Over the last couple years, I've seen a few major touring productions here in Denver, and am simply appalled at the use of body mikes. If the audience members are close enough to see those microphones, then they're close enough to hear unamplified vocals. Goodness gracious, I once taught wisps of sixth-grade girls how to project their voices clearly; surely professionals can learn to do it.
This reliance on amplification has, ironically, the effect of diminishing the immediacy of live theatre. When I saw "Avenue Q" recently, the cast members at one point entered the audience. (Edgy! Exciting!) But instead of being drawn in, I became disoriented because their voices weren't coming from their persons, but the speakers. As the present crop of teen singing sensations has demonstrated, the cast could just as easily lip-sync to a recording, and the theatre-goer could save the exorbitant ticket price.
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