Sydney Theatre Awards: Winners Announced

The 2011 Sydney Theatre Awards ceremony was short, sharp and successful last night with over 300 members of the Sydney theatre community in attendance (Miranda Otto, Andrew Upton, David Williamson, Amanda Harrison and Michael Falzon to name a few) to celebrate the best of Sydney theatre last year.

The Oscars have Billy Crystal, the Tonys have Hugh Jackman, but the Sydney Theatre Awards have Trevor Ashley and Marney McQueen! The duo from Hairspray kicked of with an hysterical opening number which parodied the famous patter song from Mary Poppins “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” (“Super Sydney Theatre Critic’s Special Nominations”). Written and performed by Trevor Ashely and Marney McQueen the song poked fun at everything from Gross Und Klein to Jersey Boys in an amusing look back at Sydney theatre in 2011.

Other performances were given by the workshop cast of Tim Freedman’s new musical Truth, Beauty and a Picture of You (Ian Stenlake, Frank Hansen, Sam Devenport and Erica Lovell) who performed ‘Keep The Light On’ and Debra Byrne, Australia’s original Fantine in Les Miserables. Byrne performed ‘I Dreamed A Dream’ to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the opening of Les Mis at Sydney’s Theatre Royal.

With three out of five nominations for Best Mainstage Production, it’s no surprise the majority of awards went to Belvoir this year. Their production of The Wild Duck took the top gong, and it also won Best Direction of a Mainstage Production (Simon Stone) and Best Actress and Actor in a Supporting Role of a Mainstage Production (Anita Hegh, Anthony Phelan).

In the music theatre categories, Hairspray was awarded Best Production of a Musical, and leading actress Jaz Flowers won the Judith Johnson Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Musical.

The Judith Johnson Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Musical went to Paul Capsis for STC’s The Threepenny Opera.

Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical was awarded to Martin Crewes for Doctor Zhivago, who dedicated his award to the ensemble cast he worked with on the new musical: “the quality and level of ensemble performing in this country is unmatched…in the universe”, he said.

Best Independent Production went to The Libertine, produced by Sport for Jove Theatre with Darlinghurst Theatre Company, which also garnered Best Actress and Actor in an Independent Production (Danielle King, Anthony Gooley).

Best Actress in a Leading Role of a Mainstage Production was won by Cate Blanchett for Sydney Theatre Company’s Gross und Klein, (accepted by husband Andrew Upton) and Alice Babidge was awarded Best Costume Design for the same production.

Colin Moody won Best Actor in a Leading Role of a Mainstage Production for his role in Bell Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, while Best Direction of an Independent Production went to Sarah Giles for Griffin Independent’s The Ugly One.

Nick Schlieper took home both Best Stage Design and Best Lighting Design for his work on STC’s Baal, while Alan John and Steve Francis won Best Score or Sound Design for STC’s The White Guard.

Best New Australian Work went to Angela Betzien for The Dark Room (Belvoir), and Best Newcomer was Meyne Wyatt for his performances in Griffin’s The Brothers Size and Silent Disco. Best Production for Children was Snow On Mars (Theatre of Image in association with Sydney Festival).

The 2011 Sydney Theatre Award for Lifetime Achievement was presented to David Williamson, in recognition of his extraordinary career as Australia’s leading playwright. After a standing ovation, Williamson thanked the STC, and his ‘new home’ the Ensemble Theatre and told the crowd that despite graduating from Mechanical Engineering (‘thankfully I wasn’t very good at it’) he ended up working the arts, and has loved every minute of it.

“The theatre profession has made my life rich and worthwhile”, he said.

Presenters at the ceremony included Robert Alexander, Fayssal Bazzi, Helen Dallimore, Michael Falzon, Belinda Giblin, Verity Hampson, Amanda Harrison, Jacob Nash, Miranda Otto, Richard Roxburgh and David Williamson.

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).

Congratulations to all the nominees and winners this year. We truly have a wonderful theatre industry and evenings like this are so important in celebrating our culture, our work and our passion.

WINNERS FOR 2011 SYDNEY THEATRE AWARDS

BEST MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
The Wild Duck (Belvoir)

BEST INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
The Libertine (Sport for Jove Theatre with Darlinghurst Theatre Company)

BEST DIRECTION OF A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Simon Stone (The Wild Duck)

BEST DIRECTION OF AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Sarah Giles (The Ugly One)

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE OF A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Cate Blanchett (Gross und Klein)

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE OF A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Colin Moody (Julius Caesar)

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE OF A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Anita Hegh (The Wild Duck)

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE OF A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Anthony Phelan (The Wild Duck)

BEST ACTRESS IN AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Danielle King (The Libertine)

BEST ACTOR IN AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Anthony Gooley (The Libertine)

BEST STAGE DESIGN
Nick Schlieper (Baal)

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Alice Babidge (Gross und Klein)

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN
Nick Schlieper (Baal)

BEST SCORE OR SOUND DESIGN
Alan John and Steve Francis (The White Guard)

BEST NEW AUSTRALIAN WORK
The Dark Room (Angela Betzien)

BEST NEWCOMER
Meyne Wyatt (The Brothers Size/Silent Disco)

BEST PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL
Hairspray

JUDITH JOHNSON AWARD FOR BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Jaz Flowers (Hairspray)

JUDITH JOHNSON AWARD FOR BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Paul Capsis (The Threepenny Opera)

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Martin Crewes (Doctor Zhivago)

BEST PRODUCTION FOR CHILDREN
Snow on Mars (Theatre of Image in association with the Sydney Festival)

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
David Williamson