PROFILE
Bobby Smale
By Andrew King
Bobby Smale has worked on a wide variety of productions in a wide variety of venues , from some of Canada ’ s best-known theatres to challenging remote environments . And in fact , the accomplished sound and lighting designer says that it ’ s working to overcome such unique challenges that keeps him passionate about his career .
Born , raised , and still based in Edmonton , AB , Smale ’ s path to a career in theatre would seem natural considering his upbringing . “ I was very much exposed to the arts growing up ,” he begins . “ My grandmother was a music teacher and a company member for the Edmonton Opera and even an orchestra musician when she was younger .”
Smale attended Edmonton ’ s prestigious Victoria School of the Arts during his secondary years and tried his hand at various creative disciplines . In the 10 th grade , he volunteered to work backstage for a visiting theatre production – which became the norm for the remainder of his stint there .
“ I really didn ’ t think it would lead to anything like this [ at the time ],” he admits , “ but that was my first exposure , and while I was working at the theatre there – it ’ s a 700-seat theatre right in the school – we worked on all kinds of things and started to experiment with wireless microphones and cool tech .”
After high school , he took a year away from the stage but , during that time , the itch crept back . Ultimately , he decided to enroll in the theatre production program at Edmonton ’ s Grant MacEwan College ( now University ) and immersed himself into his craft , making contacts and bolstering his technical know-how .
Out of school , he took jobs as a house audio technician at different theatres and venues in and around Edmonton and also began touring with various acts and productions , from bands to folk dance groups to musical theatre troupes and beyond .
His first foray into sound design came in 2004 . At the time , he says , productions would hire musicians or musical directors to compose and record music ; sound design as a career wasn ’ t nearly as common , so he would more often be credited as an audio technician or consultant .
“ The first time I was formally credited as a sound designer was going back to MacEwan as a freelancer to design shows and mentor students in operating them ,” he recalls , and that was something of a springboard into his current career .
He began working in a similar capacity at his other alma mater , Victoria School , which had grown into productions using 24 channels of wireless and eight- to 12-piece bands with students behind the consoles .
His résumé grew quickly in the subsequent years . In 2005 , for Alberta ’ s Centennial celebrations , he was the assistant technical director at Commonwealth Stadium for the Queen ’ s visit . He toured with a cultural mission funded by the provincial government that brought musical artists from diverse genres to places all over the province .
A career highlight was designing sound for a Vancouver and subsequent touring production of The Black Rider : The Casting of the Magic Bullets – the “ musical fable ” created by original director Robert Wilson , musician Tom Waits , and writer William S . Burroughs . Following that , he also began collaborating with Edmonton ’ s high-art Catalyst Theatre and then the Edmonton Opera , designing sound for operettas that combined musical theatre and opera singers in unique hybrid performances .
Most recently , he ’ s taken on productions at Edmonton ’ s iconic Citadel Theatre , including a 2016 production of Bitter Girl , The Musical and spring 2017 production of Peter and the Starcatcher . This summer , as part of the robust nationwide Canada 150 celebrations , he designed sound for one of two original productions of The Dream Catchers . One was staged outdoors at Charlottetown ' s Confederation Centre of the Arts , facing the historic Province House , and the other toured the country until , partway through the summer , they switched , all as part of the Charlottetown Festival ’ s 2017 program .
Smale says that , throughout his career , one ongoing challenge has been balancing timelines with expectations . “ That ’ s always the thing ,” he shares candidly – “ managing a production ’ s expectations and using whatever the allotted time may be to deliver the best possible results .”
He ’ ll be straddling that line on some exciting upcoming projects , including the comic opera H . M . S . Pinafore at the Northern
Alberta Jubilee Auditorium in February 2018 , featuring a full orchestra uniquely positioned underneath an onstage balcony . His hurdle will be designing a PA solution that avoids a potential bandshell effect onstage . Then , he ’ ll be working in the audio department on the Citadel Theatre production of Anaïs Mitchell ’ s heralded Hadestown .
Having recently attended a weeklong seminar with Merlijn Van Veen on sound system and speaker design , he should be refreshed and reinvigorated to take on such challenges .
And when seeking a respite from theatre work altogether , Smale spends time on his rather unique hobby : building custom cigar box guitars and other instruments . “ I was laid up with an injury for awhile , so what started as cigar box guitars has expanded from there ,” he shares . A particularly cool offering among the over 30 he ’ s built thus far ? The three-string “ shotgun bass ,” dubbed Prairie Thunder , with an actual shotgun barrel as its neck and real shells used for control knobs .
After a busy but successful 2017 , Smale is looking forward to what 2018 has in store , ready to lend his expertise to a myriad of productions in different places and different venues . Whatever may be in store , he ’ s excited for the challenge and always happy to add new accomplishments to his ever-growing list of credits .
Andrew King is the Editor-in-Chief of Professional Sound .
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