Theatre Sound Community to Come Together for the Tonys at THE COLLABORATOR PARTY 2017

Today, The Collaborator Party, headed by theatrical sound designers Lindsay Jones and John Gromada, announced that their event will return for its third year in New York City, after two years of the now legendary sold-out parties across the country. The Collaborator Party is the official Tony night party for the theatre sound community and all of their collaborators.

This year, the main party will be held June 11, 2017 at Houston Hall (222 W. Houston St. in New York City) from 7pm-11pm EDT, with additional parties taking place simultaneously around the country. Check out a video invitation for this year's event below!

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The Collaborator Party began in 2015 as a response to removal of the Tony Awards for sound design, and quickly grew into a nationwide grassroots community that was founded in mutual celebration of everyone working in professional theatre. As word spread across social media about the original event, "satellite parties" became commonplace in various cities, and the entire event has been live-streamed around the world to thousands of online attendees.

Now, as the Tony Awards have finally been restored for Best Sound Design Of A Musical and Best Sound Design Of A Play, The Collaborator Party seems poised to enjoy its most mainstream success to date, as theatre-lovers from around the world come together to celebrate with one another on Tony night.

"To be honest, this idea of this party has exceeded our wildest dreams of what we thought was possible when we started this," said Jones. "We wanted to create a place where our community could come together to celebrate the accomplishments of one another, but what we really had no way of knowing was exactly how large that community was. And to have these awards return, in part because of all that passion that all of our supporters put forward, it's incredibly gratifying. We are so thrilled with how this has all finally worked out."

"The Collaborator Party has always been a thank-you party," said Gromada. "From the beginning, it was about showing appreciation for everyone's hard work that makes theatre so special. But this year is really different. We want to thank everyone for their undying support and belief in the artistry of sound design. This achievement happened because of that belief and the hard work of many who spoke out and/or worked behind the scenes to bring a resolution. We're eternally grateful to be part of this community of people who stood by us."

As a way of showing that gratitude, The Collaborator Party will giving away the first round of drinks to all attendees to the New York and Los Angeles parties. Admission to the event is free, but all attendees must sign up in advance at www.collaboratorparty.com in order to attend and receive their gifts. In addition, there will be giveaways from party sponsors Figure 53 and Point-Source Audio, along with other sponsors to be announced.

The online social media component of the party will continue this year, courtesy of primary sponsor USITT. Online attendees are encouraged to visit www.collaboratorparty.com to download this year's sign to take photos and videos with, and then to post them using the new hashtags: #thanksTony and #collaboratorparty2017.

"We are so thankful to so many people this year," said Jones. "The Tony Awards, for the reinstatement of the awards; our sponsors, who have been with us from the beginning and for their support that has allowed us to create this event for the theatre community; and finally, the amazing community themselves who have really shown up in support of their fellow artists and made their voices heard. We are so looking forward to celebrating with them, and thanking them in person for all of their passionate support for our cause."