Maxine R. Gutierrez
Audio Engineer | Broadway
New York City, NY
An electrical engineering graduate of Penn State, with interests rooted in music and arts, Max started her career working as a studio intern at The Clubhouse. There, she worked on projects in various genres, with artists and producers - independent and mainstream - gaining experience in the recording studio, through digital and analogue formats. Concurrently, Max also worked at a children’s amusement park. From technician through managerial roles, she received a wealth of experience in leading and supporting a team, from day-to-day performances to park-wide theater maintenance, including props, sets, wardrobe, and parade floats. Additionally, she certified as a Class I Safety Inspector through Pennsylvania Ride & Safety, ensuring safe practices and regulation knowledge for employee and patron alike.
Max began touring as a sound engineer in 2007 - playing all fifty states and internationally to Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Japan, Panama, and Venezuela. While on-the-road, she was offered her first contract on Broadway. So she left the touring life in Tokyo and moved to New York City, presenting new challenges - Broadway and a commute (instead of constant traveling). After mixing the entire run of the Tony-nominated, King Charles III at the Music Box, she covered the mix at The Color Purple, which won the Tony for Best Musical Revival. Max, then, returned to the junkyard at the recent revival of CATS, at the Neil Simon Theatre, rounding out her total to almost 1400 performances of CATS. Max, then, took over as A1 on Tony-winning revival, Once on this Island, presented in-the-round at Circle In the Square. After her time on the Island, Max returned to the Music Box, mixing the Tony Award-winning, Dear Evan Hansen. In Broadway’s return from the pandemic hiatus, Max moved on to open and production mix her first original Broadway musical - MJ: the Musical, back at the Neil Simon Theatre - which went on to win 4 Tony’s in 2022, including Best Sound Design. During her run on MJ, Max took a short leave of absence to lead up the Broadway premiere of a one-person A Christmas Carol, starring Jefferson Mays, designed by Joshua Reid, and winning the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Sound Design. After mixing MJ from development through its first year+, Max moved to The Lion King as Assistant Sound and mix cover at The Minskoff on Broadway.
Outside of the theater, Max also mentors through Open Stage Project and speaks to students through universities and organizations such as Penn State, Pace University, and USITT.
“even the sound — often an issue at the Fox — was spot-on opening night.”
“...whether liturgical sweep or Piazzolla-slanted rhythms, both onstage and in the pit, aided by sound designer Mick Potter’s clear-cut miking and mixing.”
“Musicians are always the unseen characters underneath the stage, but their sound raises them up.”
“Bottom line, this “Evita” looks and sounds like a million dollars.”
