The Collaborator Party Celebrates the Return of the Tony Award for Sound Design

	John Kilgore, Abe Jacob, Lindsay Jones, and Jonathan Deans at The Collaborator Party. Photo: Andy Lang Photography

Yesterday The Collaborator Party, headed by theatrical sound designers Lindsay Jones and John Gromada, announced that their event was a complete sell-out for the third year in a row. The Collaborator Party is the official Tony night party for the theatre sound community and all of their collaborators. The main party was held June 11, 2016 at Houston Hall (222 W. Houston St. in New York City) from 7:00 - 11:00pm, with an additional party held simultaneously in Los Angeles.

The mood was extremely positive and jubilant throughout the entire event. Gromada and Jones addressed the partygoers in New York, and thanked them for their vocal support of sound designers over the years, as well as the many other people who made the return of the Tony Award for Best Sound Design of a Play and Best Sound Design of a Musical possible.

"We really want to thank everyone who had a part in bringing back these awards," said Gromada. "So many people worked so hard to make this happen, made their voices heard, and in the end, the Tony Awards heard all of you. We especially want to thank them for listening and considering everyone's input. We are so grateful to them for the return of this award."

The pair also addressed the future of The Collaborator Party, now that the awards have been restored.

"I have had many people ask 'Is this the end of The Collaborator Party?', and the answer is no," said Jones. "The truth of the matter is that while the award was a part of what generated the idea for this event, The Collaborator Party has since evolved into something that is about celebrating the entire theatrical community that works so hard to create theatre together. There are many people who work in jobs in theatre that are not always eligible for awards. Their work is valuable, we couldn't do a show without them. They deserve to be recognized and celebrated, by each other and by everyone else who works with them. The Collaborator Party will continue as a celebration of everyone who works in theatre, Broadway, and elsewhere."

The entire event was co-sponsored by USITT, with giveaway from sponsors Point-Source Audio and Figure 53. Prize winners were Deanna Choi and Josh Davenport.

Social media for this year's event was particularly active, with a custom geofilter built just for the party on Snapchat, as double digit increases in engagement on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Social media management for the event was by Winged Pup Productions.

More information on the event can be found at the URL below.