“Peter Pan”…How To Fly And Get Good Audio At The Same Time

60 years ago today, NBC presented “Peter Pan”, for the first time on television, in living color, but getting great video wasn’t the only challenge. Here’s a story I did last year on Mary Martin’s hidden mic. Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee

‘Peter Pan’…How To Fly And Get Audio At The Same Time

This is Director Jerome Robbins flying with Mary Martin in March of 1955 at NBC Brooklyn. When Robbins directed the show on Broadway, he didn’t have to worry about audio, but when it came to the television production he did. How do you mic a flying Mary Martin?

Booms were used for most of the show, but for the flying sequences, something special was called for. In 1953, Shur had introduced “The Vagabond” wireless mic which was used by Marlin Monroe when she was interviewed by Edward R. Murrow on ‘Person To Person’ in 1955.

They tried a Vagabond, but it was not strong enough, so NBC engineers came up with a stronger unit. The mic was on Martin’s chest under her costume and the transmitter was under her arm. The antenna was in a special belt she wore. In order to receive the signal, wires were embedded in the floor of the set, and strung from the lighting grid. Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee

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