It’s not very often I get the privilege of working with two separate individuals from another country, but earlier this month Elom Eklou contacted Tesco Productions inquiring about a short session to record vocals. It turns out he is from Togo, West Africa – the same nation as Kofi Doujadhi (story last month). Elom had been sent a track that needed his vocal parts added so the song could be finished actually in a third country. Elom did a nice job with parts both in English and Ewe (native language of Togo), and upon completion his renditions were off to Germany for finally assembly. The production world is being connected more and more with some collaborations coming together from hemispheres apart. I continue to appreciate the opportunity to come alongside these artists and creatives to be a part of their lives and creations.

Last month I reported that Kofi Douhadji was back at Tesco Productions recording his second audio book “Tiny Sparks”. All the text recording was completed by the middle of this month, and then I spent a very full week being part of the Annie Jr. presentation (prior Tesco Productions story post). Since the presentation I’ve been editing the content and sending it to Kofi for review. I’m about halfway through that process now and we have targeted my role being completed by the end of May.

Fan your tiny sparks into flames that will warm, light and fire you and those you touch.

I made sure to finish the music production for the MKS Studio Vivace Choir’s song “Jesus, Thank You” (now being synced to the video recording) so as to be ready for the week of April 15th as I and quite a number of other tech, set, stage, directors, facilitators and most importantly – actors spent much time preparing and presenting Annie Jr. at the Marion High School theater. The presentation was one small part of the educational opportunities at MKS Studio. It was obvious that much time had been spent learning choreography, lines, staging and performing. The shows on Friday evening and Saturday matinee and evening were all very well done.

My role was primarily supporting my friend Allyn in setting up the audio and interfacing with the theater’s system for the 20+ mics and soundtrack playback. Allyn certainly did the bulk of the pre-work of programming each scene after a thorough analysis and mapping of the miking needs at each point in the musical. I also extended scene transition music, communicated with backstage and even ran the spotlight for part of one scene (my total career as a spotlight operator thus far), and in general kept an eye open for roles of facilitating the success of the week. It had been a few years since I’d been involved in a theater production, and I was reminded that I really do enjoy it and appreciated the opportunity of being included. Hats off to MKS Studio and everyone involved in sharing the heart-warming story of Annie Jr.