Ever wonder how a production goes from opening night to a Suzi nomination?
Judging begins during a production’s opening weekend. Opening Weekend judges attend independently and evaluate eligible elements using the Suzi Bass Awards Judges’ Scoring Rubric. They may not discuss the production with one another before submitting their scores and recommendation votes.
Each Opening Weekend judge also votes Yes or No on whether the production should become Suzi Recommended and receive full-panel consideration. A judge may vote Yes based on the strength of the production as a whole — or because even a single eligible element deserves further consideration.
That distinction is important. A judge’s Yes vote is not simply a thumbs-up or thumbs-down judgment of the entire production. It means the production contains work that the judge believes merits further evaluation.
Only Suzi Recommended productions proceed to full-panel judging. Judges from the appropriate Play or Musical panel then attend additional performances and independently score the eligible elements. Suzi Recommended productions that are eligible for World Premiere or Social Justice recognition may also proceed to those specialized panels, where they are evaluated under the criteria established for those awards.
At the end of the season, each panel meets to determine the nominees. Cumulative average scores provide the starting point, but nominations are not determined simply by a mathematical ranking. Judges discuss the eligible work, consider the cumulative evaluations and differing artistic perspectives, and then determine the nominees in each category.
A moderator facilitates the discussion and ensures that differing viewpoints can be heard but, unless also serving as a judge on the panel, does not offer artistic opinions or advocate for or against a potential nominee.
The nominees then move to the Final Ballot. Judges may vote in each category in which they have seen at least 80 percent of the nominees, and those ballots determine the award recipients.
Panel deliberations, individual scores, and ballots are confidential.
Throughout the process, one principle remains constant: every judge is responsible for their own artistic evaluation. Discussion can inform judgment, but no one may direct or improperly influence another judge’s scores, recommendations, nominations, or votes.
The goal is not uniformity of opinion. It is independent judgment, informed discussion, respectful disagreement, and fair consideration of the work.