Tony Awards Committee Announces 2 New Categories- Page 2

[Clara's Pony]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 10:13pm

I think this is long overdue, but then there are so many more categories that should be included (starting with replacement & musical direction). My only concern is the effect of two new Tonys on the length of the telecast, and what will be cut to make space. I thought it was a great shame to see "Revolutionary Costume" cut so brutally in order to save seconds.

Updated On: 6/19/07 at 10:13 PM

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 10:15pm

I have been waiting for this for many years, and have posted on quite a few threads about this very subject. Sound Design in our modern era is a LONG overdue category for recognition.

And the theatre doesn't make ANY difference, any more than the amount of fly space available from venue to venue matters for Set Design. I love Margo as much as the next guy, but her argument against a Sound category was VERY weak.

I'm glad the Tony committee agrees that sound designers should be recognized.

I couldn't be happier.

No...

I couldn't be happier...

Updated On: 6/19/07 at 10:15 PM

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 10:16pm

I was thinking the same thing, mikem. Will people really know how to judge sound design? It's much less obvious than set or costume design. I'm glad they've added the categories, though. I hope it won't be a throw-away category. I hope it really gets people to understand about sound design.

And I agree with whoever said that there should be a Tony category for Musical Direction. Amen to that! Musical directors are essential to any production and just about any other regional awards has that category. If the Emmys can recognize musical directors (remember, Paul Gemignani just won last year for the South Pacific concert), the Tonys should definitely recognize them.

~Steven
Updated On: 6/19/07 at 10:16 PM

[Boq101]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 10:24pm

Best Conductor and Best Musical Director used to be categories...don't know what happened.

[mikem]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 10:25pm

best12bars,
I don't remember exactly what Margo said, but I thought it was more a comment on the high professional caliber of the sound designers for Broadway shows than a comment on the physical Broadway theaters themselves. IIRC, Margo was saying that the sound designers for Broadway are all very good at what they do and are therefore it is hard to differentiate between them for those not technically savvy.

[MarkRascati]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 10:27pm

As much as Musical Directors should be recognized at the Tony's, it would be extremely hard to judge

[Mealz1042]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 10:36pm

Am I the only one who thinks there should be best actor/actress in a long running show? Just because the show isn't new doesn't mean the actors don't deserve to be awarded.

[MarkRascati]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 10:41pm

You mean replacements?

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 10:53pm

A best replacement Tony was a stupid idea from the beginning.

I'm glad that there will now be a category to reward the sound designers, but in many cases, it will be - like Margo said - an almost impossible category to judge.

How on earth could one say that SPRING AWAKENING had a better sound design than...say...GREY GARDENS? You can't. Unless there's some showy aspect of the sound design, the award will always go to the most popular musical or play.

[popular_elphie]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 10:53pm

Fantastic! If it had happened this year, it would've been another nom and possible win for JOURNEY'S END. Amazing.

Now we just need Musical Director and Replacement, and possibly a Hair Design award, and we're all set.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 10:57pm

Hair Design?

[Clara's Pony]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 10:59pm

I really hope popular_elphie was trying to humour us...

[Mealz1042]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 11:17pm

yeah, im pretty sure that's part of costumes.

Yes, and I meant best replacement. Why do you think that's a bad idea?

Updated On: 6/19/07 at 11:17 PM

[suzycat]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 11:19pm

I'm so glad they've added these categories, it's about time!

[JustAGuy]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 11:34pm

Why would this category be any more difficult to judge than any other? All the categories are subjective. It's the voters opinion. There's no check list, no criteria established as to what makes an award winning performance or award winning direction or choreography, etc. So why would sound design be any different than lighting design or costuming. It's all left up to the personal opinions of the voters.

[TechEverlasting]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 11:35pm

As this week's box office report shows Tony awards do sell tickets, so why not give more of them out? Let's also give Tonys for best company manager, best playbill, best ushers and best snacks.

With the orchestration award this year going to the belle of the ball "Spring Awakening" I don't see how that category can be taken seriously anymore. Do most of the voters even care about how the shows they watch are orchestrated? I would prefer to see the orchestration award scrapped and replaced with "best song". ideally this would allow great songs in less successful scores to be acknowledged, but of course this year the trophy would have gone to "Bitch of Living".

[juice23]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 11:39pm

I am glad these designers will now be recognized.

The replacement TONY is impossible... how can TONY voters see every possible cast of every possible show in a season? (Look at Les Mis... how many times the voters would have to see that show everytime someone new went in...)

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 11:41pm

Wasn't the replacement Tony there to honor "star" relpacements, ala Reba McIntire?

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 11:44pm

Musical director would also be an impossible category to judge. It would always go to the most popular musical, because there's no way to say that one's musical direction is better than the other's.

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 11:48pm

"Margo was saying that the sound designers for Broadway are all very good at what they do and are therefore it is hard to differentiate between them for those not technically savvy."

Sorry, but that's an even MORE lame excuse.

Can you imagine? If all the actors in a given Tony category are "really good at what they do," then they just shouldn't have a category to honor them.

I think that's completely ridiculous, and as POOR excuse as I have EVER heard for any award category recognizing ANYTHING on this planet.

[mikem]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 11:53pm

For those of us who are clueless, what exactly does the musical director do? I take it that he is not the conductor or the orchestrator.

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 11:54pm

"It would always go to the most popular musical, because there's no way to say that one's musical direction is better than the other's."

I completely disagree, Munk.

You're just saying that your average musical loving Tony-voter is inept.

I would say that you shouldn't judge or award ANY category for music, lyrics, set or anything else, in that case. They aren't qualified enough to know what they hell they're supposedly honoring.

Ignorance is NOT an excuse to avoid honoring and recognizing talent. Find a group of people who aren't ignorant and uneducated, in that case. That would be the Tony committee's DUTY to do that.

[TechEverlasting]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 11:55pm

Yes, Broadway sound designers (also known as "soundmen" anywhere else in the world) are all good at what they do, but they are also stuck-up enough already without now getting Tony awards. I'm dreading those speeches.

The sound designer's job is to make sure the mics work and the lyrics are intelligible, come up with a decent mix and maybe throw in a nice sound effect or two. There are plenty of other designers who do brilliant work on shows, the Tony broadcast would be 10 hours long if they were all recognized.

Let's call the bartenders "beverage designers" and give them Tonys too.

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/20/07 at 12:02am

"but they are also stuck-up enough already without now getting Tony awards. I'm dreading those speeches."

Sorry, but that's a really lame, unsubstantiated, broad generalization.

I suppose all actors are PIGS too, so we should just do away with those categories, right?

Good God.

They don't just "make sure the mics work." That comment alone shows you have no idea what you're talking about.

[mikem]

Posted: 6/20/07 at 12:04am

I am completely clueless about the technical aspects of the theater, so please go easy on me about these probably stupid questions. Except when there are special sound effects used, is the goal of sound design (other than for musical numbers) to be invisible (ie, to make people believe that they are hearing everything directly from the actors' mouths and not "designed" in any way)? From where the Tony voters sit (ie, front and center), aren't a lot of plays essentially unmiked (ie, the audience really is hearing the words directly from the actors' mouths), and if so, how can the Tony voters judge sound design for those productions? (Again, I know I'm clueless, so please don't yell at me!)