Resounding Cracks the Code for Live Theatre - At Home

What if I told you there was a way, even now, that you can have a night of theater without breaking quarantine? That you can mingle with your fellow audience, enjoy a custom, themed cocktail, page through your program as the orchestra tunes, and experience a live show again?

Ok, granted, the program is digital and you get to be the bartender (custom recipe and full instructions included!), but the show is really, truly LIVE, and the theater...made completely out of sound!

Resounding offers everything you need to enjoy a night out - without ever leaving your house - with their live immersive audio experiences that bring live audio theatre to 21st century gatherings. While there are many different options for online content to consume, Resounding believes part of what's unique about going to the theater is that it asks you to put away all other distractions and, for just a little while, focus entirely on one thing, one thing that can't be rewound or paused or added to your queue.

"Talking with friends and colleagues, there seems to be this steady sense of "Zoom fatigue", both for work and especially for entertainment. After a whole day staring at a screen getting work done, the last thing they want to do is sit back down at their computer to unwind. I can certainly sympathize," says Resounding Creative Director Steve Wargo. "That's why we create experiences that bring back the sense of communion inherent to seeing a live show, the ethereal nature of gathering with others to enjoy something unique and fleeting that you know will only happen once, to recreate the dynamic energy, not only for the audience but for the performers as well, with the essential, delicious risk of knowing anything could happen at any moment."

To that end, Resounding isn't just resurrecting the classic radio-play for a modern audience, they are providing the tools to turn their experiences into events. Each show ticket comes with a custom themed cocktail designed by award winning bartender Jena Ellenwood, a curated preshow playlist to calm you down - or hype you up - for showtime, and an extensive Pinterest page curated by the Resounding team to give you meal recipes, decorating tips, fun facts about the show, and costume ideas (yes, costumes are encouraged, especially if you share your photos at #resoundinglive.)

Resounding Director of Operations Blair Russell went on to say, "We encourage our audience to go all out and make it an event. It doesn't matter whether you're attending solo from home, safely gathering your quarantine buddies, or hosting a virtual listening party with friends and family across the country - or world."

The shows themselves use a combination of brand-new patent-pending technology and good old fashioned performance techniques to create an experience unlike anything you've ever heard. The crew mixes live performances from top theater actors (like Tony nominee Rob McClure), adds professionally designed sound effects, and creates a "3-D" surround-sound binaural audio stream that puts you in the center of the action. You really feel as if the soundscape is in the room with you, from the left, right, above, below, or, in the case of Norm Lewis's Dracula, right on the back of your neck.

"We love that technology has allowed us to gather together again, and not separated us, as some have feared. Our audience, our performers all say this is the closest they've felt to being in the theater for months. Except in our theater there is ample legroom, no line for the bathroom, and you don't even have to put on pants if you don't want to," Wargo added with a grin.

Russell concluded by saying, "We're in love with the work we're doing and want to help others embrace this new form of entertainment by offering our services and platform to other theaters and producers, creating educational opportunities for schools and theater programs, and providing a new type of event for companies looking for a way to engage and reward their employees. We have a plan to do at least a show a month for the foreseeable future, and even when live theater returns in earnest, we know Resounding will exist alongside it as a parallel form of entertainment. We're just getting started, and that's the most exciting and gratifying part of this crazy year." Sounds like a plan to us.