Already a classic children's book and animated television program, Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas! also became a hit movie with Jim Carrey and a popular musical theatre production that has run seasonally in San Diego for eight years in a row. Now, Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical is tantalizing Broadway in its first holiday run. The Grinch team does a great job of replicating the look of the book, collecting a good ensemble cast, and delivering a charismatic Grinch (Patrick Page). Sound designer Tom Clark, one of the powerful triumvirate that is Acme Sound Partners, took on the show without having been involved with the original production. He treated The Grinch as if it was a brand new show. The 70- minute production moves quickly but does not overwhelm the audience, nor does the unobtrusive, but well-layered, sound design. What were the biggest challenges for you on this show, which features a stage cut into three sections — one main area and two side sets?
Tom Clark: That was probably it, I suppose. The playing area is very wide compared to what we normally come across. We were able to actually take the sonic image over towards the side of the stage when the action was centered on a piece off to the side. Beyond that it's actually a relatively similar set-up to most other musicals. It included an orchestra in the pit, so there's a source there to work from, and we had pretty good mic positions on everybody. The costumes, although they're quite spectacular, don't center around headpieces for the most part. Hats on people were not such a big deal on the show.
What kind of console are you running?
We're sticking with the DiGiCo D5T whenever we have a budget that will support it. It has become the desk that we specify for the majority of our shows.
How many inputs are you running for this show?
We have 30 wireless, about 50 or so orchestra and 12 channels of sound effects inputs. Then we have reverbs and other outboard gear.
What mics are you using on the actors?
The actors are all using DPA 4061s, which is also a constant in the Acme approach, and wearing Sennheiser SK-5012 transmitters. The orchestra pit microphones are based primarily on DPA as well. Probably the oddest thing that we're doing is miking the drum kit with just three microphones. It's a pair of DPA 4006 Omnis with something that DPA calls a Nose Cone on the front of them. They're tucked in on either side of the rack toms, then a 4021 for kick drum, and that's all the miking there is for the kit. The combination provides a very realistic picture of what's going on in a way that I'm just not accustomed to getting with multiple microphones, with a full mic-perdrum complement.
What other mics do you have in the pit?
The brass are all on 4006s or 4007s. The reeds are all on 4021s, except for the baritone sax, which is on a Neumann U89. The percussion is mostly KM184s and 414s with a U89 on the timpani. The rest are keyboard inputs. The upright bass is on a Barcus Berry pick-up and a DPA 4041, which is tacked on a piece of foam and stuck in the tail piece.
There are extravagant costumes and hairpieces on stage. Do you worry about ruffling with the costumes or the hair?
We actually have no issues whatsoever. We had an extremely good relationship with both the hair and wardrobe departments, and we got together with them quite early and were able to work out good scenarios before the actors ever got to the theatre. Those things have worked out happily for us. We had almost no issues of any kind related to costumes.
Are you using any ambient or floor mics?
No, we have no foot mics on the show. Basically, we're betting the ranch on our wireless system working. The Grinch and the two Maxes, the two "dogs," are all wearing double rigs, and we're basically very comfortable with the reliability of the gear. It's a big enough house that foot miking would be marginally successful anyway. During the solo number Cindy Lou Who has midway through the show, she is wearing two rigs for that scene, so if she were to go down we can shore her up. Otherwise, everybody in the cast has been told that if they get a strong sense that their microphone is not working, they should find a close friend to get near to, and we'll try to pick them up on that person.
The backstage crew is exceptional in the Hilton Theatre. They are constantly listening ahead to make sure that nobody walks onstage with a mic that is not working, and the means by which the microphones are attached to the actors and to their costumes are such that we're getting pretty good at reducing the strain that takes place on the delicate parts of the rig, which are at either end of the wire. I'm sure from time to time there will be an issue, but to my knowledge we have only had one microphone that misbehaved anyway onstage, and that happened to be on a person who was wearing two rigs, so we were able to switch to the backup very rapidly. Nobody knew the difference.
Do you worry about Patrick Page sweating a lot in the Grinch costume?
He does, but his mics are all on the outside of the costume, so it's really not a problem. He wears a full headpiece that the mic cable is woven into the outside of, and his transmitters are built into the padding of the costume, in a place that doesn't get problems with moisture.
Are other microphones woven into other actors' costumes?
No. The transmitters themselves are rarely on the bodies of the actors. They all have these kind of big, puffy, pillow-like things that they wear, and they built pouches into those. But everybody else is in a typical head rig, and the fact of the matter is that, although it's a very active show, the dancing in it is not hugely athletic. They're not building up a big sweat for the most part.
What outboard gear are you using?
All the sound effects are being generated by SFX, which is the standard for us. There are three reverbs on the show; three digital reverb or delay type devices. There's a System 6000 from TC Electronic, which provides surround reverb for the orchestra primarily, although occasionally for the vocals as well. There's an M3000 for the vocal reverb, and there's an Eventide Eclipse that takes care of a couple of live echo effects. I think the loudspeaker rig is the thing that is the most different, although in recent days it is not that different. The only speakers on the proscenium are LDS line array columns, which are combinations of eight seven-inch, low frequency drivers and eight ribbon, high frequency drivers — a "planar magnetic driver" they call it. These columns, which are built from cabinets that are about 13 inches square, are 22 feet tall and are hiding behind some Christmas trees on either side of the stage.
It harks back to a very old style of technology that was in use around the time that a lot of us started working on Broadway, but taken to a 21st century degree in terms of engineering and development. The speakers are very high fidelity. They get very loud but stay very clean, and are almost completely immune to feedback. There's a section of a scene that takes place under full amplification that is literally one foot directly in front of the house left proscenium loudspeakers, and we have not ever had a feedback issue with that location or any other using these boxes. We're now using them on The Drowsy Chaperone and A Chorus Line. We've become very enamored of them, because of their small profile and their high fidelity, for shows that are not loud, for shows that are more natural in terms of the reinforcement that is done for the orchestra.
How much reverb do you use?
Most of it is actually track, but there are two or three live echoes during the course of the play — the Grinch's first entrance and three different sleigh rides, only one of which you see. Those are all pre-recorded to allow the Grinch himself to take care of running around backstage to get from scene to scene. At 70 minutes, there are 22 scenes in the show, so it moves along at a pretty good clip.
Where does the sound for the puppets come from?
That's the ensemble cast, and they're singing offstage.
Do you worry about sound from moving lights or effects machines interfering with your mics, especially given how much is going on technologically with this show?
We spent a good deal of time in pre-production checking all sorts of things out. There's a very complex, LED-based part/effect in the Grinch's costume, when he finally sees the light, realizes that he might be a Who, too, and his heart grows three sizes in one day. It's a quite elaborate and very expensive LED light array, and we did two different sets of tests, one in their shop and another one at the theatre, before the actor put it on, to verify that his transmitters would not be adversely affected by the effects. And sure enough, they're not. By now, we're getting so used to having wireless devices of various kinds be a part of the scenery and lighting systems that we spend a good bit of time in pre-production coordinating the frequency usage and making sure that nobody is just churning out obscene amounts of transmission energy in a way that would adversely affect us. The Sennheiser gear is really good at paying attention to the frequencies that it is supposed to be paying attention to and no others. I guess it's a combination of good gear and careful preproduction work and a fair amount of good luck.
Is the same live engineer running all 12 shows every week?
Paul Verrity, who is the excellent front of house mixer, will probably end up operating every performance. On Saturdays and Sundays the crew does it four and three times, respectively, so they're getting two catered meals a day, and are pretty much constantly putting batteries in, or taking batteries out of, transmitters, from 9:30 in the morning until 9:00 at night without a break.
