Cue to Q
Australian Sound Designer || Shelly Lee
Shelly Lee is the reason your favourite musicals here in Australia such as make you cry (this is my own personal description of her work). As is the nature of backstage work you may not recognise her but here in Australia she is the force behind Hadestown, Back to the Future, Beetlejuice, Phantom of the Opera (inside and outside), Miss Saigon, Anastasia, Tina the Tina Turner Musical and so many more. Getting to speak with Shelly on an episode has been a goal since the podcast was a concept and I am so endlessly grateful she agreed to sit down and chat. Selfishly, I wanted the chance to hear all about her career working as an associate on some of Australia's biggest musicals, her work all over the world with Phantom of the Opera, how she applied her knowledge of the show to sound design the Phantom of the Opera OUTSIDE for Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour and where a career like this starts in the beginning. I have been so incredibly fortunate to work very closely with Shelly for the last few years, she has been one of my greatest mentors and to get the opportunity to pick her brain not only about a job many people have such little knowledge on but how she takes something so technical and makes it an emotional keystone within the story telling of these shows was very very special. PLEASE NOTE: This is the first time I have taken Cue to Q out of a studio, in order to make it easier to sit down with people who may not have the time to go into a studio but who I can grab for an hour during a transfer or while in the same city. I will continue to work on improving the quality of the episodes done this way, please forgive the natural sun being my greatest enemy in this and any inconsistencies that are present because of this. Filmed on Wurundjeri land. Welcome to Cue to Q. An opportunity to shine a light on those who work in the dark to bring incredible stories to stages across Australia and beyond through conversations with crew members in the Australian entertainment industry. Pulling back the curtain on the mysteries of the backstage world, what positions are, what they mean, the experiences of touring and studying and much more.
