Alum’s film receives Oscar nomination

Paul Jackson

Eric Simonson, a Lawrence graduate of the class of 1982, has received an Oscar nomination for the best documentary short subject category. His film, “A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin”, centers around the famous radio dramatist of the 1930s and ’40s.Theatre arts professor Timothy Troy has done extensive research on radio dramas. “[After researching the subject] Eric and I connected about Corwin and we found that I could help him out with background and context regarding Corwin’s work,” said Troy. “So, when it came to Eric needing an on-camera expert on Corwin, I was one of them.”

Troy appears on the documentary along with Robert Altman, Walter Cronkite, and Studs Terkel.

“Carl Sandburg said that Corwin was the greatest American poet since Walt Whitman, a recognition that Corwin’s work in drama rises to the level of poetry for it’s evocative use of language and the stunning range of his subject matter,” Troy said. “Corwin’s medium, radio drama, was eclipsed by the television. Those of us involved in the documentary are very pleased that this Oscar nomination will shed some fresh light on Corwin’s career in time for him to enjoy it.”

This is a continuation of a bright theater career for Simonson, who has also seen his play, “The Song of Jacob Zulu,” nominated for a Tony Award and has had the opportunity to act at the Huntington Theatre in Boston as the title character in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.”

Simonson, who was unavailable for comment, has met with a success that is a point of pride for Lawrence and a confirmation of the strength of the Department of Theatre Arts.