Lindsay Jones is a 2009/2010 Ovation Nominee in the Sound Design – Large Theatre category for his work on Through the Night with Geffen Playhouse.
LA Stage asked Lindsay Jones the following questions:
What was the first theatrical production you ever attended and what impact did it have on you?
The first show that I ever saw was actually one I was in. I was in a production of Carousel when I was 10, where I played a clown with a rubber chicken, who was working in the carnival. I’m almost positive that this character is not in the real version of Carousel, but it set the bar for everything that I’ve done since.
Lindsay Jones
What is your most cherished theatre memory?
Before I became a sound designer, I was an actor for a long time, and I was cast in the national tour of Buddy, The Buddy Holly Story. We played the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, IA, in the middle of a freezing winter, which is where Buddy Holly played his final concert before dying later that night. Most of our audience who saw our show that night had been there for the original concert 33 years earlier. It was the greatest audience of any show that I have witnessed, and they basically relived the excitement and the tragedy of Buddy’s life there with us. It was an amazingly cathartic experience for all of us that night, and really showed how the power of theatre can bring a room of strangers and friends together in a way that nothing else can.
Which LA theatre artists’ work do you consider a ‘Must See’?
I think Alexandra Billings is a complete genius and I will go see her in absolutely anything. I just saw her show at Celebration Theatre and I was literally peeing with laughter. LA theatre should make her their queen.
What is your favorite thing about working in the theatre in LA?
People here are completely unafraid to take artistic risks. Nothing is off-limits in LA theatre, and I find that really exciting. It brings a real scrappy energy to everything, which infuses the project with real excitement. People who do theatre here are doing it because they NEED to. As a result, the passion that comes with that makes every project very compelling.
If you could change one thing about theatre in Los Angeles, what would it be?
I really wish that the city would get behind the theatre scene more and use it to promote the city and increase the profile of the scene. I lived for many years in Chicago, and theatre there is an intrinsic part of the fabric of the city. LA could really learn a lot from how theatre is done in Chicago.
Who’s the first person you texted or tweeted when you got the news about your nomination?
Well, I learned about my nomination from my good friend Michelle Elise Duffy, who was also nominated for performance in Sweeney Todd! So my first text was to text her back and say congratulations to her! The only thing better than being nominated for an award is when your friends are nominated too. Well, that and winning.
Biography:
Based in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York, Lindsay Jones is a composer and sound designer for theatre, film and television. His music for film has been heard in film festivals around the world including Cannes, SXSW, Slamdance, Middle East International Film Festival (Dubai), Chicago Underground Film Festival and L.A. Latino Film Festival. His music for television has been featured on HBO, Bravo, The Sundance Channel, IFC, Telemundo, and will be featured this summer on Independent Lens on PBS. Most recently, Lindsay composed the score for the Oscar-winning short documentary A NOTE OF TRIUMPH: THE GOLDEN AGE OF NORMAN CORWIN for HBO Films and the pilot FAMILY PRACTICE for Sony Pictures/Lifetime Television. Theatrically, he has composed and designed for world premieres of plays by Sam Shepard, David Mamet, A.R. Gurney, Terrence McNally, John Guare, Warren Leight, Lynn Nottage, Tarell Alvin McCraney, David Lindsay-Abaire, Steven Dietz, Craig Lucas, Richard Dresser, Romulus Linney, Carey Perloff, Bruce Norris, Naomi Wallace and many others. Off-Broadway: THE BROTHER/SISTER PLAYS (Public Theater), DEDICATION OR THE STUFF OF DREAMS starring Nathan Lane and Marian Seldes (Primary Stages), THE GOD OF HELL starring Tim Roth and Randy Quaid (Actors Studio), SOMETHING YOU DID starring Joanna Gleason (Primary Stages), THROUGH THE NIGHT (Union Square Theatre), THE BURNT PART BOYS (Playwrights Horizons) THE SCARIEST (The Exchange), 21 POSITIONS (Public Theater), TREASON (Perry Street), IN THE CONTINUUM (Primary Stages), LUMINESCENCE DATING (Ensemble Studio Theater), A DANGEROUS PERSONALITY (Women’s Project), STRING OF PEARLS (Primary Stages), BOY (Primary Stages), O JERUSALEM (Flea), BEAUTIFUL THING (Cherry Lane) and CLOSET LAND (New York Performance Works).
For a full list of Ovation nominees, or for information about the Ovation Awards Ceremony on January 17th, click here!
