Gareth Owen (sound designer)

Gareth John Owen was born in Sheffield, United Kingdom, a son of two teachers,[1] both of whom specialised in special needs education. At the age of nine the family, now including a younger sister, moved to the Cayman Islands where Owen attended Cayman Islands Middle School, while nurturing a life-long love of the ocean. Upon returning to the UK the family, missing the warm weather and sea air, moved to St. Ives in Cornwall where Owen attended both Mounts Bay School and Penwith Sixth Form College before heading to Plymouth University in Plymouth, to study for a bachelor's degree in underwater science.

At various points, Owen has worked as a grocery packer, marina fuel attendant, milkman, Quasar attendant, commercial boatman, pool lifeguard, thai-boxing instructor, and beach lifeguard. He also worked extensively in nightclubs as a lighting jockey, doorman, disc jockey, promoter and production manager.

Owen initially began working in live sound when the Penzance nightclub he was working at started to present live bands which Owen was asked to mix. From here he secured work with Birmingham's SSE Audio Group[2] which lead to an early career in rock & roll, working at festivals such as Glastonbury, Reading, Party in the Park, and T4 on the Beach; and mixing acts such as Def Leppard, The Stereophonics, B B King, The Spice Girls and The Rolling Stones.

Owens theatre career began in earnest when he was invited to mix musical The Blues Brothers which was running at what is now the Trafalgar Studios in Londons west end. About this time, Owen is quoted as saying in an interview "I didn't have a lot of money so I bought a tent and lived in the bands garden".[3] From here he was offered a job as sound designer for the UK tour of Stephen Schwartz' musical Godspell, beginning a collaboration which would continue until the present day.[4] From here, Owen went on to design a number of shows in a freelance capacity (notably Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show and Cole Porters High Society), before joining London's Orbital Sound as a full-time sound designer.[5] In late 2009, Owen parted ways with Orbital Sound and set out to form his own company, Gareth Owen Sound.[6]

Since 2010, Owen has worked directly with many of the world's greatest living composers, including Alan Menken, Andrew Lloyd Webber,[7] Stephen Schwartz, Björn Ulvaeus, Glen Ballard, Max Martin, David Bryan, George Stiles, Alan Silvestri and Stephen Sondheim.[8] Owen has also worked extensively creating musicals based on the music of pop icons such as Michael Jackson, Donna Summer, and The Beatles;[9] and is a regular collaborator with many top directors including Robert De Niro, Christopher Ashley, Jerry Zaks, Des McAnuff, Laurence Connor, Christopher Wheeldon, Terry Johnson, Scott Schwartz, Michael Arden and Sir Trevor Nunn.[10]

Owen has worked as sound designer on the following Broadway productions[11] in New York City:

• MJ: The Musical, (original creative), Neil Simon Theater (est. 2021)[12]
• Diana, (original creative), Longacre Theater (2020)
• Summer, (original creative), Lunt Fontaine Theater (2018)
• Come From Away, (original creative), Schoenfeld Theater (2017)
• A Bronx Tale, (original creative), Longacre Theater (2016)
• Spring Awakening, Brooks Atkinson Theater (2015)
• Let it Be, (original creative), St. James Theater (2013)
• End of the Rainbow, (original creative), Belasco Theater (2012)
• A Little Night Music, Walter Kerr Theater (2009)

Owen has worked as sound designer on the following West End productions[13] in London:

• Back to the Future, (original creative), London (est. 2021)
• Cinderella, (original creative), Gillian Lynne Theatre (est. 2021)
• Prince of Egypt, (original creative), Dominion Theatre (2020)
• & Juliet, (original creative), Shaftesbury Theatre (2019)
• Mamma Mia! the Party, (original creative), O2 Arena (2019)
• Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Palladium Theatre (2019)
• Strictly Ballroom, (original creative), Piccadilly Theatre (2017)
• Bat Out of Hell, (original creative), Coliseum Theatre (2017)
• Young Frankenstein, Garrick Theatre (2017)
• 42nd Street, Drury Lane Theatre (2017)
• Wind in the Willows, (original creative), Palladium Theatre (2016)
• Mrs Henderson Presents, (original creative), Noël Coward Theatre (2015)
• In the Heights, Charing Cross Theatre (2015)
• Memphis, Shaftesbury Theatre (2014)
• I Can't Sing, (original creative), Palladium Theatre (2014)
• Merrily We Roll Along, Comedy Theatre (2013)
• Let it Be, (original creative), Prince of Wales Theatre (2012)
• Top Hat, (original creative), Aldwych Theatre (2011)
• Woman in Black, Fortune Theatre (2010)
• End of the Rainbow, (original creative), Trafalgar Studios (2010)
• Fame, Shaftesbury Theatre (2010)
• Sweet Charity, Haymarket Theatre (2009)
• A Little Night Music, Garrick Theatre (2008)
• La Cage Aux Follies, Playhouse Theatre (2008)
• Carousel, Savoy Theatre (2008)
• Fiddler on the Roof, Savoy Theatre (2007)
• Little Shop of Horrors, Duke of Yorks Theatre (2007)
• Footloose, Novello Theatre (2006)
• High Society, Shaftesbury Theatre (2005)
• The Big Life, (original creative), Apollo Theatre (2005)

Owen has worked as sound designer on the following productions around the world:

• Starlight Express Bochum,[14] Germany (2018)
• Clueless, (original creative), Signature Theater, Off-Broadway (2018)
• The Secret Garden, The Lincoln Center, New York (2017)
• Schikaneder, (original creative) Vienna (2016)
• Bodyguard, Netherlands (2015)
• Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame, (original creative), worldwide, (2014)
• Moeder ik wil bij de revue, (original creative), Netherlands (2014)
• Disney's Beauty & The Beast worldwide (2014)
• Disney's The Little Mermaid worldwide (2012)
• Sister Act (2011)
• Hairspray (2010)
• High School Musical Two, (original creative) (2009)
• Flashdance, (original creative) (2009)

In 2009, Owen joined a steering committee that would eventually go on to form the Association of Sound Designers[15] – an organisation that eventually went on to represent the majority of sound engineers working in British theatre. He served as a full committee member for the maximum possible term of five years, from 2012 to 2018.[16]

Owen collects the Olivier Award for Best Sound Design at the 2019 Olivier Awards

• Official site
• Gareth Owen at the Internet Broadway Database
• Association of Sound Designers
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