Frequently Asked Questions

Why so few categories?

As 2009 was the first time in twelve years that TPS bestowed more honors than the annual Gregory A. Falls Sustained Achievement Award, we wanted to take small steps to make the nomination and voting process manageable, expanding from one to seven categories.  In 2010, we
added five more, for a total of twelve. We plan to cover more disciplines, and
we will grow the number of categories incrementally in future.

Why this particular nomination and voting model?

We realize that no selection method is perfect, and we intend to refine our own process moving forward. 2009 was only the first year of these awards; some regions have the benefit of 25+ years of hindsight refining their own awards ceremonies, and it seems that no one solution fits all communities.

Models vary all over the continent: Some have judging committees composed entirely of critics. Others open up judging to the general public. Still others have a panel balanced between critics, theatre professionals and academics. Some (like ours) have separate nominating and judging models. All have their pluses and minuses.

Our model for 2009 balanced input from critics (as proxies for the audience) in nominating shows, and input from TPS members (as representatives of the theatre profession) in having the final vote on the candidates. This final vote included the ability to write-in a show or individual who may never have been reviewed at all. In 2010, we broadened the nominating panel to include theatre academics, and moved the write-in ability for TPS members from the voting phase to the nomination phase. We also added input from the theatre-going public in providing write-in names for consideration as nominees. We expect our selection model to evolve through the years, as we discover what works most effectively in the Puget Sound theatrical community.

I’m a TPS Member — How do I get the TPS discount code for tickets to the ceremony?

The discount code can be found at the end of your TPS member’s online ballot, a link to which will be emailed to you in September, 2011.

Can I add a write-in candidate to my ballot?

No.  The final voter’s ballot is multiple choice. All TPS members, however, will have opportunity to nominate individuals in a write-in nomination ballot (Members’ Voice) during the month of August. This change was made from the 2009 process (when final ballot write-ins were allowed) in order to provide more advanced notice to the nominees before the ceremony.

What happens if a candidate comes out on top in more than one nomination method?

If a candidate emerges as the top nominee in more than one of the three nomination methods (Nomination Panel,Members’ Voice and People’s Choice), then that candidate is selected as a nominee in the method in which they received the highest percentage of votes.  The next highest candidate in the other method is then chosen as a nominee for that other method. For example, if Jane Doe is in top place in both Members’ Voice (with 15% of the vote) and People’s Choice (with 20% of the vote), she will be listed as the People’s Choice selection, and the person in second place of the Members’ Voice method will then become the Members’ Voice nominee.  This enables us to have a final slate of distinct nominees on the voter ballot.

What show is a candidate nominated for?

The nominees are chosen for their body of work over the past season.  Candidates are submitted for excellent work in various shows; often an individual has been submitted by different nominators for different shows. Conversely, a candidate may have been uniformly chosen for a single outstanding piece of work during the season.  As such, remember that nominees (with the exception of course for the Outstanding Production category) should be viewed as candidates in their own right, and not necessarily as a particular person + production combination.

Why aren't categories split into…
union / non-union or musical / non-musical or big theatre / small theatre…?

There was a conscious decision for the early years of the Gregory Awards to avoid splitting the categories into distinctions purely out of the need for manageability (see Why So Few Categories?).  Any time a category is split, it effectively doubles the number of categories and nominees. 

For example, if there were five final nominees in ten categories, that would be ten awards presented from a pool of fifty invited nominees.  Split that into union vs. non-union, and we have twenty awards and one hundred nominees.  Split that again into musical vs. non-musical, and we have forty awards and two hundred final nominees, and so on.  Some cities do indeed have over fifty awards, but the organizations that run such awards ceremonies have been doing it for twenty or thirty years, slowly building up the number from an initial handful in the early days.  From 1998 to 2008, we had one award.  We only started adding additional categories in 2009.

In order to keep the ceremony relatively short while still giving enough time to present each category, and to fit in all the nominees and patrons at the celebration itself, we need to limit the overall number of awards and nominees.   This policy may be revised in future if we present longer ceremonies in much larger venues.

Why are there so few (or so many) final nominees in each category?

The TPS membership comprises over 140 organizations and more than 1,700 individuals. Each year, hundreds of names are submitted for nomination, and only the most frequently mentioned submissions are selected as finalists in each category. Determining just how many nominees should comprise the final slate is a delicate balance between:

• getting as broad as possible a representation of the Theatre Puget Sound community together in one place
• staying within the constraints of the physical space for the ceremony and the limitations faced by busy schedules

If there are too few nominees per category, then we have not offered the membership a broad enough set of choices to reflect the huge number of productions throughout the year, and attendance at the event would be very small. The reality is that people come to celebrate people they know, so the broader a representation we offer, the more successful an event. If there are too many nominees per category, then the ballot is overwhelming for the voter and there just wouldn’t be enough room for everyone at the venue (For example, if there were fifteen finalists in each of twelve categories, that would mean 180 final nominees. If each of these nominees has one guest, the entirety of the 2010 venue would have been completely filled before opening up seats to TPS members or the general public.

What if a show’s run crosses the boundary of the dates for eligibility?

If a show begins in one season and ends in another (for example, opens July 15 and closes Aug 15), the show’s opening date will determine its seasonal eligibility (i.e., for the previous example, that show would be considered to have been at the end of the earlier season, not the beginning of the later season).

What is the dress code for the Gregory Awards ceremony?

There is no specific dress code for the event, however, many people dress their best. Some come in formal attire; some come in a nice dress or suit. Some come in 19th century period attire with outrageous hats! And of course it’s Seattle, so some come in hip, cool fun stuff.

What if I have other questions or comments?

Additional questions and comments can be addressed to awards@tpsonline.org