I'll
throw in the A1 and A2 working side by side too. If possible, I usually have one tech who is board op and is off intercom so they can hear with both ears and not be distracted. I'll put another tech in the booth with them who is on com and on
book, but also runs whatever media we're using for the show. We have a digital so if there is time to program scenes we'll do that, but making notes in the script and using DCA/
VCA's can be almost as good with an astute student. Depending on the number of channels it may not even be worth the time to program scenes.
Faders vs. muting depends on how that
channel is routed. If you're using aux outputs pre-fader and you don't
mute, that mic will deliver signal to whatever is patched in to your aux even if the
fader is pulled down. We've done shows where that's necessary and otherwise, but that's something to consider (e.g. your mix includes a pre-out aux
monitor feed to the pit
orchestra). Personally if it's a mic that comes in and out frequently I prefer to pull it down so it's not jarring if I miss the first word bringing it back up and can do a quick "oops" fade-in.
Getting some discipline with your actors is helpful too. Making sure they understand that they could inadvertently broadcast to everyone if they aren't quiet backstage sometimes helps, but don't trust them to be 100% quiet during a run. Everybody makes mistakes. I can recall one instance of an f-bomb being sent to the
house during a dress tech.