UbuSound

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

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Reading Misery

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Misery’s Christmas

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Top of Act 2

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Water Music and Chapters

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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

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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

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… 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

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(James Edson as Jesse)

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Transition Scene 7

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Leaving the Shrink

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Mom confronts her fears

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Jesse’s Dance (transcribed from Eminem’s Mockingbird, with samples from MIA’s PULL UP THE PEOPLE (iTunes Links)

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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.

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Leaving the hospital

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Going Home

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Dr Kay’s office

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Getting Ready for the date

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Boy…  It’s been a LOOONG time since I put anything new up here.  Gotta tell you, it’s been a crazy busy year.

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.