Sydney’s best and brightest were joined by star presenters Angela Lansbury and James Earl Jones (in Sydney for the national tour of Driving Miss Daisy) for the 2012 Sydney Theatre Awards.
Paddington RSL was packed to the brim with the Sydney theatre scene as awards for an excellent year of theatre were distributed.
Barry Humphries received the Lifetime Achievement Award, earning a standing ovation for both accepting his award and leaving the podium after his speech, keeping the audience in stitches.
Best Mainstage Production was awarded to Belvoir’s production of Medea, which also won Best Direction of a Mainstage Production (Anne-Louise Sarks), Best Actress in a Leading Role of a Mainstage Production (Blazey Best), Best New Australian Work (Kate Mulvany and Anne-Louise Sarks), and the Best Newcomer Award was shared by Joseph Kelly and Rory Potter.
Best Independent Production went to Punk Rock, produced by pantsguys Productions with atyp Under The Wharf, which also garnered Best Director (Anthony Skuse) and Best Actor in a Supporting Role in an Independent Production (Graeme McRae).
Best Actor in a Leading Role of a Mainstage Production was won by Josh McConville for Griffin’s The Boys, for which Eryn Jean Norvill was awarded Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Mainstage Production. Caroline Brazier won Best Actress in a Leading Role in an Independent Production for I Want To Sleep With Tom Stoppard, while James Lugton won Best Actor in a Leading Role in an Independent Production for The Taming of the Shrew.
Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Mainstage Production went to Patrick Brammall in Death of a Salesman, and Best Actress in a Supporting Role in an Independent Production went to Elena Carapetis for Truck Stop.
South Pacific was awarded Best Production of a Musical, while Lucy Durack won the Judith Johnson Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for in Legally Blonde, and Ben Lewis was awarded the Judith Johnson Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for Love Never Dies. The Supporting Actor and Actress Awards in a Musical went to Bert LaBonte for An Officer and A Gentleman and Jennifer Vuletic for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Presenters at the Awards ceremony included Amanda Bishop, Wayne Blair, Mitchell Butel, Zoe Carides, Trudy Dalgleish, James Earl Jones, Angela Lansbury, Alice Livingstone, Michael Scott Mitchell, Lara Mulcahy, Tommy Murphy and Guy Noble.
The Sydney Theatre Awards are run by a group of theatre critics to celebrate the strength, quality and diversity of theatre in Sydney. The Sydney Theatre Reviewers are Elissa Blake (Sun Herald), Jason Blake (Sydney Morning Herald), Chris Hook (Daily Telegraph), Deborah Jones (The Australian), Darryn King (Time Out Sydney), Jo Litson (The Sunday Telegraph), John McCallum (The Australian) and Diana Simmonds (Stagenoise website).
2012 SYDNEY THEATRE AWARD WINNERS
BEST MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Medea (Belvoir in association with Australian Theatre for Young People)
BEST INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Punk Rock (pantsguys Productions with atyp Under The Wharf)
BEST DIRECTION OF A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Anne-Louise Sarks (Medea)
BEST DIRECTION OF AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Anthony Skuse (Punk Rock)
BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE IN A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Blazey Best (Medea)
BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE IN A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Josh McConville (The Boys)
BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE IN AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Caroline Brazier (I Want To Sleep With Tom Stoppard)
BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE IN AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
James Lugton (The Taming of the Shrew)
BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Eryn Jean Norvill (The Boys)
BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Patrick Brammall (Death of a Salesman)
BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Elena Carapetis (Truck Stop)
BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Graeme McRae (Punk Rock)
BEST STAGE DESIGN OF A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Claude Marcos (Thyestes)
BEST STAGE DESIGN OF AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Michael Hankin with film/video by Sean Bacon (Truck Stop)
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Gabriela Tylesova (Love Never Dies)
BEST LIGHTING DESIGN
Geoff Cobham (Never Did Me Any Harm)
BEST SCORE OR SOUND DESIGN
Stefan Gregory (Thyestes)
BEST NEW AUSTRALIAN WORK
Medea (Kate Mulvany and Anne-Louise Sarks after Euripides)
BEST NEWCOMER
Joseph Kelly and Rory Potter (Medea)
BEST PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL
South Pacific
JUDITH JOHNSON AWARD FOR BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Lucy Durack (Legally Blonde)
JUDITH JOHNSON AWARD FOR BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Ben Lewis (Love Never Dies)
BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Jennifer Vuletic (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)
BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Bert LaBonte (An Officer and A Gentleman)
BEST PRODUCTION FOR CHILDREN
Actor on a Box: The Luck Child (STC)
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Barry Humphries
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I only wish there hadnt been a song called 'I Hate Musicals' with Angela in the audience. It was deeply embarrassing. Maybe if the song had been clever or witty then the awkwardness could have been avoided, but it was neither.