Tuesday, May 31, 2016
What Is Sound Design, and Why Did It Lose Its Tony?
Playbill: Despite these accolades and many more from others in the theatre community, the Tony Awards Administration decided in June 2014 that they would no longer be giving a Tony Award for sound design at the annual ceremony that celebrates the best of the Broadway season. (The June 2014 decision came with the proviso that the Tony committee holds the right to determine a Special Tony Award for certain productions that have excelled in this particular design realm.)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I think cutting the sound design award was a horrible mistake, but an honest one. The point that was made at the beginning of this article about people not knowing what a sound designer does and therefore not being able to judge it for an award, is a valid point. Most people, even some people inside the theater community, don’t know what a sound designer actually does and they don’t realize how much a sound designer’s work actually effects them. Another factor that might have been a part of cutting the sound design Tony was the fact that it is an art form so focused around technology. That being said, sound design is still an art form. It has so much power over an audience’s experience. It has the power to emotionally move an audience member, or set the mood of an entire show. Without sound design theater would not be what it is today. And to leave such a huge part of theater unrecognized on Broadway’s biggest night is not giving recognition to all the sound designers who deserve it. There are so many ways to fix the problem of not being able to judge the award other than removing it altogether.
Post a Comment