Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1383074
40 S U M M E R 2 0 2 1 I C A S Q U A R T E R L Y TELEVISION SERIES – ONE HOUR The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: " A Jewish Girl Walks Into the Apollo…" by PATRICK SPAIN CAS Meet the Winners Amy Sherman-Palladino is well known for her ratta-tat-tat, tommy-gun dialogue that overruns the audience with its relentless comedic power. With the words seemingly all running together, one is pinned to the chair, with a grin on their face, waiting to see how much trouble her characters can talk themselves into—or try to execrate themselves from. No one is more emblematic of this than the show's namesake, Miriam "Midge" Maisel, played to the nines by Rachel Brosnahan. Her ability to credibly utter her lines intelligibly is a feat in and of itself, and one of the reasons the show is so fun to watch. Responsible for getting all this down on "tape" for us is the show's production mixer Mathew Price CAS. MATHEW PRICE CAS: Production Mixer Matt tells me he's employing all sorts of strategies to capture this on-set magic trick. He's got boom mics whenever and wherever possible, there are wireless mics always, there are plant mics in the classic mic shells used throughout the show, and there is one wireless mic he's chosen that is specifically and perpetually hidden in Rachel's constantly changing wardrobe. Matt told me, "Rachel's superpower is she can speak so fast and enunciate so clearly… I think one reason it punches through is her voice is a little, I don't want to say thin, or light, but something like that. So, I've been constantly looking for a lav that could kinda beef up her voice and give her a little more bottom end. I'm a big fan of Sonotrim, they are very open, and I tried Sankens, and then Shure came out with their TL line. And, it turned out that our prop people were taking these vintage [stage] mics and putting these Shure mics, these elements, in these vintage [mic] shells. So, I figured, 'You know what, let me try these.' "So I did, and they sounded pretty good; a little more full than the Sanken COS-11's, which are fairly standard. And now [not only is there a little more low end], but the mics match! In this one scene, she's walking across the stage to the mic stand where I was able to transition from one mic to the other, and it sounds very natural! "Also, Rachel is what they call a 'stalker.' She'll often pick up the mic and walk around the stage, waving it around in front of her face.