NEW YORK – Thirty years after the musical Falsettos was created, sound designer Dan Moses Schreier was once again involved with the audio of the revived Broadway show. “Falsettos is done completely through song; there is no spoken dialogue for the show,” he says. “It’s wall to wall music, so it’s unique and challenging on that level. Fortunately, Masque Sound was once again able to deliver a great audio system that allowed me to achieve my goals.”
More details from Masque Sound (www.MasqueSound.com):
William Finn and James Lapine’s Tony Award-winning musical, Falsettos recently made its triumphant return to Broadway’s Walter Kerr Theatre. In an all-new production from Lincoln Center Theater, veteran Sound Designer Dan Moses Schreier reunited with a show that he had been so intimately involved in during its original creation 30 years ago. It also provided Schreier the opportunity to again collaborate with Masque Sound, a theatrical sound reinforcement, installation and design company, to create a custom audio equipment package for the highly anticipated revival.
Falsettos revolves around the life of a charming, intelligent, neurotic gay man named Marvin, his wife, lover, adolescent son, their psychiatrist and the lesbians next door. It’s a hilarious and achingly poignant look at the infinite possibilities that make up a modern family and a beautiful reminder that love can tell a million stories. Falsettos, first premiered on Broadway in April 1992, was regarded by many as a game changer.
“I have a long history with the piece as I played double reeds in the original band of March of the Falsettos and for the workshop prior to that,” says Schreier. “I’ve known the cast of characters for a very long time so working with Bill Finn, James Lapine and Michael Starobin was not only a lot of fun, it was also a natural fit.”
Although Schreier has a deep working knowledge of Falsettos, the show wasn’t without some challenges. “Bill Finn’s music is incredible but unbelievably wordy so the big challenge in designing the sound was making sure you got every single lyric out there clearly on top of Bill’s complex opera-like music,” adds Schreier. “Falsettos is done completely through song; there is no spoken dialogue for the show. It’s wall to wall music, so it’s unique and challenging on that level. Fortunately, Masque Sound was once again able to deliver a great audio system that allowed me to achieve my goals.”
At the heart of the custom audio equipment system provided by Masque Sound was a DiGiCo SD7T digital console. “The band is small with only four players and the company is a cast of seven so we didn’t need a large number of inputs,” says Schreier. “Hats off to Michael Starobin for his brilliant orchestration. He gets an enormous amount of variety with that small ensemble and the show fit perfectly on the SD7T.”
Masque Sound provided Schreier with a custom system from d&b audiotechnik for the PA system. According to Schreier, “When I have a show that has this kind of verbal dexterity to it, I like to use d&b E-Series speakers. I’ve done a lot of shows at the Walter Kerr Theatre and love that place; it’s a gem. The theatre is intimate so you don’t really need an array. The orchestra down cluster speaker is a d&b E12-D and because it is so wide, you get unbelievable coverage from that one box without any issues. It’s remarkably coherent. It’s a beautiful theatre and if you know how to follow the acoustics it’s a lot of fun doing the sound design on that stage.”
Schreier used the DPA d:screet 4061 for his microphones on the actors, which Schreier likes for its clarity, openness and miniature size. The piano and woodwinds use microphones from Schoeps.
“I was very happy to be working with Masque Sound again,” says Schreier. “As usual, they provided phenomenal technical and artistic support. What’s great about working with Masque Sound is that they understand the tools we need to be successful and consistently go out of their way to make sure we get everything we ask for.”
For Schreier, Falsettos is near and dear to his heart. “We really enjoyed revisiting the piece together and it’s great that the original core group of people came together again. There was a lot of history and it was a lot of fun. In addition, my associate Joshua Reid, Production Sound Mixer Marc Salzberg and A2 Tim Mack all did an incredible job. The show sounds great.”
