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The Tony Awards Reinstate the Sound Design Categories for the 2017-2018 Season

The Tony Awards announces that the Sound Design categories -- Best Sound Design of a Musical and Best Sound Design of a Play -- will be reinstated for the 2017-2018 season. The categories had previously been removed in 2014, amid much protest from the theatre community and fans alike.

The decision to restore the categories was reached after several months of review by The Tony Awards Administration Committee. However, with this return will come changes to the voting process. Beginning in 2018, a select subset of voters will vote in the two categories, based on their individual trade. The final nominees will be decided by the complete group of Tony nominators. This will also be the case for the Best Orchestrations category.

For the past three years, professionals have organized campaigns to get the Sound Design categories reinstated, including the Twitter hashtag #TonyCanYouHearMe and the Facebook group "Reinstate the Tony Sound Design Categories Now!" In addition, Collaborator Parties were held during the 2015 and 2016 Tony Award nights. The elimination of the category led indirectly to the founding of the Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association (www.tsdca.org).

Both parties were organized by sound designers Lindsay Jones and John Gromada. Gromada has announced on Facebook that a third Collaborator Party is still in the planning, with details to follow. This year's Tony Awards ceremony will be held on June 11, starting at 8:00pm EDT.

"We are very gratified by this outcome," said Nevin Steinberg, co-chair of the Sound Design committee of United Scenic Artists, Local 829, the union representing all designers working on Broadway. "Happily, the appeals and activism of our members, of the professional theater community in New York and around the country, and the thoughtful arguments for reconsideration by some of the most prominent individuals and organizations across show business made an impact. Sound Designers on Broadway will once again be recognized for the integral and creative work that their colleagues and audiences expect."

For information on the Tony Awards and the sound design categories, please visit the URL below.

WWWplasa.me/d9r3i


(24 April 2017)

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