Most of the time I try and mix musicals on a L/C/R
system; the
orchestra gets a L/R
send to the two outer stacks, while all the singers go to the center hang.
When I'm on a L/R
system, I tend to still mix the pit in stereo, but for the most part, the singers are mixed in
mono. If you don't have a digital board, the pans can drive you crazy, and nine times out of ten, you'll be busy mixing the scene before and won't have time to twist pan pots. Now, that being said, I do pan when two singers are close together. THe singer on
stage right comes out of the
stage right stack/hang, while the character on
stage left comes out of the
stage left stack/hang. It helps cut back on comb filtering drastically. I only do that if I can't keep on top of it on
VCA's.
To top it off, a lot of your fill speakers will be
mono sends anyway. The front fills are usually
mono, and our
under-balcony fills are also mixed
mono, though I have independent control of the
house left and
house right underbalconies (two HL, two HR).
So it can be done, but I tend to not to. Again, PA placement and room issues can prevent a true stereo
image. Our
house PA is set up so that everyone can hear both stacks, but I wouldn't
call it stereo. Plus, it all depends on what the sound designer wants, if there is one.
I'm sure those more knowledgeable than I will be along shortly to share their views.