A peak behind the curtains in JJ Niemann's series of what Broadway actors REALLY talk about when our microphones are turned off. TikTok: @jjniemann Instagram: @jjniemann
Not theatre, but I work fast food where we also use mics for drives ins. It’s all fun and games until someone forget their mic is on and they start making out with their partner in the back
at my high school we did a production of descendants, and when people ran off to do a quick change one of the lead roles said "oh no i definitely forgot my line there!" And her mic was on. The whole audience heard it was funny
Fello technician here. An actor came back stage during rehearsals and began chatting with some of the techies, continuing a conversation from earlier and immediately began explaining what gyatt is to a prop guy. Entire cast and crew on stage heard everything. It was absolutely hilarious
Yeah this is why I don’t envy the sound techs and backstage crew. I’d be chilling up in the tech gallery, pressing my one green button because we’d already done the lighting states before the show so the biggest stress for me was not missing a cue or pressing the button on accident. Meanwhile whoever was on mixing/doing mics would constantly be fighting with the actors’ occasional stupidity (cursing while hot, talking backstage, etc) and backstage crew was getting walked over because teens have no respect for authority that isn’t an adult so props would be getting misplaced, they’d be getting insulted, etc. Edit: downside is I’d never get a radio
As a sound tech: Trust me, we turn them off. Cause some of y’all be yapping even when you’re on stage and you KNOW your mics are on. We don’t take any chances
One time, my partner turned on someone's mic that she was mad at during rehearsal. We just hear from backstage, in a very annoying voice mocking our director. "Don't make me get to three! One...! Two...! Two and a half...! Two and three quarters...! *aggresive barking noises*" Or that time our actor who started the scene went to the bathroom and my partner turned up his mic to see where he was and he was in the bathroom. He dropped an F bomb and started talking about Frankenstien or something. When I told him his mic was on the entire cast dissolved into laughter.
@melyanera6093 no cause I was in little shop of horrors last year and they did not turn my mike off after my scene and I went into the green room which was super loud and I was talking and like 30 seconds later I'm almost tackled by a sound tech guy bc they couldn't turn my mike off for some reason 😭😭
in highschool drama I got really good at non verbal communication because of my feat of hot mics XD our drama teacher would also chase us back stage with a pool noodle if we spoke back stage XD It was all in good fun, she also used nerf toys to mess with folks in the green room. XD
One time they forgot to turn off my mic throughout half the show and thankfully I realized but before I did all I said back stage was “thank you” to someone helping me and thankfully that’s all the audience heard 💀
@@krazygrl777 yeah I haven’t just done acting I have been the sound tech,helped with costume and have done lights the only one’s I have yet to touch are set,makeup and hair so I get it
you don’t really know, and you should never assume because they could’ve forgotten to turn yours off and then the audience hears your talking. not to be a debbie downer but this is really unrealistic lol
@@griffin1837 Yeah. In my school when we do musicals, we CANNOT talk backstage because they can’t turn the mics off until the end of the show so if we talk, the audience hears us.
In community theater/school musicals you really shouldn’t because you never really know. But on Broadway they practice these so often and are so in tune with the show (because they do it eight times a week) they become pretty aware of what’s going on with the sound systme
As another fellow theater goblin, i work in crew and istg the lightning fast conversations while you’re doing a QC are the only reason im still sane 😭😭
@@The-Troopers It's extremely uncommon in professional theatre, everything is carefully planned and there are multiple people and automated systems to double check.
In one of my highschool shows, someone went, with their mic hot, this performance has been going so bad, for the entire audience to hear... Director did not like that..
I’m in a production of newsies right now, and our director had told us not to change in the wings (which is completely understandable considering how many people run and leap really fast off stage and into the wings) but because of how thick our walls/ curtains are, the wings are the only place you can hear the music so it’s incredibly hard to hear your cue 😭
I was running the mics in a show one time and caught someone talking backstage, they immediately realised and started ad libing the convo, i turned their mics way down but it fit the scene so well i kept them on as background noise 😂
Used to get a full Mohawk done during There’s A Light in the Rocky Horror Show while singing the soprano backing vocals (which are STUPID high). I managed to choke on hairspray during dress and all everyone heard was the soprano 1 line drop out and be replaced with god awful hacking and the panicked apologies of the hairstylist helping me 😂
I always marvel at how different the atmosphere and rules are between professional and school productions. The dynamics between cast and crew are so different, no one in a school production is having a chat during a quick change, the walls are made of paper, you never know if your mic is hot or not cause there’s only one sound tech on mics, and the respect for backstage crew is nonexistent. It’s why lighting operation or design are my faves.
As a kid actor who came from a background of Musical theatre his is so accurate like everything Or when ur backstage waiting for ur scene and just the awkward silence 😂 And especially the Quick costume changes that has to happen in 30 seconds or less just on and off 💀
As a costume designer and wardrobe head, i always get so anxious when foing a change BECAUSE OF MICS! One closing night, someone had their mic on (i was in the audience) and all i heard over the speakers during a scene change was “thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou”
Yes, I love it so accurate. But I’m a little too scared to talk because I’m afraid of a hot mic. I might say a word here and there, but I can’t have a full conversation, but I know people who do.😂😂
OMGGGG so about 10 weeks ago I did a musical and it was hairspray Jr. I was the jail matron!!! Except our mission didn't get turned off at all. I gl to Loic Valmy Broadway Academy. On Sunday I'm auditioning for Camp Rock! We do the workshops so 5 days to do a full production it's actually so fun! Also thanks for getting these songs stuck in my head again Xx 😂
As a person in tech, you wouldn’t believe how many people I’ve caught talking when their mics were on backstage
Fellow technician. I absolutely believe 😂
Not theatre, but I work fast food where we also use mics for drives ins. It’s all fun and games until someone forget their mic is on and they start making out with their partner in the back
yeah notice how he says broadway LOL
at my high school we did a production of descendants, and when people ran off to do a quick change one of the lead roles said "oh no i definitely forgot my line there!" And her mic was on. The whole audience heard it was funny
Fello technician here. An actor came back stage during rehearsals and began chatting with some of the techies, continuing a conversation from earlier and immediately began explaining what gyatt is to a prop guy. Entire cast and crew on stage heard everything. It was absolutely hilarious
as a former stage manager/assistant director, y’all be stressing us out sometimes with these close calls 😭
Listen me personally i spend every second i can relaxing during shows
As a former stage manager this video gave me anxiety.
another stage manager here to say AAAHGHAHHGHGHHHHAHHAHhh
real i js did a show with 4th graders and they never turned their mics off and were really snippy. very happy to not be their stage manager anymore
Yeah this is why I don’t envy the sound techs and backstage crew. I’d be chilling up in the tech gallery, pressing my one green button because we’d already done the lighting states before the show so the biggest stress for me was not missing a cue or pressing the button on accident. Meanwhile whoever was on mixing/doing mics would constantly be fighting with the actors’ occasional stupidity (cursing while hot, talking backstage, etc) and backstage crew was getting walked over because teens have no respect for authority that isn’t an adult so props would be getting misplaced, they’d be getting insulted, etc.
Edit: downside is I’d never get a radio
we never talk because we’re scared of hot mics🏃♂️
As a sound tech: Trust me, we turn them off. Cause some of y’all be yapping even when you’re on stage and you KNOW your mics are on. We don’t take any chances
@@melyanera6093yapping😭😭😭
One time, my partner turned on someone's mic that she was mad at during rehearsal. We just hear from backstage, in a very annoying voice mocking our director. "Don't make me get to three! One...! Two...! Two and a half...! Two and three quarters...! *aggresive barking noises*"
Or that time our actor who started the scene went to the bathroom and my partner turned up his mic to see where he was and he was in the bathroom. He dropped an F bomb and started talking about Frankenstien or something. When I told him his mic was on the entire cast dissolved into laughter.
@melyanera6093 no cause I was in little shop of horrors last year and they did not turn my mike off after my scene and I went into the green room which was super loud and I was talking and like 30 seconds later I'm almost tackled by a sound tech guy bc they couldn't turn my mike off for some reason 😭😭
in highschool drama I got really good at non verbal communication because of my feat of hot mics XD our drama teacher would also chase us back stage with a pool noodle if we spoke back stage XD It was all in good fun, she also used nerf toys to mess with folks in the green room. XD
HOOOO- THAT VIBRATO AT “WELCOME TO THE SIXTIES” WAS SPOT ONNNN
fr tho
HE ATE THAT BELT
Ok this is funny but your vocals in between what??? i keep getting surprised???? it's SO GOOD?????
@@Ashley-bt1dm i know that just because it's obvious doesn't mean i can't appreciate it❤
DAYM I noticed that too his voice is amazing!
id hope so lol he’s in broadway shows
The video is about his time on broadway…
Omg I was in hairspray 4 years ago and this is so relatable. 😂
I was in Hairspray last year!! Played Penny!!!!!!
i was in it a year ago…i was amber
How did you get on broadway??
@@marieflocon8053 they weren't on Broadway. They were just in a normal musical.
OMG aim in it this year and we are doing rehearsals I’m also amber
tech kid here, we hear it all. All of it. If not through your mic, through someone near you who didn’t turn off their mic
In school yes in the professional world if someone's mic is hot at the wrong time the technicians get in trouble.
@@blairrussell4haha personally I’ll listen in through the PAFL “to check the EQ” just to hear some of the juiciest gossip ever
i think youll find theres a pretty significant difference between broadway and a high school theatre group in technician skill and expectations
HAIRSPRAY MENTIONED
One time they forgot to turn off my mic throughout half the show and thankfully I realized but before I did all I said back stage was “thank you” to someone helping me and thankfully that’s all the audience heard 💀
WTF WHY DOESNT THIS HAVE MORE COMMENTS!!? Anyeays this was actually pretty funny and those vocals- wowie they were awesome dude!
Ikrrr!!❤❤
As an actress that does musical theatre and other types of shows this is so true
shhhh
So fun how the HS theatre kids don’t know how awesome the tech gets lol
@@krazygrl777 yeah I haven’t just done acting I have been the sound tech,helped with costume and have done lights the only one’s I have yet to touch are set,makeup and hair so I get it
Right? The amount of times I've done this with my costars 😂😂
@@LilyGrace95 same 🤣😂 but the worst part is one of my costar’s is one of my best friends
how do you know when the mics on or off tho, just straight up timing of the music?
you don’t really know, and you should never assume because they could’ve forgotten to turn yours off and then the audience hears your talking. not to be a debbie downer but this is really unrealistic lol
My friend cane of mid song and forgot about her mic and was like. FU-
@@griffin1837 Yeah. In my school when we do musicals, we CANNOT talk backstage because they can’t turn the mics off until the end of the show so if we talk, the audience hears us.
Well they shouldn’t really talk, but there is a screen where the conductor does your cue
In community theater/school musicals you really shouldn’t because you never really know. But on Broadway they practice these so often and are so in tune with the show (because they do it eight times a week) they become pretty aware of what’s going on with the sound systme
"hey mama! hey mama!" will always be my favorite line in hairspray for some reason
Some of us know sign lingo 😂
I legit have friends who learned the ASL alphabet to talk backstage 😂
As another fellow theater goblin, i work in crew and istg the lightning fast conversations while you’re doing a QC are the only reason im still sane 😭😭
As a dresser, this is the only humanity and socialization I get during work and I need the mini conversations😭😂
The iPhone charger as the microphone
That's micro USB
As the lead sound manager… don’t risk it, we make mistakes!!!!
There’s a difference between professional Broadway productions and amateur ones…
@@kasity yeah but everyone makes mistakes, talking backstage w/ a mic is just overall not worth it.
@@The-Troopers It's extremely uncommon in professional theatre, everything is carefully planned and there are multiple people and automated systems to double check.
I love that it’s hairspray i love that movie and the charger on the hair as the mic in the hair is perfect
In one of my highschool shows, someone went, with their mic hot, this performance has been going so bad, for the entire audience to hear... Director did not like that..
I’m in a production of newsies right now, and our director had told us not to change in the wings (which is completely understandable considering how many people run and leap really fast off stage and into the wings) but because of how thick our walls/ curtains are, the wings are the only place you can hear the music so it’s incredibly hard to hear your cue 😭
Omfg this gave me theater flashbacks sooo hard- miss it!
Ayyyyy my school just recently did hairspray! It was fire
I once sang in the grand finale in a musical and my Friends's mikes were on and I heard them talking while I was singing.
Not the phone charger as the lav mic 😂
Okay but I LOVE hairspray soo much it’s one of my favorite movies 🍿
I was running the mics in a show one time and caught someone talking backstage, they immediately realised and started ad libing the convo, i turned their mics way down but it fit the scene so well i kept them on as background noise 😂
Stage manager here haha this is incredible. Love it. 😂❤
Omg it’s the Bridgette wig
I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT AND IM SO EXCITED ABOUT IT XD
Used to get a full Mohawk done during There’s A Light in the Rocky Horror Show while singing the soprano backing vocals (which are STUPID high). I managed to choke on hairspray during dress and all everyone heard was the soprano 1 line drop out and be replaced with god awful hacking and the panicked apologies of the hairstylist helping me 😂
YOU ATE THAT BELT AT THE “WELCOME TO THE SIXTIESSSSS”
I feel like backstage conversations most of the time are either talking trash about someone in the cast or just random things
The Lululemon bag 💀💀
The mic being a USB-C cable XDDDDDDDDDDDDD
I always marvel at how different the atmosphere and rules are between professional and school productions. The dynamics between cast and crew are so different, no one in a school production is having a chat during a quick change, the walls are made of paper, you never know if your mic is hot or not cause there’s only one sound tech on mics, and the respect for backstage crew is nonexistent. It’s why lighting operation or design are my faves.
THIS IS TOO REAL
When you know what the musical is 😂
So funny this popped up. My mom and I had a hairspray weekend. We watched both the movies and the live it was pretty awesome.
Ok I literally like live hairspray I don’t know why but it so funny and the music is actually just good and the storyline like girl how 💀💀
I love how the mics are lightning port cords 💀
Hi, I’m dancing for good morning Voldemort and hairspray. Good morning Voldemort is in hairspray.
Aaa! Love this am! These are my favvs!Will you ever do a Book of Mormon one of these??
The charger 😂
He’s so nice ❤
6 months late but I'm honestly surprised you don't double post both on TikTok and CZcams shorts
Omfg I miss this
OMG I LOVE HAIRSPRAY Its my favorite musical
LIVE LAUGH LOVE HAIRSPRAY
The charging cable on the head is so accurate 🤣
Is it just me who seen that his mike wad a phone charger 🤣🤣
bro are you stupid
Just got done with a show and one of the actors ran offstage and yelled, and I mean yelled, “fuck yeah!”
the best number from one of my favorite musicals ugh
Your voice is amazing, jokes aside!!!❤❤
Do more of these!!
The charger cord😂
PLEASE DO A BEETLEJUICE VERSION I LOVE THESE
i did a dance to this song-
How can you tell if it’s on or off?
Ah yes the chaos that goes on behind stage
The actor - 😃😅😮🎶
The sound man - 🫨🫠🫥
As a kid actor who came from a background of Musical theatre his is so accurate like everything
Or when ur backstage waiting for ur scene and just the awkward silence 😂
And especially the Quick costume changes that has to happen in 30 seconds or less just on and off 💀
Bro, when I’m in tech someone is either having a mental breakdown or…yeah.
The angler fish mics are always do funny 💀
this is so real i love this
The charger as the mic is perfect
That poor sound tech having to anticipate back chatter
Dig Inn between shows really got me good
I JUST WATCHED HAIRSPRAY BROADWAY TODAY I LOVED IT
Hairspray is so good 😭
I FREAKING LOVE HAIRSPRAY ITS MY ALL TIME FAVORITE MUSICAL
Im convinced that bro is actually a Broadway actor
HAIRSPRAY IM PROFORMUNG THAT THUS TURSDAYY
We did this song in choir and this is ringing back weird nostalgia
this is so real 😭😂
as an actor, you wouldn't believe the conversations ive heard side stage and backstage
UGH I LOVE HAIRSPRAY!❤
As a costume designer and wardrobe head, i always get so anxious when foing a change BECAUSE OF MICS! One closing night, someone had their mic on (i was in the audience) and all i heard over the speakers during a scene change was “thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou”
Yes, I love it so accurate. But I’m a little too scared to talk because I’m afraid of a hot mic. I might say a word here and there, but I can’t have a full conversation, but I know people who do.😂😂
If your Tech operates on industry Standards it very much should be Off usually, ask them ig
I wish actors outside of broadway where this nice.
I love hairspray ❤❤❤
I used to do wigs, that “one more pin right here and it’s great” is so accurate
I LOVED/LOVE Hairspray since I was a kid 😭😭😭😭
Nah youd never catch me doing this far too paranoid ☠️☠️
Fr we be casually talking in the middle of a quick change
THE CHARGER AS THE MICROPHONE😂
Me as a sound techie watching actors talk like their mics don’t exist:
Someone backhanded me while my mic was on and you could hear the echo from the wings.
The phone charger 😂😂😂
THIS IS SO REAL
No but like he actually ate that singing up 😂
I love hairspray 😭😭😭
Of course Chief is loaded
He's always loaded and ready
I love backstage vibes
As a Theater kid I can 100% relate to this
ITS LITERALLY MY DREAM TO BE ON HAIRSPRAY I NEED IT
OMGGGG so about 10 weeks ago I did a musical and it was hairspray Jr. I was the jail matron!!! Except our mission didn't get turned off at all. I gl to Loic Valmy Broadway Academy. On Sunday I'm auditioning for Camp Rock! We do the workshops so 5 days to do a full production it's actually so fun! Also thanks for getting these songs stuck in my head again Xx 😂
THE CHARGER 😭😭
Oml my school musical peers are so like this😂
OMG SO ACCURATE LMAO
The lightning connector tho😂
THE CHARGER 😭😭😭😭