(Learn more about Lizzie HERE!)
I was born and raised in Billings, MT and graduated from Skyview High School. After high school I went to school at the University of Montana pursuing a music performance degree but left early to move to New York City to play bass trombone. I spent nearly 5 years there playing before moving back to Missoula to finish my degree, this is when I first got involved with MCT. I played a handful of shows in the pit. Jesus Christ Superstar, Music Man and The Producers just to name a few.
Sometime in 2008 or 2009, Joe Martinez approached me to see if I wanted to be the sound designer for The Marvelous Wonderettes, and I said, “Sure, I’ve seen a sound board before!” I really had no idea what I was doing or what I was getting myself into, but I truly fell in love with it! This was the springboard for my passion of musical theater audio. I kept working incredibly hard, studied, researched, and talked to people in this career. With some great recommendations I ended up getting a job as the sound designer at the Fort Peck Summer Theater, then on to some regional theater in Wisconsin and then Bullets Over Broadway, my first national tour. Since then, I’ve done many tours over the last 11 years including Rent 20th Anniversary Tour, Finding Neverland, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, and Hamilton. For the last 3 years I’ve been the head of audio for Six*. Next year I’ll be making a change and will take on the first national tour of The Outsiders.
One of the things about being a mixer for theater is that you must learn how to make decisions fast and fix problems as they happen. I remember one show, while I was touring with Finding Neverland, we had the lead character’s ballad coming up. For actors who spend a lot of time on stage, we usually double mic them to have a backup mic. In this particular show the actor’s mic broke and he “sweat out” his other mic (a sweat out is when an actors sweat gets into the microphone and essentially the mic stops working) so I had to turn the music down really low and let the 2500 people hear the song with the actor singing acoustically. I find that the audience loves it when these things happen because it reminds them that it’s live theater! The show must go on!
I’m so thankful for my time at MCT! If I hadn’t started mixing there, I don’t know if I would’ve found this amazing career I have now!
“Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. From Tudor Queens to Pop Princesses, the SIX wives of Henry VIII take the mic to reclaim their identities out of the shadow of their infamous spouse—remixing five hundred years of historical heartbreak into an exuberant celebration of 21st century girl power. The female cast are backed by an all-female band, the “Ladies in Waiting.” Songs from the studio album are streamed on average 300,000 times per day, making it the second highest streaming cast recording in the world.”
*To learn more about Six on Broadway, click HERE!
