Rob Kaplowitz Featured "In The Wings"

The American Theater Wing has created a series of videos about those who make theater but don't go onstage— designers, choreographers, craftspeople and others, called "In The Wings." Sound designer Rob Kaplowitz, who is featured in this series, explains: “It's kind of an amazing resource for all sorts of people— proud parents trying to explain to their friends what, exactly, it means that their child creates fights for a living, or just what an orchestration is; theater trustees who can't understand all those line items, and theater junkies who just want to know more...”

Kaplowitz, who won the 2010 Tony Award for the sound design of FELA!, and was a featured speaker at this year’s Live Design Broadway Sound Master Classes, explains: “They selected me to do the "sound designer" segment, and came down and shot for a few hours here in Philly; they also received some amazing footage from Beth Levinson, who has been creating a documentary about "County Of Kings."

“Anyhow, this tiny, two-person team (Amanda Rogers and Stephen Mann) who made this, did a great job— they really listened to what I, as a designer, had to say about the field, and how I said it. And, far more miraculously, they didn't make me look like the total goofball I really am (and I asked—they didn't have the money to spring for the "Un-Goof" plug-in in their editing suite - they did it all with raw talent...)

“I'm really proud of it, and, well, to be honest, it makes me feel really good about myself, and the work I do, alongside so many other great sound designers. I'm only sorry the edit time didn't really allow for me crediting my colleagues and friends in sound design for incubating so many ideas I espouse in the video.

“Oh, and let's be honest,” says Kaplowitz, "most of the cool gear in my studio doesn't really belong to me... the synths and that lovely guitar are in storage for Jeremy Lee (but I couldn't let them sit fallow...) and those Genelecs are a "long term rental" from Masque...”

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