It feels rude to say that the only time most of us think of a show’s sound engineer is when something goes wrong on stage: microphone not brought up in time, ear-bleeding feedback, or just general sound chaos where the mix is all over the place.

But there was something quite special about the sound in the New Zealand Premiere of Showbiz’s Come From Away, as you can read about in this mid-season review: “The big company numbers were a true highlight, as the multiple harmonies blended beautifully with the power of the Richard Marrett-led band, and amplified perfectly by the sound team (Glen Ruske/Eve Curzon).”

In my two-decades worth of show reviews, I would say sound has rarely been mentioned, and if it was it possibly wouldn’t have been truly complimentary, but in Come From Away the sound was something else.

Designed by head of BounceNZ Glen Ruske and operated nightly by Bounce sound engineer Eve Curzon, they may just be a dream duo.

But it’s Curzon I was interested to know more about – a name unknown to me, but very well known on London’s West End theatre scene – especially after watching a video of her working the opening number on Come From Away.

 

Being able to see an engineer work so masterfully on a sound desk is rare, watching their hands move in perfect cohesion with the cast and band. It’s probably not something many of us have even thought about. I certainly haven’t.

I caught up with Curzon at the Isaac Theatre Royal, several hours before curtains up. With Come From Away just a day away from closing, she was already working on her next project, pre-programming and learning her next show.

Curzon emigrated to New Zealand 18 months ago, on a skilled migrant’s visa sponsored by BounceNZ. Although based in their Auckland office, Curzon travels all over the country for her job.

“I’ve always been musical. I’ve played an instrument since I was tiny. Started on the recorder, and worked my way up to clarinet, sax and everything like that, and it’s given me a great base to then put that into the more technical side of sound,” Curzon said.

“You can teach someone to mix a show, technically, and put the faders in at the right time, but teaching someone the musicality and dynamics is a lot easier if they’ve got a musical ear, which I’m very lucky to have,” Curzon said.

“I’ve had a massive love of theatre since I was very young, thanks to my parents, my mother in particular. Her father was an actor, so she grew up in the theatre world and I went to my first musical when I was about eight – Starlight Express in London, which just blew my tiny mind, so that’s where my love of musicals started,” she said.

Curzon was fortunate enough to attend a high school where studio-based sound was offered as a subject, so opting to do a Degree in Technical Theatre at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, specialising in sound, was a natural move.

Curzon’s first job was in-house venue tech at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre, with her first musical theatre gig coming two years later with the 2012 UK tour of The Phantom of the Opera.

“That tour was amazing and that’s where I started to learn how to mix a show. Getting your foot in the door is the hard bit in the UK, but I was lucky enough that somebody came to Sheffield to mix a show we did, and he let me have a go at mixing and then recommended me for the Phantom tour.”

Curzon has worked solidly on shows since that tour, including long-standing gigs on London’s West End as deputy head of sound for both Les Misérables, Phantom, School of Rock and Miss Saigon among others.

She chose to move to New Zealand on a skilled migrant’s visa for a fresh challenge, bringing such a wealth of experience with her – and having family members already residing here also aided her decision.

“I had visited a couple of times before and just fell in love with this country. I contacted Glen Ruske at BounceNZ and it all went from there. I was incredibly lucky. It was very good timing,” Curzon said.

Ruske said, “When we talked on the phone, there was a good mutual connection. We engaged a company that sorts visas, and a couple of months later I was picking her up from the airport here in Auckland.”

“It’s been great having Eve here as we had a couple of gaps to fill post Covid, and she has fitted in like she’s been here for years,” he said.

Ruske credits Curzon’s years-long contracts on different West End shows as a benefit for musical theatre in New Zealand.

“I think as a soundie, you must have a natural ear for mixing, and then you need the right temperament for mixing theatre shows. You need to focus for 120 minutes, turning microphones up and down for every line that is spoken, and adjusting on-the-fly for actors changing their inflections night-to-night. Eve has had many years of doing this every night, whereas in little old New Zealand we do a season of a couple of months, then there’s no show for another couple of months, then you might have a couple of weeks of a show again,” Ruske said.

Once Come From Away wraps this Saturday night, Curzon is back home to her Auckland base before heading to Blenheim for three weeks for a run of Footloose.

“Having been statically living in London for the past 10 years, it’s really weird now because I’m moving around so much, but I’m seeing so much of the country, and it’s great, because it’s a beautiful country to see. It’s really starting to feel like home,” Curzon said.