How the Judging Works

Each member group (and The Arts Council) is required to provide at least two judges for each theatre season. These judges are responsible for reviewing one performance of each production done by all of the member groups. As you can imagine, this is a big job, since there can be upwards of 40 productions in a single season. For that reason, the rules have been relaxed over the years to the point that the judges can vary from show to show, provided that the group provides judges for each show. Although this may lead to uneven judging, it's better than not having a show judged at all.

People (actors, directors, and techies) are nominated by each show's director or producer, using a form sent out by the Wings Committee. Based on the show's type (e.g., musical, non-musical, dance, etc.) and the nominations made by the director or producer, a long, complicated ballot is produced, tailored for that show. The ballot has evolved ("mutated" would be a better word) over the years to try to evoke an honest appraisal of the show from the judge. The current ballot, for example, asks specific questions in each judging category which the judge is supposed to consider carefully.

The ballots are returned to a central location, anonymously, and the subjective scores are translated into numeric values to try to objectify them. At the end of the season, the "apples and oranges" are compared within each category and the highest score is chosen as the winner.

To enhance the suspense*, the top five nominees are listed as "finalists" in The Huntsville Times and on this web site a few weeks before the awards ceremony. The winners' names are kept secret until the actual event.

The awards banquet is held after the end of the theatre season, which (by current definition) ends with the closing performance of Huntsville Community Chorus' summer show. Lately, the banquet has been held in late October or early November. Given the number of groups and frequency of shows, it is very difficult to find a date that doesn't interfere with someone's performance, rehearsal, or move-in. The ceremony is preceded by a catered banquet, and snippets of performances from the nominated shows are performed by the groups during the ceremony.

For more detailed information, or if you think you might want to be a Wings Judge, see the Judges' Info page.