Musical director and headsets

[BCBCtech]

For years I have been the technical director at a local high school. The musical director, who is now being his own artistic director as well, asked about having a headset for productions.
On one hand he is the pit conductor as well. In that sense he could use one.
On the other hand, he has a tendency to micro-manage everything. I fear his production will turn out poorly because he will get caught up in trying to run all technical aspects rather than conducting the pit.
I see both sides. My initial thought was "NO WAY." But the more I think about it, I am not so sure. Would appreciate any constructive input on the matter. Thank you.

 

[microstar]

I would keep him off the headset at all costs! Also, the possibility of his mic accidently staying on while the orchestra is playing would be a major concern. I know there are "mic kill" options with headset systems, but still.

 

[Van]

Put him on a non-talkback or muted channel. with a blinky light button for OK's or standing-bys, whatever.

 

[TheaterEd]

I could see giving him a cue light, but not a headset. If he is conducting the pit, he doesn't need all that chatter in his ear. I have literally NEVER had a positive experience with a director on headset. This includes when I'm working with some of my best friends. They simply should not do it.

"Why?" You ask? I'll tell you why. There is no such thing as a perfect show; especially at the high school level. As the director he will always have notes and suggestions and nitpicks and that can be incredibly toxic to the students on the line.
How do I know this, You ask? I almost unwittingly did it myself.

Story time: Our SM was too overwhelmed with the backstage choreography and young crew members to handle calling light cues. We had a new board op and follow spot op this year so as TD and LD I put on the headset and called cues myself. I was constantly giving feed back such as "Nice job, but Mike should wait just a moment before going out to move the bench", or "that was good but the window panel could have gone a little faster". Fortunately, my student SM is comfortable calling me out on things so I caught myself early on. I would say good job, and then nitpick which just left everyone feeling like they did it wrong when that wasn't the case. We had an amazing dress rehearsal, but to the stage crew on headset they thought every little mistake was a huge problem. Thankfully I figured out what I was doing and corrected it for the rest of the shows, or else these kids may have finished the run feeling like they let me down, when that couldn't be further from the truth.

The bottom line is, I KNEW how things were supposed to go, so if they were off by just a little, then it was wrong and I gave a note. The audience never would have picked up on it, and had I not been calling cues I never would have noticed, and I certainly wouldn't have bothered even writing down the note much less giving it to the kids.

TL;DR Directors don't get headsets unless it is ABSOLUTELY show critical. This is for their best interests as well as the students.

 

[bdkdesigns]

I'm a big fan of the telephone coms along the lines of this guy. http://www.fullcompass.com/prod/219...t-pti=219410&gclid=CJ745Irbs9ICFVIHhgodfIYChg
It allows them to communicate with us if necessary...but it isn't easy to hold and stay listening. That usually isn't a factor for me but sounds like it is for you. Also, it uses a momentary switch to allow them to talk...aka no possibility of leaving on a hot mic in the pit which is huge for me. I can't imagine not having communication with the pit. Granted, our pit is often times outside of visible site lines so we don't always know if the pit is set and ready to start.

Edited to add: We also use Aviom units for band monitors. The telephone is easier to deal with whatever headphones they are using for monitors than a standard headset com unit would be.

 

[StradivariusBone]

Having been an MD and now a TD I can say that when I was an MD I hated the com. I wore it for the top of show and also to start the 2nd act, I simply could not have done my job effectively without hearing half the orchestra and only "Lights 27 standby, etc." all night. Even as a TD for high schoolers, I try to force myself off headset as much as possible and let the burden of controlling the show fall on my SM- at least for shows that need significant calling. If it's a school concert, usually I'm on com making sure the kids are still awake by reading Disney movie facts off my phone.

Occasionally I have a crew that needs a little more handholding, but ultimately I feel the experience they need from this class is to function autonomously and that sometimes means they will screw it up.

 

[themuzicman]

On large musicals I tend to give the MD a few key things - 1. Com pack with a Handset (If you give them a headset they WILL leave the mic open while the band is playing) 2. A Cue Light for taking top of show and Act 2 cues. 3. A Talkback mic to the band (assuming they have monitors/avioms).

The Com I find is important in 2 key places - 1. Places check-in - often the MD will be there, but a member of the band is trailing behind and we can't start without them all. and 2. When the show has a show-stopping moment, the MD needs to be clued in to where we are re-starting from. It's also useful in tech from a sound design perspective when I need to know what instrument is playing what part really quick so I can punch it into or out of the audio system.

From an "artistic director on com" point of view - no. I have never had an artistic designer EVER need to be on intercom. The director is in charge of the production, and they relay their notes as an artistic director privately to the director after the show. The director isn't on com, why would the artistic director need to be?