24-25 Season, Mainstage
Investing in Sound at Village Theatre
by Nina Trotto
Steve Younkins, Head Audio Engineer in Issaquah. Photo by Nyhuis Creative.
In musical theater, we love a spectacle––a dramatic scene shift, a seemingly-impossible costume change––but one of the most difficult sleights of hand in theater design is not in what we see, but in what we hear. If the sound designer and audio engineer succeed, their work is almost invisible but provides the audience with an immersive experience and a satisfying theatrical journey.
Artistic Director Adam Immerwahr knows that Village’s patrons have a good ear. “Over the two years that I’ve been at Village, I have heard concerns from many audience members about acoustics and audibility in our productions.” In response to this audience feedback, Village applied for and received a Washington State Building for the Arts Grant that supported making a series of key improvements to our audio department during the summer of 2024. Investment in sound creates an impact on the patron and artist experience. “I am thrilled that we were able to prioritize this investment towards improving the sound quality at Village Theatre,” said Immerwahr.
Yamaha DM7 digital mixing console. Photo by Nyhuis Creative.
With this generous support, Village purchased a new digital mixing console (otherwise known as a sound board)—the recently-released Yamaha DM7––for the Francis J. Gaudette Theatre in Issaquah, matched by the City of Everett’s purchase of an identical console for Everett Performing Arts Center. These new consoles automate more of the process, allowing our Head Sound Engineers to focus on perfecting the sound mix for our audience. One of the biggest improvements audiences will be able to hear is in the preamplifiers within the console, which are much higher quality. “As a result,” says Steve Younkins, our Head Audio Engineer in Issaquah, “what our audiences hear is brighter, clearer audio across the board.” Additionally, Everett Head Audio Engineer, Erik Siegling, says the new technology “makes the move from Issaquah to Everett smoother for our audio team,” which will ensure more consistent audio quality between venues. “Our Everett audiences will experience sound that is much closer to the sound originally created in Issaquah.”
Erik Siegling, Everett Head Audio Engineer.
New microphones (left), old microphones (right). Photo by Nyhuis Creative.
Over the summer, Village was also able to purchase new body-worn microphones––35 in total. These microphones are both massively higher quality and have a significantly longer lifespan than our previous stock, allowing our actors to sound better now and for years to come.
We have also made an investment in the people who make this pivotal part of our productions possible. During the 23–24 season, Village doubled its audio staff by hiring two Lead Audio technicians to support the Head Audio Engineers who live mix the show from the console at the back of the house. Our new staff work backstage, troubleshooting anything that might go wrong during the show and ensuring that a momentary snafu, like an actor’s sweat or wig interfering with their microphone, doesn’t last for an entire act.
In addition to more staffing, the FJG audio team spent several weeks this summer fully reworking the audio system: making repairs, tracing cables that have been in place for well over a decade, and rebuilding how the entire audio system fits together. The result is an audio system that, simply put, sounds better. In addition to improving audio quality, they reconstructed how the hearing loop––an integral accessibility feature for hard of hearing patrons––interacts with the rest of the system, which has made it easier to troubleshoot and maintain.
While some of this work is still ongoing, it is already paying off for both our patrons and our artists. Tim Symons, Village’s long-time Resident Music Supervisor and frequent Music Director, is excited about how much smoother the upgrades have made the process of putting together a show: “By our first preview for Camelot, everything sounded so good that all we had to do was fine-tuning.”
Jadd Davis, Adam James King, Brandon O’Neill, Matthew Posner, and Jessica Skerritt in Camelot at Village Theatre. Photo by Auston James (2024).
Sound design is subjective: everyone has their own preferences for how a show should sound; audience members bring varying levels of hearing ability; and—of course—things sound differently depending on where you are seated in the auditorium. But after seeing Camelot, many of our long-time audience members have shared that this is a new sound for Village, one they’re just as excited about as we are.
Village Theatre is grateful for the support from the Washington State Building for the Arts grant and our supporters that made this upgrade possible.
Originally published December 19, 2024
Legally Blonde
ISSAQUAH NOV 12—DEC 29, 2024
EVERETT JAN 4—FEB 2, 2025