Amazing Grace @ the Nederlander Theatre

A2 Wireless Audio Engineer

Directed by Gabriel Barre.

Sound Designed by Jon Weston, engineered by Jason Strangfeld.

Ah Amazing Grace. My first Broadway production. At the time I was working for Production Resource Group and freelancing as a A2 at New World Stages when I was asked to be a substitute for the show’s sound team. I was on call to fill in on any given performance that week. There was an added bonus of being part of the build team that meant I was already familiar with the sound system.

My responsibilities were basic being only a sub and on my first show. First and foremost was to have consistent wireless microphone placement on each and every actor. We had a large cast of 40 and the show ran for a little over 2.5 hours it was enough to keep me busy. The microphones had to have a clear line of sight to the actors mouth but be hidden as much as possible. This was a period piece and the design team felt strongly about removing technology from the stage.

Throughout the performance I had regularly scheduled checks of the performers and monitored the audio quality for any failures of either the wireless system or the lav itself. Participles were double mic’d in case of failure and all others were quickly swapped with new parts to keep the show running smoothly.

Sadly this period piece was a little before its time. We closed just after 116 performances in October of 2015.