What is the LOUDEST show you've ever seen?- Page 3

[Flahooley]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 12:09am

STARLIGHT EXPRESS in london. I needed an aspirin and cocktail at intermission.

[respeck]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 12:11am

The recent RENT tour. I was in the front row. AHH!!

[meggsison]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 12:13am

Okay, RENT has been increasing in loudness since it opened. Because I saw it in August and my ears were ringing after. They turn the mics up to the highest volume, I swear.

[Marlene]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 12:15am

BKLYN...I saw it closing night, and basically walked out with ringing ears. It didn't help that I was sitting relatively near a speaker.

[TLKfan]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 12:18am

Mamma Mia. At the beginning of the show the orchestra plays and if you are by the speaker then you definately jump out of your seats. Pretty funny.

[lfae]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 3:59am

I saw a production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show 2 years ago that gave me a headache, it was so loud.

Posted: 6/2/06 at 9:58am

Eddie Fisher at the Winter Garden...people often asked to have the sound turned down but Fisher wouldn't allow it.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 10:02am

Hairspray
Jersey Boys
Little Shop of Horrors(the revival was very loud)

[EverythingIsRENT]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 10:02am

if it's too loud, you're TOO old!

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 10:30am

The Jesus Christ Superstar national tour with Ted Neely. That was excruciatingly loud. Even if it was quieter, it still would have been excruciating. It was the worst production of JCS I've ever seen. Everything about it was painful.

[Lome2]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 10:59am

"We Will Rock You" and "Bat Boy" (both from London)

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 11:59am

TOMMY: I remember being very scared. I was 10.

BROOKLYN: Wow, ringing ears is right.

TARZAN: Unnecessarily loud and over-amplified...I left with a migraine.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 12:00pm

Starlight Express

[philcrosby]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 1:00pm

The tour of RENT. Yikes.

[uncageg]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 1:04pm

The first National tour of RENT in Denver. Way too loud. But a damned good show!

[Calvin]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 1:07pm

Caroline-Q, we could so unite and form a support group over our hatred of that Starlight Express tour.

[Jade]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 1:34pm

Rent in the West End. The first time I saw it, I was in the circle. Apparently the theatre had some sound problems up there so they overcompensated by turning the speakers up to the highest level, the result being it was so loud it was painful.

Every other time I've seen it (in England and on Broadway), it's been fine. I don't know if the shows themselves were quieter or if I just got used to it, though.

[emg_sound]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 1:45pm

Hot Feet was painfully loud... I should know, I brought my dB meter and measured that in the last row of the house, the mix was peaking at around 104 dB "a" weighted, my biggest complaint was there was absolutely no definition in the low end, other mixes (Tarzan comes to mind) were just as loud (Hovering within the 90's), but not nearly as offensive due to a tightness in the mix.

I think that this discussion needs more objectivity, right now people are just saying that a show is loud to them as individuals... is anyone else a geek like me and keeps a dB meter handy when they stumble into broadway shows? There are so many factors when dealing with sound and the concept of "Loudness" read the perception of what we hear as opposed to strict sonic intensity (For example, the intensity for us to hear in the mid-range of frequencies much lower than that at the low and high range [do a google search for the fletcher-munson curves]). Just a bit of food for thought.

[Sant]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 3:59pm

STARLIGHT EXPRESS and MAMMA MIA!, both in London.

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 6:00pm

The loudest shows I've ever seen were the original production of STARLIGHT EXPRESS in London and the original production of THE WIZ in NYC. They were painful experiences.

The real reason I wanted to respond was to mention the whole problem of amplification of Broadway shows of the past 25 years. During the so called golden age of musicals (1940's-1960's) amplification was either non existent or minimal. Stars and choruses alike knew how to project both while speaking and singing, and audiences were supposed to listen attentively. The result was a natural sound that was so much more pleasing than the "Broadway Sound" of today.I was appalled that a singer of Audra McDonald's talent was so over miked in RAGTIME. She needed no amplification at all. The one show that I have seen that was carefully amplified was the London production of FOLLIES in the 1980's. The most recent show that I saw was DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRALS and there the tinny sounding speakers that the sound was coming from spoiled things for me.

One person earlier remarked that if one finds the sound too loud then he must be too old. Other responders have commented that at least the sound of today's Theatre is not as loud as a rock concert. Well, Theatre is not a rock concert. (I must be too old; I've never even been to a rock concert!)Bring back the good old sound of the past.

[me3]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 6:41pm

IF YOU PEOPLE THINK MAMMA MIA AND TARZAN ARE LOUD YOU MUST HAVE NOT SEEN MANY SHOWS...

[theaterlover45]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 7:23pm

The revival of Sweet Charity was really loud.(at some parts)

[Over the Moon]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 7:28pm

Rent....wow

[JerseyScoundrel]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 7:29pm

JERSEY BOYS! Although, its very well done.

[wickedobsessed]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 7:42pm

RENT.