2014 SYDNEY THEATRE AWARDS WINNERS

The Sydney Theatre Awards for 2014 were presented at a gala ceremony on Monday January 19, 2015 at the Paddington RSL. Over 340 members of the Sydney theatre community packed the auditorium at Paddington RSL to celebrate the best of Sydney theatre throughout the past calendar year.

Bell Shakespeare proved the big winners in the Mainstage category, with five awards including Best Production and Best Direction of a Mainstage Production for Henry V. Sport for Jove dominated the Independent category with a total of seven awards. Independent Musical Theatre productions at the Hayes Theatre dominated the Musical Theatre fields, with Sweet Charity winning Best Production amongst its three awards, Squabbalogic's The Drowsy Chaperone taking home four awards, including a double for Jay James-Moody as Best Male Actor and Best Director, and two awards for Miracle City.

The Sydney Theatre Awards are presented annually by a group of leading theatre critics to celebrate the strength, quality and diversity of theatre in Sydney.

The Sydney Theatre Award for Lifetime Achievement was presented to one of Australia’s greatest stage legends, Reg Livermore, whose professional career has spanned 57 years from early roles at the Ensemble, Independent and Tivoli, through musicals including Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar and The Rocky Horror Show and his acclaimed, risqué one-man shows, to his success in recent blockbuster musicals like The Producers and Wicked.

Presenters at the Awards ceremony were David Berthold, Justine Clarke, Lucy Durack, Jane Harders, Christopher Horsey, John Paramor, Craig McLachlan, Suzie Miller, Shannon Murphy, Marshall Napier, Susie Porter, Vanessa Scammell, Terry Serio and Dan Wyllie; and there were performances from Wicked’s Jemma Rix, Edward Grey and Emily Cascarino, and the cast of Dirty Dancing.

2014 SYDNEY THEATRE AWARD WINNERS

BEST MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION

Henry V (Bell Shakespeare)

BEST INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION

All’s Well That Ends Well (Sport for Jove)

BEST PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL

Sweet Charity (Luckiest Productions and Gooding Productions in association with Hayes Theatre Co)

BEST DIRECTION OF A MAINSTREAM PRODUCTION

Damien Ryan (Henry V)

BEST DIRECTION OF AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION

Jay James-Moody (The Drowsy Chaperone)

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE IN A MAINSTREAM PRODUCTION

Sarah Peirse (Switzerland)

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE IN A MAINSTREAM PRODUCTION

Richard Roxburgh (Cyrano de Bergerac)

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE IN AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION

Matilda Ridgway (A Doll’s House)

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE IN AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION

Joint Winners

Sean Hawkins (Howie the Rookie)

and

Andrew Henry (Howie the Rookie)

JUDITH JOHNSON AWARD FOR BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL

Joint Winners

Blazey Best (Miracle City)

and

Verity Hunt-Ballard (Sweet Charity)

JUDITH JOHNSON AWARD FOR BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MUSICAL

Jay James-Moody (The Drowsy Chaperone)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MUSICAL

Debora Krizak (Sweet Charity)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MUSICAL

Robert Grubb (Strictly Ballroom) 

BEST MUSICAL DIRECTION

Max Lambert (Miracle City)

BEST CABARET PRODUCTION

Love and Death and an American Guitar (Toby Francis)

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST

Is This Thing On?

BEST NEW AUSTRALIAN WORK

Switzerland (Joanna Murray-Smith)

BEST PRODUCTION FOR CHILDREN

The Piper (My Darling Patricia presented by Sydney Festival and Carriageworks)

BEST PRODUCTION FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

Sugarland (atyp)

BEST STAGE DESIGN OF A MAINSTREAM PRODUCTION

Anna Gardiner (Henry V)

BEST STAGE DESIGN OF AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION

Lauren Peters (The Drowsy Chaperone) 

BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF A MAINSTREAM PRODUCTION

Julie Lynch (Noises Off)

BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION

Elizabeth Franklin (The Drowsy Chaperone)

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MAINSTREAM PRODUCTION

Kate Mulvany (Tartuffe)

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MAINSTREAM PRODUCTION

Josh McConville (Noises Off) 

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION

Georgia Adamson (The Crucible)

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION

George Banders (All’s Well That Ends Well)

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF A MAINSTREAM PRODUCTION

Benjamin Cisterne (A Christmas Carol) 

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION

Toby Knyvett (All’s Well That Ends Well)

BEST SCORE OR SOUND DESIGN OF A MAINSTREAM PRODUCTION

Steve Francis and Drew Livingston (Henry V)

BEST SOUND DESIGN OF AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION

David Stalley (All’s Well That Ends Well)

BEST NEWCOMER

Hunter Page-Lochard (Brothers Wreck, Black Diggers, Sugarland)

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Reg Livermore