2016 Green Room Award winners announced

The Green Room Awards, Melbourne’s only peer-assesssed performing arts industry awards, were presented at Melbourne’s Comedy Theatre this evening. Hosted by Patron Julia Zemiro, it featured performances by Otto and Astrid of Die Roten Punkte, the Victorian Opera Youth Chorus Ensemble and Yumi Umiumare.

Celebrating the outstanding work presented in Melbourne during 2016, the 34th Annual Green Room Awards awarded 63 category awards and three special awards for the exceptional contributions of Richard Murphet (Lifetime Achievement Award), Jenny Hector (Technical Achievement Award) and Yumi Umiumare (Geoffrey Milne Memorial Award for her contribution to Contemporary and Experimental Performance) to the Melbourne live performance scene.

In the musical theatre category, Matilda The Musical scooped the pool with 8 gongs, including Best Production. Opera Australia’s The Ring Cycle came away with 6 wins and MTC’s Miss Julie snagged 3 awards.

Full list of winners can be found below.

CABARET

Artiste

Ash Flanders, Playing to Win

Ensemble

Occasional Suburban Witch – Benn Bennett, Sarah Ward and Bec Matthews

Design

Paul Lim (Lighting), Lisa Fa’alafi (Costumes), Tristan Shelley (Set Design), Libby Harward (Grafiti Art), Hot Brown Honey (Darebin Arts Speakeasy and Briefs Factory)

Writing

Ash Flanders, Playing to Win

Original Songs

Jude Perl, Part of This Complete Breakfast

Musical Direction

Bec Matthews, Yana Alana Covered

Innovative Use of Form

Grumble: Sex Clown Saves the World

Production

Hot Brown Honey (Darebin Arts Speakeasy and Briefs Factory)

Outstanding Contribution to Cabaret

Mark Jones

CONTEMPORARY AND EXPERIMENTAL PERFORMANCE

Performer

David Woods, The Chat (Arts House)

Sound Performance

Crush, Dylan Sheridan and Sam Routledge (Arts House for Festival of Live Art)

Design

Howl, Aphids (Arts House for Festival of Live Art)
Tremor, Ashley Dyer (Arts House)

Curatorial Contribution

The Substation, 2016 Program

Innovation in Contemporary Circus

Sediment, Company 2 (Melba Spiegeltent for Melbourne Fringe Festival)

Innovation in Participatory Performance

COMPLETE SMUT Art Auction, Punctum (Arts House for Festival of Live Art)

Innovation in Experiential Performance

Imagined Touch, Jodee Mundy Collaborations (Arts House)

Production

COMPLETE SMUT Art Auction, Punctum

DANCE

Female Performer

Lilian Steiner, The Dark Chorus (Lucy Guerin Inc as part of Melbourne Festival)

Male Performer

Benjamin Hancock, The Dark Chorus (Lucy Guerin Inc as part of Melbourne Festival)

Ensemble Performance

CounterMove (Sydney Dance Company)
If_Was_ (Dancenorth)

Visual Design

Ben Cobham for Bluebottle (Set and Lighting Design) and James Sandri and Pete Brundle for PDA (Video System Design), Lucid (Chunky Move)

Music Composition and Sound Design

Duane Morrison, Mermermer (Jo Lloyd and Nicola Gunn for Next Move 9 presented by Chunky Move)

Outstanding Work by an Emerging Artist/Choreographer

Thomas ES Kelly, [MIS]CONCEIVE

Concept and Realisation

Lucid (Chunky Move)

INDEPENDENT THEATRE

Performer (2 awarded)

Zoë Coombs Marr, Trigger Warning
Jane Montgomery-Griffiths, Wit (The Artisan Collective in association with fortyfivedownstairs)

Ensemble

Animal (inFlux in association with Theatre Works)

Lighting Design

Andy Turner, Animal (inFlux in association with Theatre Works)

Set and Costume Design

Romanie Harper (AV, Set & Costume), Conviction (Darebin Arts Speakeasy and The Zoey Louise Moonbeam Dawson Shakespeare Company)

Music Composition and Sound Design

Kelly Ryall (Sound Design), Animal (inFlux in association with Theatre Works)

Writing

Zoë Coombs Marr, Trigger Warning

Direction

Susie Dee, Animal (inFlux in association with Theatre Works)

Production

Blood on the Dancefloor (Ibijerri)

MUSIC THEATRE

Female Lead

Caroline O’Connor, Funny Girl (The Production Company)

Male Lead

Callum Francis, Kinky Boots (Michael Cassel)

Female in a Supporting Role

Naomi Price, Ladies in Black (Queensland Theatre presented by Melbourne Theatre Company)

Male in a Supporting Role

Jack Chambers, Singin’ in the Rain (Lunchbox Theatrical Productions, David Atkins Enterprises, Michael Cassel and Dainty Group)

Lighting Design

Hugh Vanstone, Matilda the Musical (The Royal Shakespeare Company and Louise Withers, Michael Coppel and Michael Watt with Chokey Productions, Just for Laughs Theatricals, Glass Half Full Productions, Paula Marie Black, Greenleaf Productions and Michael Lynch)

Set Design

Rob Howell, Matilda the Musical (The Royal Shakespeare Company and Louise Withers, Michael Coppel and Michael Watt with Chokey Productions, Just for Laughs Theatricals, Glass Half Full Productions, Paula Marie Black, Greenleaf Productions and Michael Lynch)

Costume Design

Rob Howell, Matilda the Musical (The Royal Shakespeare Company and Louise Withers, Michael Coppel and Michael Watt with Chokey Productions, Just for Laughs Theatricals, Glass Half Full Productions, Paula Marie Black, Greenleaf Productions and Michael Lynch)

Sound Design

Simon Baker, Matilda the Musical (The Royal Shakespeare Company and Louise Withers, Michael Coppel and Michael Watt with Chokey Productions, Just for Laughs Theatricals, Glass Half Full Productions, Paula Marie Black, Greenleaf Productions and Michael Lynch)

Music Direction/Supervision

Stephen Amos, Matilda the Musical (The Royal Shakespeare Company and Louise Withers, Michael Coppel and Michael Watt with Chokey Productions, Just for Laughs Theatricals, Glass Half Full Productions, Paula Marie Black, Greenleaf Productions and Michael Lynch)

Betty Pounder Award for Excellence in Choreography

Peter Darling, Matilda the Musical (The Royal Shakespeare Company and Louise Withers, Michael Coppel and Michael Watt with Chokey Productions, Just for Laughs Theatricals, Glass Half Full Productions, Paula Marie Black, Greenleaf Productions and Michael Lynch)

Direction

Matthew Warchus, Matilda the Musical (The Royal Shakespeare Company and Louise Withers, Michael Coppel and Michael Watt with Chokey Productions, Just for Laughs Theatricals, Glass Half Full Productions, Paula Marie Black, Greenleaf Productions and Michael Lynch)

Production

Matilda the Musical (The Royal Shakespeare Company and Louise Withers, Michael Coppel and Michael Watt with Chokey Productions, Just for Laughs Theatricals, Glass Half Full Productions, Paula Marie Black, Greenleaf Productions and Michael Lynch)

OPERA

Female Lead

Lise Lindstrom (Brünnhilde), The Ring Cycle (Opera Australia)

Male Lead

James Johnson (Wotan/The Wanderer), The Ring Cycle (Opera Australia)

Female in a Supporting Role

Eva Kong (Laura), Luisa Miller (Opera Australia)

Male in a Supporting Role

Graeme Macfarlane (Mime), The Ring Cycle (Opera Australia)

Conductor

Pietari Inkinen, The Ring Cycle (Opera Australia)

Design

Robert Kemp (Set) and Matt Scott (Lighting), The Pearl Fishers (Opera Australia)

Direction

Neil Armfield, The Ring Cycle (Opera Australia)

Production

The Ring Cycle (Opera Australia)

THEATRE COMPANIES

Female Performer

Rose Riley, The Glass Menagerie (Belvoir presented by Malthouse Theatre)

Male Performer

Rory Kelly, Trevor (Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre)

Ensemble

Lilith: The Jungle Girl (Melbourne Theatre Company and Sisters Grimm)

Lighting Design

Mark Howett, The Secret River (Sydney Theatre Company presented by Arts Centre Melbourke)

Set and Costume Design

Marg Horwell (Set & Costume Design), Lilith: The Jungle Girl (Melbourne Theatre Company and Sisters Grimm)

Music Composition & Sound Design

David Franzke, Picnic at Hanging Rock (Malthouse Theatre)

Digital Media Design and Integration

Miss Julie (Melbourne Theatre Company)

New Writing/Adaptation for the Australian Stage

Declan Greene and Ash Flanders, Lilith: The Jungle Girl (Melbourne Theatre Company and Sisters Grimm)

Direction

Kip Williams, Miss Julie (Melbourne Theatre Company)

Production

Miss Julie (Melbourne Theatre Company)