An Interview With Mitchel Reith
Sound Designer, Cry It Out
Three new moms from different backgrounds bond over parenting babies. Simple? Friendship, marriage, careers are anything but simple in Cry It Out, a comedy with dark edges. Cry It Out takes an honest look at the absurdities of navigating women’s choices, family life, and job security in modern day America.
What is your theatrical background? What is your history with Theatre B?
I started doing technical theatre my junior year of high school and decided that I wanted to go to school for sound production. I wound up going to NDSU and I’ve been designing shows there since my first year. My first show with Theatre B was Santaland Diaries, with Cry It Out being my second.
What does a sound designer do?
The sound designer is responsible for music and sound effects in the show. They go out and find the sound effects and program them onto the computer to be played when and how they need to. They also choose music for underscoring or transition music to help create the mood for the play.
What part of the design process do you find to be the most fun? What about the most challenging?
The most challenging part of this process has been choosing transition music. The show goes through a lot of moods, so finding a type of music that relates to the show and all the different moods throughout is difficult. One of my favorite parts of this show so far has been finding baby noises and editing them all to be unique so the babies don’t cry or fuss the same way twice.
What are some specific aspects of the Cry It Out design that make you really happy or proud?
One part of this show that makes me happy is having sound effects not come from just the main speakers in the theatre, but have them come from different sources on stage. Being able to work with functioning baby monitors helps this be possible.
What is something an audience member should listen for, or pay attention to when they see the show?
When watching the show, just be sure to listen to the music between scenes and see if you recognize any of the songs.
Recent Comments