The answer is both. I was sitting on the aisle of one of the orchestra rows and could hear the singers--who had mics-- but their voices were definitely not the ones being played on the speakers.
Do you know if we ever hear the real singers in the house? Thats so interesting considering they have an orchestra. I guess they are more concerned about the dancing
haterobics- It's quite possible that the singers were off stage that are broadcast into the house, because the vocals are much more rich and full than the handful of performers you see on the sides of the orchestra. At least, that's what it seemed to me.
I definitely think it's a combination of both. In some of the more dance heavy numbers, I feel as if the singing is mostly prerecorded. However, there are some moments where I know for sure that there are vocalists singing live.
Believe it is indeed a combination of both. We saw it about 5/6 years ago & it is basically the same with a few new numbers & other ones restaged somewhat. Hard to believe that way back when I believe the Rockettes were 48 in number(one for each state in the union) when they started their act in St Louis before moving to the Roxy in NY & than to the Music Hall. We than visited the Polish tearoom. The only celebrity we saw there was Austin Pendelton. There was no line and it was about 60% full.
We were just there and while we were watching I was wondering who was actually singing. There were some non-Rockette singers off to the sides of the auditorium and/or on stage sometimes, and we could hear them, but for some of the big numbers I was pretty sure it was recorded voices.