A great year for the Broadway Sound Master Classes (May 20-22)... from the performance of RAIN: A Tribute To The Beatles on Friday night, which everyone loved, to two days of great sessions and visits with leading sound manufacturers in the showcase (check out the videos at www.livedesignonline.com).
The fact that our creative consultant Abe Jacob designed the sound for the Broadway version of RAIN: A Tribute To The Beatles was an extra plus, with Jim van Berger (a former technical editor of our magazine) as the outstanding production sound mixer, on a show with quite complicated live aspects. Cast members popped out after the show to talk with the attendees, which was fantastic.
The sessions on Saturday and Sunday were also outstanding, with high-tech tips from Bob McCarthy, Tim Vear (Shure) and John Taylor (d+b audiotechnik) and insights from designers Abe Jacob, Acme Sound Partners, Jon Weston, and Brian Ronan, not to mention Jonathan Deans, who put on one of his best BSMC performances to date (clearing the air about his life in the Spider-Man web) along with Peter Fitzgerald, as they co-designed the sound for Priscilla Queen of The Desert. The sound fraternity comes together ever year at the BSMC and this year was no exception. Special thanks to Meyer Sound for their sponsorship of the cocktail party at The City Winery, and the inaugural John and Helen Meyer Scholarship for six young sound designers, underlining Meyer's commitment to the future of the industry.