CFRTBackStagePass

By Music Director Andrew Wheeler

There's always a post-show lull the first few days after closing. While its sad to say goodbye to the new friends and colleagues with whom you've spent countless hours, worked seemingly endless late nights and shared abundant laughter, there are always the myriad memories that will continue to bring a smile to my face.

One of my favorites is the sounding board that our illustrious tech team made available especially for JCS. While it was freed from its vestigial frame by James (our Technical Director) and his crew, it couldn't have happened without Tom. Working with Tom Quaintance was a delight thanks to the great partnership we shared. One of Tom's best qualities is that he is a "yes" man. When the idea of a sounding board came up and I nearly jumped out of my skin, Tom said, "Let's do it. I've always wanted one."

James taking apart the piano

I'm getting ahead of myself, though. A sounding board is the part of a piano that holds the strings and helps their sound resonate. Inside the piano, the hammers strike the strings as each key is pressed. Take the sounding board out, though, and you can get your hands, or anything else you want, directly on the strings and even the board itself. The range of sounds you can create is only limited by your imagination, and discovering new ways to manipulate it is great fun. In fact, this is the first time I've gotten to work with one myself in a show. I was eager to dive in.

So, when Tom gave the word, James and his team began to take apart the piano piece by piece, and then add back a few that would come in handy. Then they carried it up to the pit. All 100lbs (at least!) of it. Love those guys! Then I started to play around.

Tom and I decided on a structure for "The Crucifixion" and came up with a few great tools. I ended up using just two: a hammer and a metal putty knife. Running the metal putty knife along the strings produces a hair-raising noise worthy of a horror movie. The hammer and sounding board were the perfect solution for a morose sound need we had been pondering since the beginning.

We have a sounding board

What sounds more like hammering than using a hammer? Even better, striking the sounding board causes every string to vibrate at once leaving behind a ghostly, dissonant echo. It was the perfect way to end "Superstar" and to strike the mood for the end of the show. To protect the sound board from the dents and damage from the head of the hammer I gaff taped a piece of 2x4 to the top. Over the production that one split into a few pieces and had to be replaced. The replacement barely made it through the run, having split in two by closing. Together with the hammer, we produced those bone-chilling hammer sounds night after night that propelled the show to its final scene.

The sounding board was the icing on the cake at the end of the show. With such a fantastic cast, pit, crew and artistic staff, I knew JCS would be a smash hit. I can't wait to return in January and see some familiar faces. Now let's just see if I can figure out how to get my new toy into the next one or perhaps find something else for James to take apart!

Around the World in 80 Days plays October 25 – November 11

Click here for tickets and more information or call 323-4233