Jesus Christ Superstar
Sound Designer: Jaden Leverett
Director: Suzi Regan
Scenic Designer: Sam Transleau
Costume Designer: Whitney Locher
Lighting Designer: Joseph Kocenda
Photographer: Chuck Cloud
Concept Statement
Jesus Christ Superstar, music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, is a production about the biblical story of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the complexity of the impact it took on humanity all while in the genre of a Rock opera. Sounds job for this show was to amplify the atmosphere of the show, which was done by micing and balancing the actors, orchestra, and providing sound cues that help give more to the intensity needed for this size of a production.
For this sound cue, I layered sounds of dogs barking, chickens, and a crowd that progressively gets louder over time. This was necessary to create the illusion that this Temple that is being used as a merchant location is becoming overwhelming and overstimulating. I ended the cue with an electric guitar riff that interrupts the noise, where Jesus would normally also accompany the riff and interrupt the people in the Temple.
Sound Block Diagram
For this large scale production with 19 actor mics, 14 orchestra mics, and 2 separate sound boards it made it necessary to create a Sound Block Diagram (SBD) to organize all the different connections. This includes a Yamaha LS9, Behringer X32, all the inputs for both boards, and all of the outputs for both boards as well. I also included the detail that on channel 31 of the Yamaha LS9, the boom mic is directly connected to the 5 backstage monitors used in the dressing rooms for the actors.
Jesus Christ Superstar Speaker Plot
For this production, I placed 4 QSC K8 speakers on the grid above the stage aimed at various parts of the 4 seating units. I also placed 2 QSC K8 speakers to serve as monitors for the actors to hear the orchestra. One of these speaker monitors were placed underneath a staircase near the main entrance to the theatre. And the other speaker monitor was placed in between the platform on the other side of the theatre and one of the seating units.
Speaker Plot Plan View
