Music Theatre Guild of Victoria Awards 2018

David Spicer reports.

MLOC Productions was awarded the “Bruce Award” for outstanding musical of 2018 by the Music Theatre Guild of Victoria. The company’s season of Spring Awakening picked up five awards including Best Director and Ensemble.

The annual awards ceremony was held at Bunjil Place, a newly built theatre that is home to the Windmill Theatre Company.  

Centerstage Geelong also performed strongly in the Guild’s awards, taking out four awards for its seasons of We Will Rock You and 42^nd Street.

PLOS Musical Productions’ season of The Phantom of the Opera picked up three awards.

CLOC picked up two awards for Strictly Ballroom and Jekyll and Hyde.

The entertainment during the award ceremony was outstanding.

The standout was a performance by school students Henry Jaksetic and Will McGrath from Caufield Grammar of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, which was side-splittingly funny.

Hats off to the Guild judges for attending more than 110 performances.

A few aspects of the night were curious. Why wasn’t the host company allowed to perform? Why didn’t the Guild showcase the amazing costumes of CLOC’s Strictly Ballroom during the evening?

How did MLOC win show of the year when the production only attracted mildly positive reviews?

Do judges take into account the degree of difficulty in mounting a new production when they assess the musicals? If not why not?

Images: Best Male (Jonathon Gardner) and Female Performer (Morgan Heynes) who played Galileo and Scaramouche in CenterStage Geelong’s production of We Will Rock You and MLOC award winners.

See the Stage Whispers Video.

RESULTS

Production of the Year (Bruce McBrien Award)

Spring Awakening, MLOC Productions

Direction (Vin Foster Award)

Angela Phillips, Spring Awakening, MLOC Productions

Musical Direction (Geoff Tomkins Award)

Nathan Firmin, The Phantom of The Opera, PLOS Musical Productions

Choreography (Marie Cumisky Award)

Fiona Luca-Kingsbury, 42^nd Street, CenterStage Geelong

Settings (Grahame Murphy Award)

Dave Angelico, Rock of Ages, Altona City Theatre

(Joint)

Colin Mitchell, Annie, Leongatha Lyric Theatre Inc.

Wardrobe (Hazel Rodgers Award)

Victoria Horne, Strictly Ballroom, CLOC Musical Theatre

Lighting

Daniel Gosling, The Phantom of The Opera, PLOS Musical Productions

(Joint)

Jason Bovaird and Daniel Jow (Moving Light Productions, Australia), We Will Rock You, CenterStage Geelong

Sound

Marcello Lo Ricco,The Phantom of The Opera, PLOS Musical Productions

Technical Achievement (Nigel Wallace Award)

We Will Rock You, Windmill Theatre Company

Male Performer in a Leading Role (Harold Burrows Award)

Jonathon Gardner, Galileo, We Will Rock You, CenterStage Geelong

Female Performer in a Leading Role (Doreen Burrows Award)

Morgan Heynes, Scaramouche, We Will Rock You, CenterStage Geelong

Male Performer in a Supporting Role (Rob Constable Award)

Daniel Nieborski, Moritz, Spring Awakening, MLOC Productions

Female Performer in a Supporting Role

Phoebe Burke, Mary O’Brien, Dusty,  Babirra Music Theatre

First Performance in a Featured Role (Gladys Moncrieff Award)

Josh Gardiner, Peter Allen, The Boy From Oz, Wonthaggi Theatrical Group

(Joint)

Chaise Rossiello, Billy Lawlor, 42^nd Street, CenterStage Geelong

Cameo Performance

Stephanie Powell, Nellie, Jekyll and Hyde, CLOC Musical Theatre

Ensemble Performance

The Ensemble, Spring Awakening, MLOC Productions

Design Award (Peter Blizzard -Allen Award)

Beau Ladlow and Milly Henley, Audrey 2 Design, Little Shop of Horrors, Horsham Arts Council Inc.

Concert/RevuePerformance

Song Contest: The Almost Eurovision Experience, Geelong Lyric Theatre Society

Junior Production of the Year

Jesus Christ Superstar. Camberwell Grammar School with Canterbury Girls’ Secondary College

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