Why are Broadway musicals so LOUD?!

[c***@columbia.edu]

I've been attending Broadway musicals for the past 20+ years but in
the past year, I've attended two shows that were deafendingly loud. I
forgave Jesus Christ Superstar because I saw it in previews and
figured that they were working on the sound before opening night. But
on Saturday I saw The Music Man. The vocals were so overamplified that
most of the words sung were unintelligible. Why is it necessary the
vocalists so much? For me, it ruined what was otherwise, a very
enjoyable show.
Bob

I think some Mayor some day will have the administrative courage, like Ed Koch when he said "pick up after your dog," to pass a city ordinance which says "limit your decibels." Simply get a medical consensus about the decibel level that can damage the inner ear, and rule that if at any seat in the house, and at any time in the show, the decibel level exceeds that point, the house gets a hefty fine. And guess what -- a miracle will happen. Sound engineers will instantly come up with the right nonlinear feedback arrangement, so that even if the orchestra momentarily exceeds the threshold the speakers don't. And the sound will still be plenty loud, people will still hear everything just fine -- and audiences will stop losing their hearing!

[Cly Hale]

Post by c***@columbia.edu

I've been attending Broadway musicals for the past 20+ years but in
the past year, I've attended two shows that were deafendingly loud. I
forgave Jesus Christ Superstar because I saw it in previews and
figured that they were working on the sound before opening night. But
on Saturday I saw The Music Man. The vocals were so overamplified that
most of the words sung were unintelligible. Why is it necessary the
vocalists so much? For me, it ruined what was otherwise, a very
enjoyable show.
Bob

I think some Mayor some day will have the administrative courage, like
Ed Koch when he said "pick up after your dog," to pass a city ordinance
which says "limit your decibels." Simply get a medical consensus about
the decibel level that can damage the inner ear, and rule that if at
any seat in the house, and at any time in the show, the decibel level
exceeds that point, the house gets a hefty fine. And guess what -- a
miracle will happen. Sound engineers will instantly come up with the
right nonlinear feedback arrangement, so that even if the orchestra
momentarily exceeds the threshold the speakers don't. And the sound
will still be plenty loud, people will still hear everything just
fine -- and audiences will stop losing their hearing!

I'm not so sure about this. Movie theaters have been juicing the sound
levels for decades now and there is some evidence that it has a
relationship to lowered hearing ability in the average movie-goer.
I remember a discussion of this all the way back in the late 80s. If
movie theaters haven't done anything about it for such a long span of
time, , I don't see why musical theatre would do anything about it.

[r***@hotmail.com]

I've been attending Broadway musicals for the past 20+ years but in
the past year, I've attended two shows that were deafendingly loud. I
forgave Jesus Christ Superstar because I saw it in previews and
figured that they were working on the sound before opening night. But
on Saturday I saw The Music Man. The vocals were so overamplified that
most of the words sung were unintelligible. Why is it necessary the
vocalists so much? For me, it ruined what was otherwise, a very
enjoyable show.
Bob

I have to admit I play videos of musicals good 'n' loud, including DVD of movie The Music Man. Olden times audibility was horrible in pro theatre. That famous Porgy and Bess from Houston that came to town in '77 was great if you knew the show, but otherwise baffling to large part of audience. Strange revised Candide in '75 sounded good, I guess, to critics seated in middle but wildly unbalanced to other audience members when a performer was all the way on other side of house. I suppose a lot of us remember minor nightmares like those.

Something I never thought I'd be able to say, that remake of A Star is Born is very good! Play it loud, but of course that's more rock format.