Designer Fitz Patton On Creating a New York Soundscape For THE HUMANS

New York isn't only a hellava town, it's a noisy one, too. Buildings have thin walls, windows open up to busy streets and half the time you don't know what it is you're hearing.

Such an atmosphere can be vital in realistically conveying the experience of everyday living in NYC. In Stephen Karam's The Humans, which will be moving to Broadway in January after completing its current Off-Broadway run at the Roundabout's Laura Pels Theater.

The production's sound designer, Fitz Patton, uses about 80 sound cues, which is considered a modest number. Aside from everyday audibles like a cell phone ring or a trash compactor's crunching, there are mysterious, imposing sounds that up the anxiety the characters are feeling as the play progresses.

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Photo: Joan Marcus

Scott Rudin and Barry Diller will bring the Roundabout Theatre Company production of Stephen Karam's much-raved-about new play,The Humans, to Broadway this season, following its smash-hit Off-Broadway engagement. Directed by Tony Award winner Joe Mantelloand featuring its entire acclaimed current Off-Broadway cast, The Humans will begin performances at Broadway's Helen Hayes Theatre (240 West 44th Street) on Saturday, January 23, 2016, and open officially on Thursday, February 18.

The ensemble cast, all of whom are featured in the current Off-Broadway production, includes Cassie Beck (Aimee), Reed Birney (Erik), Jayne Houdyshell (Deirdre) Lauren Klein (Fiona "Momo" Blake),Arian Moayed (Richard) and Sarah Steele (Brigid).

The angst, anguish and amity of the American middle class are first coaxed - then shoved - into the light in this uproarious, hopeful, and heart-breaking play that takes place over the course of a family dinner on Thanksgiving. Breaking with tradition, Erik Blake (Birney) has brought his Pennsylvania family to celebrate and give thanks at his daughter's apartment in lower Manhattan. As darkness falls outside the ramshackle pre-war duplex, and eerie things start to go bump in the night, the Blake clan's deepest fears and greatest follies are laid bare. Our modern age of anxiety is keenly observed, with humor and compassion, in this new American classic.

The creative team includes David Zinn (Sets), Sarah Laux (Costumes), Justin Townsend (Lighting) and Fitz Patton (Sound).

Tickets will be available, beginning on Friday, December 11, via Telecharge.com or by calling (212) 239-6200 / (800) 447-7400.

The Humans is Stephen Karam's second play commissioned by Roundabout Theatre Company, following his Pulitzer Prize finalist Sons of the Prophet (his first Roundabout commission; 2011) and the hugely acclaimed premiere ofSpeech & Debate (2007). Karam's work at Roundabout is a part of their New Play Initiative; a collection of programs designed to foster and produce new work by emerging and established artists.