Nevin Steinberg has won a Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel Award for his sound design of Hamilton, the hot hip-hop musical on its way to Broadway, and is currently represented on Broadway with It Shoulda Been You. Thomas Kail, the director of Hamilton, will present a Live Design Award for Design Achievement to the show’s design team, including Steinberg, Howell Binkley (lighting), David Korins (sets), and Paul Tazewell (costumes) at NYU on Thursday evening, June 4 as part of the Live Design New York Master Classes.
Live Design: Who have been your biggest influences and why?
Nevin Steinberg: I worked with some of the best in the business as an engineer—Otts Munderloh, Tony Meola, and Abe Jacob—and they were my biggest influences. Then I was lucky to learn from my former business partners in Acme, Tom Clark and Mark Menard. I’ve really had it pretty good!
LD: What would you say is your biggest achievement thus far?
NS: It has to be my solid creative relationships with directors and designers over many years.
LD: How did you get into this industry?
NS: I grew up as a musician and did amateur theatre in high school and through college, playing in orchestra pits. Volunteering for technical work was the way I could join the fun with the team before we started orchestra rehearsals. That led to odd jobs running audio and then designing my first shows in college.
LD: What is your favorite thing about your work as a designer?
NS: The conversations. Really. I tell everyone: I’m only in it for the banter!
LD: What’s your favorite piece of gear/software/gadget right now, and why?
NS: I’m developing an idea for something that I’m pretty obsessed with—it’s a secret so you don’t get to know what it is!
LD: What advice would you give to young designers just entering the business?
NS: Strike a balance between experimentation and relying on what you already know. The stakes can get pretty high as you move forward—especially in the commercial theatre—and good data and feedback is important—and you don’t want to muddy the waters too much with too many variables.