Sinatra as part of a TV broadcast about his life. A recording of Frank Sinatra playing this song exists, and it was sampled for this sound effect.
One of the scenes takes place in a TV studio in the 70s, and the director requested that the setting be established with a soundscape due to minimal set. This soundscape played under the scene until the characters moved to a different location.
The song "It's a Hit!" requires the rhythmic sounds of cheering and applause from within a stage door that is being opened and closed with specific music cues. This was accomplished by adding 2 varying applause and cheer sounds to a midi keyboard which a pianist used backstage to play off of the visual cues of the door opening and closing. This is a sampling of a live show recording to demonstrate the midi keyboard in use.
The rhythmic sound of typewriter clacking, carriage returns, and a phone ring are key elements of the song "Opening Doors," which Emily accomplished by programming a midi keyboard with various clacks and a carriage return sound which a pianist operated backstage in conjunction with the actor's movements onstage. Emily controlled the phone rings through Q lab at the sound board. This is a sampling of a live show recording to demonstrate the midi keyboard in use.
Input/Output List
Sound Cue Sheet
Photo Gallery
All photos credited to Michael Reinmiller
