Dreams do come true - theatre alum works at Skywalker Ranch, mixes sound at Berkeley Rep

• November 24, 2010 5:14am

April Rodriguez, a 2005 theatre arts grad, is putting the wrap on two huge projects.

She just finished a 12-hour mixing session on the documentary, “IMUA,” at Skywalker Ranch.  

“I had the privilege of not only working in one of the facilities’ superb mixing studios but the team and I also previewed our work at the Stag Theater. Truly, the Stag Theatre presented the best picture and sound quality I have ever experienced,” she said.

“I had only allowed myself once to fantasize about working at Skywalker Ranch because a wish like that is too crazy to dream about, but yet, there I was!” says Rodriguez.

If that weren’t enough, Rodriguez, who also works in the Cal State East Bay Theatre and Dance Department, is assistant sound director for a short movie that opens, “The Composer is Dead,” at the Berkeley Rep Theatre. The show previews this weekend, and will run through Jan. 15.

For the past two weeks Rodriguez and the rest of the team, including supervisor Jim Le Brecht, have been in tech rehearsal trying to dial in the right sound for the movie and for the action on the stage. 

“This was a challenging project to work on because I had to balance sound effects for characters played by puppets in a movie while also allowing for the on stage live performer, actor Geoff Hoyle, to have room to create,” said Rodriguez.  

“Timing is everything when it comes to comedy and I based my sound effect choices with that in mind and I knew I was on the right track when my boss told me, ‘you might be upstaging the actor,'” she said.

DD