Theater - Recorded Music & Sound Design
My goal in the theater is to give the audience a cinematic experience. Completely original content with music that has beginnings, middle and ends without adding time to transitions and moments - it should feel like a live score night to night. I compose and record music specific to the show after working with the director to get the tone just right.
With a decade of experience using QLab and working as a composer versed in midi instruments, mixing and variety of live instruments, I have a quick and efficient workflow to program a flawless and tight show. I compose and design the music specifically for QLab (or whatever live show application that production is using) so the music is flexible as a show ebbs and flows from night to night.
“The ease of Cormac Bluestone’s sound design was faultless. Bluestone’s work with space was dynamic, allowing you to feel as if Galactia were actually in a giant room. It was a welcome touch.”
“Richard Romagnoli’s production — designed with evocative, era-straddling minimalism by Hallie Zieselman (set), Mark Evancho (lighting), Jule Emerson and Mira Veikley (costumes) and Cormac Bluestone (the crucial sound design) — expertly balances these perspectives”
Good Television by Rod McLachlan
Presented by the Atlantic Theater Company Stage 2, May 22 to June 23, 2013
Directed by Bob Krakower
Good Television is about a Reality TV producer who travels to South Carolina to interview a meth addict.
The Director, Writer and I wanted the main theme of music to have a slick "Hollywood Boulevard" sound that could also meld with the sound of a struggling South Carolina family.
The sound design also featured some sophisticated practical elements. The climax of the play is videotaped by the reality TV producers film crew and then viewed in a following scene. Every night of Good Television, the climax was digitally captured and then played through laptop in the following scene. I was able to program the show so the board operator never had to leave Q-Lab to achieve this effect and we had a 100% success rate in firing the cue through the duration of the run.
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“...Cormac Bluestone’s original music and sound design contribute subtly to the production’s effectiveness.”
The Castle by Howard Barker
Presented by the Potomac Theater Company at Atlantic Stage 2
July 17 to August 4, 2013
Directed by Richard Romagnoli
In The Castle, weary soldiers return from the Crusades to find their wives have created their own society that disdains religion and embraces free love with both sexes.
I wanted to give the sound and music the deconstructed brutality of the language that Howard Barker uses. The set design was simple and elegant so the sound needed to paint a lot of the scenery for the audiences imagination. The score ended up being very percussive made up of construction machines and acoustic and electric drums.
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“...directed by Richard Romagnoli, and featuring a cast that includes a daredevil Jan Maxwell, “The Castle” is hugely, disgustingly entertaining.”
Giant Killer Slugs by Colby Day
Presented by Pipeline Theater Company. Directed by Daniel Johnsen.
Fall 2012 at Theater for the New City’s Johnson Theater.
The goal of this score was to emulate the music of the 1950's to give this show the feeling a B movie feel. I am a fan of rockabilly and was enthusiastic about composing a score that emulates the music of the late 40's (such as Hank Williams) into the 50's (such as "The Champs" or "Santo and Johnny").
Giant Killer Slugs is a creature feature written for the stage, complete with a small town sheriff trying to leave his troubles behind, an unscrupulous mayor in cahoots with the crooked ScienceCorp, a pack of city slicker kids who know the truth no one wants to believe, and of course, killer slugs that keep getting bigger! Can these predatory pests be stopped before the whole town is lost to their merciless mucous?
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“Bluestone has also fashioned an effective musical score and sound design, giving the quietest cricket chirp the same attention as the noisiest TNT detonation.”
The Illusion by Pierre Conreille
Adapted by Tony Kushner
The NYU's Tisch School of the Arts presents
The Illusion
By Pierre Corneille
adapted by Tony Kushner
Directed by Anya Saffir
Original Music composed and produced by Cormac Bluestone
The Illusion is about a father, Pridamant in search of his son. The play begins with him arriving at a cave where Alcandre, a magician lives. Pridamant has been told this Alcandre can help lovate Pridamants son. Alcandre presents visions to Pridamant that show his son in various worlds - Pridamant is tormented, elated, and frustrated by the visions. The entirety of the play takes place in Alcandre's cave. We wanted the music to be consistent with the sound of a cave and not necessarily the visions Alcandre presents (they set the tone of the scenes).
I am sound designing for the Potomac Theatre Project’s 32nd Season. Reviews and links inside!