Creating on-stage playback for Magic Mike
Project: Magic Mike - West End
Role: Playback and Midi Engineer
In 2019 I helped create the on-stage playback and midi solutions for the opening of Magic Mike in the West End. Yes, I met Channing. And yes, he is very cool in real life.
The Challenge
For this project, I had to build an ableton session and connect wireless midi for an MPC to be played in real-time with the music. Playback was in sync with the production and the MPC originally was outputting its own audio, but I changed it to only trigger midi notes on a drum rack in Live. The next challenge was for these midi notes to be recorded in the sequencer so it could be looped live. More midi mapping, ableton linking, and fine-tuning the master clock with Live made this possible. The sequence was a major part of the script, and achieving the fluency between performers and technology was a major achievement.
Technical Rehearsals, Magic Mike, London, 2018
The Result
The tech worked exactly as was intended. The whole thing turned out great – it was awesome to work in theatre again, and on something as fun as this show which has such a colourful history and legacy. An unforgettable experience and hands-down a real highlight.