Rich And Famous

by John Guare

• Directed by John Rando
• Sets by Scott Bradley
• Costumes by Gregory Gale
• Lights by Alex Nichols
• Sound by Jeremy J Lee
• Music Direction by Laura Burton
• Produced by American Conservatory Theater, San Francisco
  

Cast:

• Brooks Ashmanskas
• Mary Birdsong
• Stephen DeRosa
• Gregory Wallace

It was a wonderful production of a wonderful play with wonderful people.  What more could you ask for?  I liked the Lectrosonics wireless system so much, that they did a press release on it:

Jeremy J Lee & Lectrosonics

Then it was straight on to Iowa…

By Lanford Wilson

• Directed by Pam MacKinnon
• Sets by Marion Williams
• Costumes by Theresa Squire
• Lights by David Lander
• Sound and Music by Jeremy J Lee
• Produced at the Juilliard School
  

This was a fun show to revisit.  The first show I ever worked on in NY was Jim Houghton’s production at the Union Square Theatre in 2002.  We came to NYC that summer to visit friends, and ended up staying for a few months to see if it was a place we could be comfortable living.  We fell even more in love with the city, and moved here as soon as we could.

In 2002, I was the assistant designer to Rob Kaplowitz.  This time I wrote all of the music, which was a great time and challenge.  Pam and I decided on jazz as a medium.  The play is about friendship, grief, love, and the crazy tumble of passion.  But mostly about recovering from the loss of a friend and brother.  But we didn’t want to wallow in sentimentality.  We wanted to be interesting, but not get in the way of the story.  I think we did that.

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

By Luis Alfaro

• Directed by Tracy Young
• Sets by Robert Brill
• Costumes by Nephelie Andonyadis
• Lights by Russell Champa
• Sound & Music by Jeremy J Lee
• Produced at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Bill Rauch Artistic Director

We’re back now, but here’s some teaser pictures for the moment:

A bike in Amsterdam.

The main theatre in Ephesus - up to 25,000 people could attend!

Cappadocia - Mushroom Fairy Chimneys

A balloon ride in Cappadocia

Goreme and the region from above

For more pictures, go to the photo gallery.

I not only love that the NYPD is finding more creative and expensive ways to avoid walking, but the looks on the people’s faces in the background is priceless.

Here’s another fun shot.  I’m going to be helping move AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY literally next door to another Broadway house.  It’s cool that there’s 2 marquees for the same show on the same block:

So, until I get through my latest pictures from vacation, those will have to do.

Misery by Stephen King, adapted by Simon Moore

• Directed by Emma Griffin
• Sets by Felix Cochren
• Costumes by Jessica Trejos
• Lights by Mark Barton
• Sound & Music by Jeremy J. Lee
• Produced by Syracuse Stage, Tim Bond Artistic Director

OK- so we all know the story of Misery. You get a writer of romantic fiction into a car crash, and have him saved by his “Number One Fan”. She turns out to be his savior and tormentor at the same time. Everyone remembers the “hobbling” scene with Kathy Bates.

But it turns out that this story makes for some pretty good theatre as well. I used Brahms’ String Sextet No 1 as “Misery’s Theme”, and manipulated the music throughout the play. We also got to play with some wonderful psychological sound design elements.

Misery’s Theme

Also, a shout out to the props department, that let me do this to their typewriter. I spent about 20 minutes bashing this into various things to get the right sound for the last fight. Fantastic!

The press also seemed to like it-

Lighting designer Mark Barton and sound designer Jeremy J. Lee pull out all the stops for the climactic scene in the second act of Misery…

In terms of production values, Misery is a Syracuse Stage landmark, among the most outstanding of recent years. Mark Barton’s lighting and Jeremy J. Lee’s sound design are important supporting players, and Jessica Trejos’ costume design reveals unspoken elements in Annie’s autobiography.

Syracuse New Times

Jeremy J. Lee’s sound designs call for special mention. They are almost a third character, creating the world outside the house that Paul cannot get to.

Syracuse Post Standard

… Mark Barton’s lighting and Jeremy J Lee’s sound really took the mood-creating cake here, with the freaky flickering lamps, the thunder and lightning, the weird buzzing reminiscent of backyard bug-lights.

House Lights on Syracuse.com

Here’s the work in progress that is Song For New York. It’s a project with Mabou Mines that I’m co-designing with Rob Kaplowitz. I love the water, but doing a show on a barge is proving to be challenging indeed! Nothing like water, electricity, metal, rain, and lightning to kick start the creative process.

Come out to Gantry Park in LIC the first week of September to see how it all turns out. It should be quite a good show.

Distracted by Lisa Loomer at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival

• Directed by Liz Diamond
• Sets by Robert Brill
• Costumes by Ilona Somogyi
• Lights by Christopher Akerlind
• Sound & Music by Jeremy J Lee
• Projections by Peter Flaherty

Distracted is a play about a family with ADD. The child (Jesse) is the one that is diagnosed with ADD, but the whole family, and the entire community that they live in suffer from it.

The entire play is from the mother’s perspective, molding the world around her in order to tell her story. At times she loses control of her own story, and at others she is distracted by the technology of everyday life- Instant Messaging, Cell Phones, CNN, Google, Zappos.com and Ritalin can definitely take a toll on a family.

Here are some excerpts from the sound design for the play:

Opening Cue

(James Edson as Jesse)

Pretty Chin Up by Andrea Ciannavei

• Directed by Michele Chivu
• Sets by Andromache Chalfant
• Lights by Japhy Weideman
• Costumes by Anna-Alisa Belous
• Sound & Music by Jeremy J Lee
• Video by Greg Emetaz
• Produced by LAByrinth Theatre @ The Public

This play is about a woman trying to accept, overcome, and deny the fact that she is overweight. This complex mix creates tension in her workplace as well as her personal life. She meets a man who might be a good match for her, but is unable to overcome her fears and self-image.

Leaving the hospital

Going Home

Dr Kay’s office

Getting Ready for the date

Back to Audio Clips

So- here’s some long overdue pictures from the Netherlands…

See if you can find the creative language:

And then wonder why it might be that way:

But it’s not all smoke and laundry.  Amsterdam is really a beautiful city.

It’s really a fantastic city, and one that I hope to get back to soon.