Behind The Scenes Of The Sound Design Of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

The assistant sound operator of the West End edition of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, Lucy Williams, takes phans behind the scenes of her day-to-day activities as part of an informative new interview.

Describing her daily routine, Williams relates, "My typical day will consist of coming in and checking which actors are playing certain characters that day, checking the sound system which involves playing music through every speaker and making sure they're all working. I then do a microphone check to make sure they are all working for the actors and then fitting the microphones to each actor. Once this is all done, I come out here and mix the sound for the duration of the show. "

Detailing how she works alongside the head sound operator for a performance, Williams shares, "It becomes easier with experience but I sat with a script for maybe a week and just watched Laurie mix it and looked at his techniques. Next I learnt the show line for line, so when it actually came to sitting in front of the sound desk I knew who was saying what and when and once the show was live I could then work out what sound level to put the actors at, what dynamics and what the orchestra are doing. It just all comes in time and eventually you just lose the script and it all flows beautifully - well, in theory anyway!"

In closing, Williams says, "I've been involved in sound since I was 18 so 5 years in total, but I've done a lot of crew work and stage management work but now I'm just lucky enough to have ended up working in sound, which is what I've always wanted."

Check out the original article on the matter here.