Tony Awards Committee to Review Sound Design Award Ban

Having received a petition with 32,495 signatures, including strong comments from dozens of Broadway luminaries, the Tony Awards administration committee says it will review the decision to drop the sound design category, The New York Times has reported.

The Times story says, "The administration committee, in a statement issued on Thursday evening after its first meeting since the June decision, said that for the current 2014-15 season the committee stood by its 'carefully studied decision' to scrap the awards and they would remain gone. It was not clear when the rules committee would begin its review. The administration committee, which considers its decision-making to be confidential, has never given an official explanation for its rationale, though committee members have cited a few reasons, like a lack of expertise among Tony voters in assessing sound design."

Among those who protested the dropping of the sound category were Stephen Sondheim, Hugh Jackman, Susan Stroman, and John Kander.

For the full Times story, go to: