Sound Design Awards

Since the Tony Committee is bringing back the awards for Sound Design, I thought I’d post this for people to discuss possible contenders, especially considering this is a harder category to predict.

For me, the contenders so far look to be:

Sound Design in a Musical
- Walter Trarbach & Mike Dobson (Spongebob Squarepants)
- Gareth Owen (Summer: The Donna Summer Musical)
- Kai Harada (The Band's Visit)
- Peter Hylenski (Frozen)
- Marc Salzberg (My Fair Lady)
- Brian Ronan (Mean Girls)

Sound Design in a Play
- Ian Dickinson for Autograph (Angels in America)
- Gareth Fry (Harry Potter & the Cursed Child)
- Max Pappenheim (The Children)
- Fitz Patton (Three Tall Women)

I'm going to say I'm glad they are bringing it back, respect for tech is a necessity. However, what I know about determining that is pretty nil.

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Updated On: 3/26/18 at 10:01 AM

Once on this Island definitely deserves this award. Much like The Great Comet, the trick here is how to create a coherent, clear and crisp sound from the performers while they are literally all around the theater space (and not the usual stage). How they ingeniously hid speakers around the set, behind trash cans and, well, trash...Moreso, the score has a very beautiful vocal arrangement and having watched the show twice sitting along the 200s and the 400s, all of the performers are in perfect harmony and can be heard as one so very clearly on both areas. Hylenski deserves this Tony.

Updated On: 3/26/18 at 11:28 AM

Though it should be interesting to see what the winners will look like because starting this year, both sound categories along with Best Orchestrations will be voted on by peer groups.

I'm rooting for Once On This Island in pretty much everything...but I wouldn't count out SpongeBob in sound design given the constant (successful) use of sound effects in that show.