Chris Luessmann – Bio
I am a freelance sound designer living in New York City and designing sound for plays and musicals around the world. I grew up with a love of theatre; as a young boy I attended Drama Camp where I first learned to perform on stage and mix sound for musicals. I remember mixing my first musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, after that experience, I was hooked. In addition to performing, I spent my early years learning theatre design disciplines including lighting and projection design, but found designing and mixing sound felt like being on stage, because meticulously blending the actors and the orchestra and mixing live performance feels like I am also performing.
As I grew as a theatre artist, I settled at La Jolla Playhouse and worked there as a sound designer, mixer, and supervisor for nearly twenty years. Recently I have focused on my career as an A1 mixing sound for Broadway musicals like Come From Away at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, and Back to the Future: The Musical at The Winter Garden Theatre. While I have enjoyed success mixing sound and being design adjacent, I am pivoting to making sound design my priority again.
I have an MFA in Theater with an emphasis in Sound Design from the University of California San Diego and a BA in Theatre from UCLA. I have designed extensively for: La Jolla Playhouse, Moonlight Amphitheater, The Actor’s Studio, InterAct, Lambs Players, Miracle Theatre Productions, Cygnet Theatre, and North Coast Rep where I won awards for my design work.
I have also mixed concerts and corporate events: Jackson Browne, Tom Curren, Eddie Vedder, Ralph Stanley, Nickel Creek, Dan Zanes and Friends, and Switchfoot. My volunteer work includes Ronald McDonald House Charities, and enviro-friendly sound and staging to benefit StandUp For Kids.
My favorite Theatrical Sound Designs include: Billy Crystal’s 700 Sundays, The Darrell Hammond Project, and Alice Chan (La Jolla Playhouse.) The Third Story (MCC Theatre.) The Rocky Horror Show (Cygnet Theatre.) Invierno (PCPA Theatrefest.) Long Story Short (San Diego Rep.) Dracula and A Christmas Carol, for which I won Patte Awards; Baby, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Jaques Brel is Alive and Well…, The Tempest, Educating Rita, Henry IV Part I, and Voice of the Prairie (North Coast Rep.) Das Barbecü, Too Old for the Chorus, and Forbidden Broadway SVU (Theater in Old Town.) Sweeney Todd, My Fair Lady, The Wizard of Oz (SD Critic’s Circle Award,) Les Miserables, Little Shop of Horrors, Shrek The Musical (Moonlight Stage Productions.) South Pacific (Lambs Players.)
Contact:
Email: ChrisLuessmann@gmail.com
Tel: 858-531-6546