VENGEANCE IS THE LORD'S - Lights and Sound

Contributed by Rebecca Bellan

Paints, props, and costumes aren’t the only shops that are making waves in the production of Vengeance is the Lord’s. In fact, lighting and sound departments are putting into action some really cool ideas for the upcoming production.

Kat Herzig, master electrician, said that the show will be set on a turn table, so lights is working with the scene shop to bring power to the set. They are sending power to the turntable through a ring on the central pivot to a dimmer rack, which will be hidden in the set. The rack contains 16 low voltage dimmers that then run power throughout the set to wherever it’s needed. “The cool thing about the turntable,” said Kat, “is that the control signal from the light board to the rack is wireless.” In other words, there will be no cables so that the turntable can spin. The light board will be able to turn on any and all electricity within the set. For example, lamps, chandeliers, a Christmas tree, and a working coffee pot will all be turned on via a push of a button in the lighting booth. In addition to this innovative dimming arrangement, Kat said that they’ll be using fiber optic strands—the same ones they used in Two Men in Florence—for stars in the sky. I don’t know what fiber optic actually means, but it sounds like it will look pretty.

Sound designer Ben Emerson said that Vengeance will have original music composed by David Van Tieghem. They are talking about composing music for cello, piano, and other ethereal instrumentation for the play. This instrumentation, said Ben, will be intentionally sparse. In addition to the composed music, Ben is deciding on what other sounds he thinks will be good to provide a sonic underscore. There will be very subtle bits of environmental sound such as the sound of wind for the late fall and winter scenes, and birds chirping during Easter. He is also trying out other specific sounds, like an owl hooting, which one of the actors has to interplay with.

That’s all for today. I’m excited to see how the other shops here on Huntington Ave. are progressing with their work.

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The Huntington Theatre Company's Production of Vengeance is the Lord's  is playing November 12 through December 12, 2010 at the Boston University Theatre, 264 Huntington Ave, Boston MA. For tickets and information click here or call our box office at 617 266-0800