#TonyCanYouHearMe
The Tony Awards are tonight, but i won’t be watching. I often do and enjoy them, but this year, i just can’t.
In general, yeah, awards shows are political constructs, small cadres of people within a given industry congratulating one another on doing their jobs. But they are also tied to the visibility of an industry, a discipline, an art. They are a space in which the breadth of a collaborative art is acknowledged, even publicized. Oh yeah, someone designed all those cool costumes, someone planned out those dramatic lighting effects, etc.
In my nearly 25 years of working as a theatre artist-specifically a costumer maker-i have worked for five of the companies who have won a regional theatre Tony Award.
I have worked on the production team of three Costume Design Tony Winning shows and two nominees.
I do not say this to brag, but rather to illustrate how collaborative an art theatre is, and how when one person or one show or one company wins a Tony, actually there are dozens (sometimes hundreds) of us high-fiving each other all over the country, because we had a part in making it.
And yet, we are unseen. We don’t do it for the recognition, but without us, the show does not go on. And when the committee eliminates an entire technical discipline (sound) from their consideration? We all feel it. The furor's been in the news, but if you want to read up on it, Victoria Deiorio wrote a good piece for HowlRound on what it means to sound professionals. And if you want to engage in some armchair agitation about it, there's a petition to sign, and you can hop onto the Collaborator Party/USITT-driven hashtags #TonyCanYouHearMe and #Collaborator on social media.
But ultimately the live broadcast’s tonight. Of course, the show won't feature any of the creative arts awards being bestowed.
And try watching it with the sound off, and see how much you enjoy the show.