Why Was Mary Martin Such a Big Star? - Now with Stage Miking Discussion — Page 3

Nobody Home has many interesting posts on the use of sound amplification in Broadway theatres. I started going to the theatre when I was 13 and the show was PETER PAN. Mary Martin was mesmerizing, especially when she was flying. Back then the pit orchestras were definitely not amplified; the sound was more natural. I don't recall voice amplification back then, but there may have been stage apron mikes--certainly no body mikes.

Through the years amplification has become the norm and often for the worst in my opinion. In RAGTIME, the female lead, Audra McDonald, who had a beautiful trained soprano, was so over-miked that the sound was distorted. What a waste of good talent. More recently, I saw GYPSY with Patti LuPone in May. LuPone has a big voice. So why was the ending of "Everything's Coming Up Roses" over-amplified, producing a screeching sound? That messed up ending spoiled my favorite song in the show.

On the other hand, artful sound design can be transparent so that it is un-noticeable. Two examples: I saw FOLLIES in London in what I consider to be a fine production. At intermission I went back to the sound booth to congratulate the sound men and marveled that even the pit orchestra had a slide switch for every separate instrument. But there was absolutely no distortion from any of the speakers in the theatre throughout the show. The second example is the current SOUTH PACIFIC. The sound design is the best I have ever heard, from the orchestra to the principals. If anything, Kelli O'Hara could have been a little louder. But better too little than too much. All that was necessary was to LISTEN carefully, something that theatregoers had to do in the past. It's really not that hard.

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Mamie, I definitely think we've forgotten how to listen. And unfortunately, miking (and over-miking) has conditioned us to think that if something isn't loud, we can't hear it.

(I think similarly that as a result of air conditioning, we think we're hot if we don't feel cold air blowing on us during the summer.)

But I also believe that there's simply been a deterioration in the distinction between public and private spaces. People go to the theater (or movies) and act like they're at home. They take their shoes off, answer their cell phones, talk at conversational levels. And then, generally, act offended if someone objects.

Legendary pit conductor Lehman Engel once became so angry at the talking that went on during the overture of his show that he brought the orchestra to a sudden stop, waited for the talking to die down, and then started the overture again from the top. Would that today's pit conductors follow Engel's example.

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Scripps, what a wonderful artifact (and a wonderful memory for your parents)!

Martin just doesn't seem to inspire the devotion that Merman does, does she?

Though why that should be I don't know.