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john gzowski

2018

Its a Wonderful Life @ RMTC

Back in Winnipeg to do live foley and sound design for Its a Wonderful Life, set as a 1940's radio play. Lots of great press, good houses and a lovely cast.
Its a wonderful gig - Winnipeg Free Press article
CBC review
CBC radio/tv feature

The Children @ CanStage

Eda Holmes directed this intriguing work with three great actors at CanStage. A lovely production that was a co-production with the Centaur Theatre in Montreal.

The Children

Theory @ Tarragon

Had the pleasure of work on Norman Yeung's new play, Theory, at the Tarragon Theatre. A smart work nicely directed by Esther Jun. Lots of cellphones and fun with tech on this one.

Theory

Bed and Breakfast at Soulpepper

Bed and Breakfast keeps on rocking! This time a new production directed by Ann-Marie Kerr for Soulpepper. Its a great production with around 250 cues, lots and lots of sound really well integrated with the actors.
Bed and Breakfast

Now Magazine review

The Hound of Baskervilles

First mystery for me, a really great production at the Shaw Festival, directed by Craig Hall. Over 250 cues with about 60 cues with a string quartet of sorts that I recorded with my gear in one amazing session. Here's a few tracks from the show.



The Hound of Baskerville


The Baroness and the Pig

Very interesting two hander for the Shaw Festival in their studio theatre. Lots of music and sound, really great performances and a slightly challenging but interesting show.
The Baroness and the Pig

Orphée +

Had the pleasure of sound designing Opera Columbus and Against the Grain's Orphée +. First time sound designing for opera and it was quite an epic project. After a workshop in Banff, where I played guitar, ran and programmed a mainstage rig, sampled choruses and played live for the showcase, we took the show to Columbus Ohio where it premiered. I worked with the director, conductor and arranger to rework the opera, adding electric guitar and a keyboard mainstage rig. We had 3 'virtual choirs', choirs of youtube singers singing to a conductor and piano video. This was mixed and edited into a single chorus and then triggered by the keyboard player in the pit. We also sampled some chorus parts so that they could be played word by word by the keyboard player, added some synthesizer parts and reworked the arrangement for a smaller band. The team was really great, the challenges immense and very rewarding.
Winner of 5 Dora awards and nominated for 4 other Doras.
Orpheé +

Innocence Lost

Soulpepper's production of Innocence Lost, a play about Stephen Truscott was very interesting. Told like a revealing mystery by the townspeople, the show required a couple of hundred very subtle sound designy cues to impart a bit of mystery and shape to the piece. Beautiful set by Camie Koo and lights by Bonnie Beecher.
https://soulpepper.ca/performances/innocence-lost-a-play-about-steven-truscott/4093

La Bete

Soulpepper's production of La Bete was very enjoyable. Wrote some baroque with electric guitar music, found a small harpsichord for the actors to play, along with a few other instruments. Worked to coach them on ensemble work for a few scenes then stood back and watched it all happen. Great script and show.
https://soulpepper.ca/performances/la-bete/5640

Twelth Night

Reworked Jillian Keiley and the Old Trout's version of Twelfth Night at Theatre Calgary. Great theatre with my new favourite sound system in the country. We reworked 90's pop tunes as if done by string quartet to make it period/modern. Really fun and lovely production, everything that's excellent about live theatre.
http://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/theatre/old-trouts-puppets-help-shake-up-shakespeares-twelfth-night-at-theatre-calgary
Twelfth Night won outstanding production at the Betty's, amongst the 5 it won
https://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/theatre/puppets-and-sisters-big-winners-at-betty-mitchell-awards

A Delicate Balance

Worked through the changes at Soulpepper while working on 'A Delicate Balance', aptly named. It's a lovely and odd piece by Edward Albee, directed by Diana LeBlanc. Great cast and it is a great company.
Nominated for best production at the Doras
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/theatre-and-performance/theatre-reviews/review-soulpeppers-a-delicate-balance-resonates-in-wake-of-schultz-allegations/article37666095/