Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: Dreamgirls Mics

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   Hello everyone.

The community theatre that I work for will be producing Dreamgirls in March.  We are putting a great deal of money into the production and we have found a collection of stand microphones from the 60's and 70's that work.

At first, we were just going to use them for show, and have the actors sing into them but they would be using their body mics and not the actual microphone.  However the further along we have moved with the design process the more the director wants to look at actually having the stand microphones work.

I crewed a production of Buddy Holly at a regional theatre a couple of years ago and I remember it being a disaster when they tried using real microphones.  There were mic cords running all over the place, and we had to untangle them every night.

So, has anyone tried this before, does it work well?  Any tips or ideas?  How do you keep it so the sound board operator knows which mic their using?  I sort of like the idea, but I don't want it to become a safety issue with cords running all over the place, or have extremely long blackouts so that we can get mics hooked up.

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tech_director Star Joined: 10/19/08 Online Status: Offline Posts: 53	Topic: Dreamgirls Mics Posted: 10/19/08 at 4:23pm
	Hello everyone. The community theatre that I work for will be producing Dreamgirls in March. We are putting a great deal of money into the production and we have found a collection of stand microphones from the 60's and 70's that work. At first, we were just going to use them for show, and have the actors sing into them but they would be using their body mics and not the actual microphone. However the further along we have moved with the design process the more the director wants to look at actually having the stand microphones work. I crewed a production of Buddy Holly at a regional theatre a couple of years ago and I remember it being a disaster when they tried using real microphones. There were mic cords running all over the place, and we had to untangle them every night. So, has anyone tried this before, does it work well? Any tips or ideas? How do you keep it so the sound board operator knows which mic their using? I sort of like the idea, but I don't want it to become a safety issue with cords running all over the place, or have extremely long blackouts so that we can get mics hooked up.

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lsturdivant Walk-On Joined: 3/25/05 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Posted: 10/19/08 at 8:22pm
	I used stand mics when I did "Forever Plaid". Rehearsing not just with holding the mics, but working with the cords from early on in the process, helped identify any problem areas. We worked keeping the cords from being a tangled mess into the blocking. It was an extra logistical step that at times became confusing, but it was worth the effort. Also, we did not have cords running across the stage but off the apron. Our sound board operator didn't have any trouble keeping track of which mics were being used. I don't know how he did it. I was thinking that it might be possible to color code the mics with a band on the cord. The audience probably wouldn't even notice. Linda
	Linda
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skyguy Walk-On Joined: 1/26/08 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Posted: 10/21/08 at 12:52pm
	I don't really see the point of the whole thing. If they are already mic'd using lav mics, stand mics would be redundant. If you want a different "sound", you could just tweak the EQ when they are supposing to on the stand mics. Seems like a lot of work (and just one more thing to go wrong) for what seems like zero gain. Theater is all about illusion... it doesn't matter which mic they use as long as they are heard.
	Can I have some more talent in the monitors please?
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