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Behind The Scenes With A Production Of West Side Story

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M. Erik Matlock:
Helping The Story Shine Through: Behind The Scenes With A Production Of West Side Story
Working with wireless RF, microphone placement, on-stage sound effects and a full orchestra at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York.
By Michael Lawrence • June 7, 2019

My first real foray into event production came at the age of 14, running the lights for my school’s production of Oliver! The Musical. I badgered the venue’s tech director with endless questions and learned a lot.

Soon after, I saw a more metaphorical light and switched to audio, but the TD’s willingness to teach me has not been lost on me. Without that generosity, I might not be working in production today, and so “paying it forward” is something I feel strongly about.

I was recently given the opportunity to do so while working as the A1 for Hamilton College’s production of West Side Story, staged in Wellin Hall, the largest theater on the school’s campus in Clinton, New York.

The production’s sound design had a lot of moving parts: 24 channels of wireless mics on actors, a full live orchestra in the pit, and audio cue playback from the projection-mapped video system, to name a few. That’s a lot of plates in the air, but luckily I had the assistance of three awesome students who expressed an interest in helping out with the production and learning more about theater audio...

Continue reading here: https://www.prosoundweb.com/channels/live-sound/helping-the-story-shine-through-behind-the-scenes-with-a-production-of-west-side-story/

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