I have used boundary mics several times.  I don't dislike them, but I have some issues with them. Since all of our upcoming shows will be musicals with dancing, etc we are concerned about picking up the hard foot steps on the stage as well as the Orchestra. Also, the last time I used them, I had issues where the actors kept falling out of range every time they would turn while singing or walked away from the edge of the stage.

I had considered not using mics. But Proscenium Theaters are hard to project your voice in unless properly trained to do so. The Theater we use only has 500 seats, and the back of the house is probably no more than 50 feet from the stage... However, the stage is designed in such a way that the acoustics are pretty bad when trying to get your voice from one side of the proscenium to the other.

I'm sure that we will have to use some kind of mike system, and I really like the idea of each person having their own mike, but I mainly want the sound to be of the highest quality possible. I have been trying to find out how they do it in professional Theater, but can't really find much information about it.

To me, sound is probably the most important things. I can put up with less than great acting and singing... But only if I can actually hear it. I would rather use the Wireless because in the end, it's going to provide better sound than just mic's on the stage, with less interference and range problems. In the end, it might be more work to get it to work, but when it does work, I'm sure it will be worth the extra but of prep time and backstage help.

PS) I just found a type of mic called Crown PCC-160... Has any ever used these? How well do they work?

Thanks!

Really?  Since the area entering the audience is small than the stage itself, a great deal of sound is naturally going to be lost in the fly space & wings.

Of course, if you have a Proscenium Theater that is designed good, with sound bouncers installed that help deflect sound from those unwanted areas into the audience, then great. Thats NOT the case at the Theater we use.

Also, if we decide to do our shows at the IU Auditorium (3,157 seats), then some sort of Mic system is going to be required for all actors, as projection would be not impossible, but difficult for all but the most trained actors, which we usually don't have access too.

Thats from my experience anyway. Maybe I'm wrong though.

Not being a niose waller, i can't realy help with type of mike you found.

In the Community Theater I came from before starting this one, we used various different ways of getting sound. The last time I directed Annie (1 1/2 years ago) we used a mixture of Floor mics & Hanging mics (with major issues on actors going out of range). The other time I directed Annie (I've directed it twice) we didn't use any mics. HOWEVER, the "Theater" we were using then did not need mics, because it was so small (It was not really a Theater even). On Several other occasions we just used Floor mics (not the ones designed for such, just regular mics mounted on the floor), with very poor results.

The reason I'm so concerned about sound now is that I have never worked in a Theater as large as what we are probably going to be working in.

PS) The Orchestra "Pit", is not really a pit. The stage is elevated 3 foot and the "Orchestra Area" sits at the base of the stage, at the same level as the audience. Which I think is a pretty poor design, but thats just me.

We might still get to use the larger Theater though... I have meeting with them in a few weeks to see what we can work out. In which case we upgrade from the current 33' W x 16' D x 20' H Pros. with an 8' Fly space and no real orchestra pit to a fully equipped Theater with full Fly space, 100' Wide stage (55' within proscenium) which is also 40' D and 25' H at the Proscenium. Not to mention, they have a REAL orchestra pit.

Thanks

There is a point you will have to consider - Consumables!

You will probably use a 9 volt batteries per radio mike/performance. So see if you can do a promo deal with a battery distributor? Don't rely on the venue, as they will charge you possibly more than the normal retail price. Stay away from discount shops generic batteries in a pack. Always use a fresh battery/performance, which includes Dress & tech runs.