Press

Making Noise Behind the Scenes

New York Times

“We want to reflect an evolution of the understanding of the sound designer’s role, both among artists and in the community at large,” Mr. Sherman said. “This is not an award for placing a microphone somewhere. It’s about the creation of an aural environment that impacts our relationship to a production, just like any other design.”

For Lincoln Center Theater’s revival of “South Pacific” the sound designer Scott Lehrer wanted a similar effect. “I always thought it should be done as quietly as possible, to keep the focus on the storytelling,” he said at his studio in Chinatown. “It’s the difference between the audience being pushed back by the sound and being drawn in.”

Now hear this: How ‘Into the Woods’ makes the noise so joyful.

July 29, 2022 – The Washington Post

As the band strikes up and the singers open their throats in the hit Broadway revival of “Into the Woods,” the audience realizes it is immersed in a blessed event. Saints (and sound designers) be praised: You can hear every word of the show.

It should be a regular occurrence, not the singular happenstance represented by this latest incarnation of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s 1987 musical about storybook characters desperately seeking happy endings. The notes and vocals converge in ideal balance on the stage of the St. James Theatre, where the production has just been extended through Oct. 16. A listener neither strains to understand what’s being conveyed, nor feels defeated by overamplified instrumentality or inadequately interpreted lyrics. Far too frequently, these lesser results subtract from the pleasures of musical theater, in an age that wants to make an unfortunate virtue of volume.

Broadway’s ‘Into the Woods,’ now at the Kennedy Center, still enchants

February 26, 2023 The Washington Post

Thankfully, too, sound designers Scott Lehrer and Alex Neumann replicate the expertise they demonstrated in the St. James; the lyrics and melodies resound crisply in the Opera House. (Maybe they should be asked back!)

‘The Michaels’ Review: Dance as Life in Upstate New York

October 28, 2019 – New York Times

Hence the almost hushed tone of this production, which is directed by [Richard] Nelson, who makes expert use of his now standard arrangement of tiny suspended microphones, which allow performers to whisper and still be heard. (Scott Lehrer is the sound designer.)… Though it takes place in real time, “The Michaels” is punctuated by brief blackouts, during which we hear what sounds like someone hungrily inhaling. Or is it exhaling? It is the breath of life, in any case, on the edge of extinction, and of renewal, too. “The Michaels” is as hopeful as it is heartbreaking.

Inside Scott Lehrer’s Sound Design for To Kill a Mockingbird

January 22, 2019 – LiveDesign

“I wanted to make that sonic world of the porch come alive for the audience. So I went down to Monroeville, Alabama, which is where Harper Lee is from and is the inspiration for the fictional town of Macomb in the story. I spent three days there last summer and recorded early morning, morning, afternoon, evening, and night sounds. It was important to me to have materials that were not just generic sounds, but specific from the place, and use those in all of the family scenes.”

Timing is Everything Says Hello, Dolly! Sound Designer Scott Lehrer

October 20, 2017 – ETNow

Scott Lehrer’s sound designs are recognisably different, distinguished specifically by their provision of highly articulate and intelligible spatial reinforcement to fully engage the audience. “I want the audience to actually hear sound coming from a close approximation of where it is being sung or spoken. I want the band to be rich in sound and coming from different apparent locations in the sound system, so that it is not just a flat mono system. I want the sound to come alive for the audience.”

Who Ever Wrote Swoonier Ballads than Rodgers and Hammerstein?

July 21, 2017 – Washington Post

It’s important to note, too, that while the Opera House has revealed itself to be an acoustical nightmare for rock musicals, the vast space (or its temporary occupants) unable to marry voices and instruments happily…. Courtesy of sound designer Scott Lehrer, the actors don’t have to compete with the robust accompaniment of the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra. They all manage instead to make beautiful, lyrically crisp music together.

Get Out the Hankies for a Sumptuous, Touching 'King and I' at the Pantages

December 19, 2016 – Los Angeles Times

Christopher Gattelli’s delightful dance interludes, based on Jerome Robbins’ original choreography, also carry over from the Lincoln Center production, as do the show’s superb design elements, including Scott Lehrer’s sound and Donald Holder’s lighting.

Read more from the Los Angeles Times

The New York Times: Best Theatre Of 2016

December 9, 2016 – LiveDesign

the team of designers here—Susan Hilferty and Jason Ardizzone-West (set), Jennifer Tipton (lighting) and Scott Lehrer and Will Pickens (sound)—have made the Gabriels’ kitchen into what feels like a warm corner of never-ending security.

The Sounds Of The 1920s Come To Life In The Front Page

December 8, 2016 – LiveDesign

“It took us a while to get the ringers to all work properly but now we have the actors with real 1920’s era telephones with 1920’s era ringer boxes ringing on stage as well. While this may seem like a small part of the bigger picture in terms of the overall sound design, the authentic telephone sounds were the basis for the entire show.”