Here's what San Diego theater critics
are saying about M. Scott Grabau.

PRESS

In 2006 my design work was featured in the arts section of the San Diego Union Tribune. Click here to read the article.

REVIEWS

Voice of the Prairie
North Coast Repertory Theater

“The lighting is also subtle, and effective in evoking just the right mood. Whether it is the campfire or a sunset we are having illuminated for us, it is real. The dark parlor of a blind woman is a powerful reminder that Frankie does have a lack of physical vision, although no lack of vision of spirit.”

Kathleen Downs
SD Theater Scene

Cat On A Hot Tin Roof
Cygnet Theater

“M. Scott Grabau's sound design is so exceptionally detailed you can hear the rattling of shower curtain rings along the rod in an unseen shower stall.”

Pam Kragen
North County Times

“M. Scott Grabau’s outstanding sound design features the hum of the outdoors, the shrieks and taunts of children, the crash of a thunderstorm, all echoing the turbulence inside.”

Pat Launer
San Diego Theater Scene

“M. Scott Grabau's sound design is rich. The music choices complement, but don't intrude on the action. His preshow effects, as well as those throughout the play, move the plot and the dialog. At one point a thunder and lightning storm builds as the passions inside the mansion become ever more intense.”

Robert Hitchcox
Hitchcox On Line

Biederman and the Firebugs
Cygnet Theater

“M. Scott Grabau's Looney Tunes sound effects and Eric Lotze's lighting and projections add to the play's goofy flair.”

Pam Kragen
North County Times

“M. Scott Grabau’s sound design is even more creative: from the recordings of Weimar-era music used to set the mood (some of which sound like re-creations from Frisch’s time) to the brilliant surround-sound effects used in the play’s most tense moments, everything we hear adds to the overall mood and power of Frisch’s script.”

Mark Gabrish Conlan
Zenger's Newsmagazine

“M. Scott Grabau did an outstanding job with the sound effects and various backgrounds.”

Robert Hitchcox
Hitchcox On Line

Communicating Doors
Cygnet Theater

“M. Scott Grabau's sound, as usual, gives dimension to the production.”

Robert Hitchcox
Hitchcox On Line

Dracula
North Coast Repertory Theater

“The lighting (M. Scott Grabau) turns from shadowy and obscure to blood-red.”

Pat Launer
San Diego Theater Scene

Mourning Becomes Electra
UCSD Department of Theater

“Jennifer Anderson's costumes are appropriate to the period and to the characters, while M. Scott Grabau's lighting contributes to the intimidating atmosphere.”

Bill Fark
North County Times

“Sterling acting from top to bottom and artful direction by Suzanne Agins, amidst Patrick Larsen’s exquisite sets, M. Scott Grabau’s magnificent lighting, and Jennifer Anderson’s beautiful costumes, combine to create an extraordinary evening of tragic theatre.”

Rob Hopper
San Diego Playbill

The Smell of the Kill
North Coast Repertory Theater

“Chris Rynne’s lighting and M.Scott Grabau’s sound design (especially the floor-rattling pounding of ‘the guys’) are quite effective.”

Pat Launer
San Diego Theater Scene

The Curse of the Starving Class
Cygnet Theater

“But the suggestive, working kitchen (set design by Cygnet’s Sean Murray) is excellently enhanced by the evocative sound design (M. Scott Grabau) and lighting (Eric Lotze). We truly see/hear/feel/smell Shepard’s gritty, rustic America. And it isn’t a pretty picture.”

Pat Launer
San Diego Theater Scene

“Eric Lotze's lighting isolates or dapples characters lost in memory or fantasy, while sound designer M. Scott Grabau turns a symbolically empty old refrigerator into a voice-altering machine whenever these emotionally starving characters open that fridge door.”

Anne Marie Welsh
San Diego Union Tribune

Thoroughly Modern Millie
Moonlight Amphitheater

“The 17-piece orchestra (under O’Donnell’s direction), provides robust musical support, and the sound system/design, under the aegis of the ever-reliable M. Scott Grabau, is thankfully first-rate.”

Pat Launer
San Diego Theater Scene

Long Story Short
San Diego Repertory Theater

“M. Scott Grabau provided exceptional lighting that changed the look and feel of the spartan set in an instant (Mr. Grabau's lighting also made possible smooth transitions during the many times that the script jumped in time).”

Bill Eadie
SanDiego.com

Back to Bacharach and David
North Coast Repertory Theater

“And Marty Burnett's geometrically patterned set is given a near endless variety of looks with M. Scott Grabau's colorful lighting design.”

Pam Kragen
North County Times

Ain’t Misbehavin’
San Diego Repertory Theater

“The excellent band consisted of, besides their pianist director JMichael, bass fiddler Kevin Cooper, M’tafiti Imara on various woodwinds, and percussionist Danny King – all well served by M. Scott Grabau’s sound design.”

George Weinberg-Harter
SanDiego.com