Let Me Hear Ya

Any sound designers out there excited about your Tony Award? I'm not, no offense. Here is why I think these things are a bad idea--93% of Tony voters will not be able to judge sound design (and I am being generous). This is going to be another one of those awards that goes with the sweep. Like, things usually don't win Lighting Design and then no other Tonys. This is because people aren't really voting for lighting design--they are voting for shows they loved. It's unclear what lighting design is to a lot of people--I once yelled at a producer who told me he voted for The Producers for lighting design and then defended the choice by saying, "Well, The Producers is funny."

And lighting design is more obvious than sound design, if you ask me.... Certain shows sound horrible, it's true--my poor beloved Chitty Chitty Bang Bang suffered from this--but, in general, not many people can judge the distinctions in sound design. (My friend Billy just promoted to me the LoveMusik sound design, which was apparently, as per him, amazing. I didn't notice.) It's like there used to be Tony Awards for Stage Technician and Conductor/Musical Director. How many voters can judge conductors? I know I wouldn't be able to... (Though--for those of you who know Don Summa--one of my favorite Summa lines about a conductor is "He could make anything sound like a dirge." So clearly he'd be one of the few wise conductor voters.)

So, sorry sound designers, but, even if you win in 2008, I just don't think you are winning on your merits.

On another note, I rarely read comments if they are written more than a day or two later. But, recently, someone pointed out this one to me:

Anonymous said...
Susann Brinkley never stolefrom anybody in her life....How fucking dare you say somethingnonchalant...Get the facts "first" before bloggingPeace out Biatch
Tom Brinkley

Now, I don't know if this person is named Tom Brinkley or if the comment is a fake or whatever, but, I will address it because I like randomness.

Let me draw your attention to this News Release from the NY DA's office, dated May 24, 2005.

Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau announced today that a former off-Broadway theatre producer pleaded guilty to stealing $48,000 from the non-profit theatre company where she had been employed as executive director.

SUSANN BRINKLEY, 48, pleaded guilty today to Grand Larceny in the Third Degree.
BRINKLEY has produced and directed numerous theatrical productions including Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which played Off-Broadway at the Jane Street Theatre in Manhattan and at the Broadway Theatre in Chicago, Illinois. The investigation leading to today's plea revealed that, during 2001, BRINKLEY contracted with playwright Annie Reiner and accepted $48,000 from three investors - Carl Reiner, Rob Reiner, and George Shapiro - to produce Ms. Reiner's play, The New Living Room. BRINKLEY never produced that play; instead, she misappropriated the money for Reiner's play to use on her own production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which was failing in Chicago.

So... yeah... that's it for me. I am very tired and I still have some writing to do tonight.... (If I wasn't afraid of upsetting my 12 loyal readers I would so have taken the night off.) Plus, on top of that, I think it is wise to end on grand larceny. That happens so rarely.