Ryan Rumery, sound designer and a 1999 Central College graduate, won an American Theatre Wing’s 77th Annual Antoinette Perry “Tony” Award® for sound design of a play on Sunday, June 16. He is the first Central alumnus to earn a Tony award.
Sound design encompasses creating, recording and manipulating audio to enhance the audience’s experience of a theater production.
Gabriel Espinosa, associate professor emeritus of music at Central and 1979 Central alumnus, remembers Rumery as a student. “He was a second year when I came to Central. He was very active in Central’s music programs. I remember that he was laser-focused on sound design as a college student.”
Rumery was also the drummer in Espinosa’s jazz band, Ashanti, for three years before moving to New York.
“Stereophonic,” according to the Tony’s website, “is about the agony and the ecstasy of creation as it zooms in on a music studio in 1976, where an up-and-coming rock band finds itself on the cusp of superstardom. Written by David Adjmi, directed by Daniel Aukin and featuring original music by Arcade Fire’s Will Butler, this electrifying new play takes audiences inside the powder keg process of a band on the brink of blowing up.”
The play was nominated for 13 Tony Awards and received five awards, including best play, best direction of a play, best featured actor in a play, best sound design of a play and best scenic design of a play.