Bainbridge Island is a long way from Broadway in New York City, but every ounce of creativity on the island takes artists a step closer.
David Zinn, a Broadway costume and set designer from Bainbridge Island, was honored with his third Tony Award for his work on “Stereophonic” by David Adjimi June 16.
“Stereophonic”, which also won Best Play, takes place in a recording studio where a fictional 1970s rock band on the cusp of of super-stardom records their LP.
Zinn’s career has taken him all over the nation and granted him dozens of opportunites for artistic growth and collaboration — but the world starts out small for young artists, especially those from smaller towns. BI, with its thriving arts and crafts scene, is the exception — and Zinn owes his artistic foundation to the island. But it shouldn’t be an outlier, he said.
“We fail at any scale of community, large or small, as a country, as a civilization, when we don’t support our artists. Bainbridge has a robust local support system for the arts, which is thrilling and lucky and rare […] The arts teach you how to be human, to have imagination, to think, to build community,” Zinn said. “Without the arts, you have failed your children; not just the ones that will end up being artists, but the ones that will benefit from the world those artists help dream forward.”
The theater first found Zinn as a rising middle schooler. His first show at Bainbridge Performing Arts — then called the Bainbridge Light Opera Association — kickstarted a lifelong passion for theater and design. He initially joined the community theater as an actor, but was soon gripped by set design. Zinn recalled a production of Annie that came to Seattle in 1980 with a particular detail that struck him as an 8th grader: a glow emanating from the window of an office door, that suggested a whole building beyond the set.
“My interest in the backstage world started to take over, and I became really enamored seeing how these artificial worlds got created and how they suggested another reality — how truth and fiction were blurred to create some kind of other reality,” Zinn said in an interview with Hampstead Theater.
The switch to design was easy; Zinn said his mentors as a youth in theater on BI were instrumental in shaping his craft and dedication to the stage.
“Sometimes it feels like it all happened last week, sometimes it feels distant, but its impact always feels immediate. I live and learn every day with the lessons, support, fumbles and pleasures that came from my time at BPA,” he said. “The shows themselves had lessons to teach, but the people around those shows were obviously the biggest teachers.”
From Bainbridge, Zinn worked on productions in Seattle and attended New York University’s Tisch School for the Arts, one of the most prestigious theater programs in the world. His productions continue to earn accolades, and he has established a permanent residence in New York City, but the lessons he learned on BI stuck with him.
“One of the most meaningful things I take with me from my time growing up on the island is the overwhelming generosity, encouragement and patience that I was shown by folks that truly didn’t need to take the time to do that,” he said. “I’ve tried to carry that forward in every aspect of my life, and frankly finding out how difficult that can be has made the fact that so much was afforded to me early on that much more astonishing. I feel very shaped — and very grateful.”
Not every small town is as well-rounded as Bainbridge. For young creators in art deserts, Zinn has some words of advice.
“Find your people. Volunteer, if you’re able. At the very least, reach out to people that are doing something that seems like it might be interesting to you,” he said. “Be brave. Find the people that are weird like you, and be curious about everything. Leap towards the things that interest you, even if that’s scary.”
