Last Wednesday, 90 minutes before a Great Tuna performance our backstage crew discovered that the laptop computer that held all of the thirty-something sound cues for Greater Tuna had been stolen from what we thought was a secure location. Since many of the sound cues for this show are voiceovers that cover costume changes, without the sound cues the show couldn’t go on. Our crew immediately called me and Mike Christensen our sound designer (thank God for cell phones) but we were a ways away . . . I was at a cocktail party. Fortunately I had many of the voiceovers on my Apple laptop but it was at home so my wife Jenny dropped me off at the theatre and then raced home to retrieve my laptop. As we waited I think we all began praying. The minutes ticked by and at last, two minutes before curtain Jenny arrived. I met her in front of the theatre then raced upstairs to the sound booth. Just as I plugged in my computer the show began. But then I realized I didn’t have all the cues! Some critical ones were missing. Fortunately, Mike arrived just in time with his laptop and the other sound cues and during act one we transferred those cues from his computer to mine using a flash drive. (The magic of technology!)Though there was lots of adrenalin flowing that night, the audience never knew of the drama backstage and the show went off, thanks to our great actors and crew, all without a hitch!Our prayers were answered!
Julian Wiles, Director, Greater Tuna
POST SCRIPT: The next day Mike recreated the sound plot, we even made a few improvements and the sound for Greater Tuna is now better than ever.