"If for some reason a cable was pulled, resulting in the mics going dead, putting the cable back into the hot system could blow a few speakers if the levels were correct. Resulting in hearing damage for the audience as well as thousands of dollars of destroyed equipment" Yes, and that would be why no one would do that. You don't as much as plug in a headset without warning others before you do it. Regardless, the scenario you describe doesn't warrant stopping the show, but rather temporarily killing the sound so the cable can be safely re-plugged, or rerouting. No safety issue, no need to stop the show. When was the last time you heard of hundreds getting hearing damage as the result of a Broadway show's sound system?
"Whoever said they don't normally stop shows due to sound obviously knows bugger all about the theatre. Ive done many shows through previews when the show has been stopped due to sound cutting out, levels been incorrect etc." You mean I've learned "bugger all" in my 30 years working on Broadway?
Imagine my chagrin. Why be insulting about it? All I'd said was that I'd never heard of it before. It hasn't happened in my experience. I've had many, many shows stopped due to automation issues, some because of an actor's injury or sudden illness, and of course, medical emergencies in the audience, but never once for sound. Just lucky, I guess. Obviously, the situation miss pennywise describes would appear to be a major sound board or rack failure, a sound problem which did require that the show be stopped.
What I don't understand why a show would be stopped, even in previews, because the sound levels were "incorrect". That is something easily adjustable from the sound board, and in fact, is the reason for the sound mixers existence. Absolutely no reason to stop the show for that. If an individual's mic is cutting out, stage management will have a deck audio person waiting offstage to replace it the moment the actor comes offstage.
It happens frequently, particularly in heavy dance shows when mics get sweated out, and the change can be made often in under a minute. Many lead characters are often double-miked to avoid even that scenario. One mic fails, you simply switch to the other. If everybody's mics are cutting out, that's a different issue, but even that can usually be dealt with through re-routing, which, again, doesn't necessitate stopping the show. I still maintain that, while not unheard of, sound is one of the least likely culprits for stopping a show.
Hope they've got it sorted out and have smooth sailing tonight.
Updated On: 4/10/09 at 01:49 PM
