Mary Poppins Big Green Room Winner

The 2010 Green Room Awards were presented tonight (March 21, 2011) at a ceremony hosted by Julia Zemiro atThe Famous Spiegeltent at the Arts Centre, Melbourne.

The hit musical Mary Poppins scooped the Musical Theatre awards, collecting nine awards out of twelve in its category, including Best Production, Direction, Musical Direction and Choreography. Verity Hunt-Ballard, who plays Mary Poppins, was the recipient of the Green Room Award for Female Artist – Leading Role for her star turn in the production.

Geoffrey Rush may have missed out on an Oscar, but he has taken out Green Room Award for Male Artist – Leading Role in a Musical for his performance in The Drowsy Chaperone.

Hairspray took out two awards - Lightning Design: Trudy Dalgleish and Female Artist – Featured Role: Esther Hannaford.

Another strong performer on the night was the feisty cabaret production Yana Alana and the Paranas in Concert, which won six of the eight Cabaret awards.

Collaboration was often the key to success in the theatre awards, with the productions Moth (jointly staged by the Malthouse Theatre Company and Arena Theatre Company) and Thyestes (a collaboration between the Malthouse and independent company The Hayloft Project) extremely successful in the Theatre – Companies category. Conversely, the Melbourne Theatre Company demonstrated that a clear vision from a single production house could also lead to success, with the MTC’s production of Richard III picking up the awards for Male Actor, Female Actor and Direction in the same category.

The independent and hybrid theatre sectors remained as strong as ever, showcasing the range of small companies and venues operating in Melbourne. Opera Australia dominated the Opera awards, and NSW-based companies Bangarra Dance Theatre and the Sydney Dance Company performed well in the Dance category, though Chunky Move also had a strong showing.

The Lifetime Achievement Award – made to a person who has enriched the performing arts in Melbourne through long service, and whose achievements have had a lasting impact on a younger generation of practitioners – was presented to Carillo Gantner AO.

The Green Room Awards, in their 28th year, are the awards for excellence on the Melbourne professional stage. All productions having their première in Melbourne in the calendar year are eligible. 

Green Room Awards - 2010 Recipients

Music Theatre

Direction: Richard Eyre & Matthew Bourne – Mary Poppins

Costume and/or Set Design: Bob Crowley – Set & Costumes – Mary Poppins

Lightning Design: Trudy Dalgleish – Hairspray

Sound: Peter Grubb – Mary Poppins

Choreography: Matthew Bourne & Stephen Mear – Mary Poppins

Musical Direction: Michael Tyack – Mary Poppins

Female Artist – Leading Role: Verity Hunt-Ballard – Mary Poppins

Male Artist – Leading Role: Geoffrey Rush – The Drowsy Chaperone

Male Artist – Featured Role: Philip Quast – Mary Poppins

Female Artist – Featured Role: Esther Hannaford – Hairspray

Featured Ensemble or Full Ensemble Performance: Mary Poppins

Best Production: Mary Poppins

Image: Verity Hunt-Ballard as Mary Poppins

 

Theatre - Companies

Lighting Design: Rachel Burke – Moth (Malthouse Theatre / Arena Theatre Company)

Set/Costume Design: Shaun Gurton (set) – Richard III (Melbourne Theatre Company)

Sound / Composition: Jethro Woodward (composer) – Moth (Malthouse Theatre / Arena Theatre Company)

Female Actor: Alison Whyte (Queen Elizabeth) – Richard III (Melbourne Theatre Company)

Male Actor: Ewen Leslie (Richard) – Richard III (Melbourne Theatre Company)

Direction: Simon Phillips – Richard III (Melbourne Theatre Company)

Production: Thyestes– Malthouse Theatre / Hayloft Project

Ensemble: Thyestes – Malthouse Theatre / Hayloft Project

Image: Ewen Leslie - Richard III (Photographer: Jeff Busby)

 

Theatre – Alternative and Hybrid Performance

Outstanding Production: Pin Drop– Tamara Saulwick

Composition & Sound Design: Jethro Woodward – Irony is not Enough (Fragment 31)

Production Design: Claire Britton, Matt Priest, Danny Egger – Conceptual Design – Hole in the Wall (Matt Priest & Claire Britton / NextWave)

Video Design: Fleur Elise Nobel – 2 Dimensional Life of Her

Mise-en-Scene: The Bougainville Photoplay Project – Paul Dwyer

Site-Specific Production:  Southern Crossings– One Step at a Time Like This

Image: Pin Drop

 

Cabaret

Best Production: Yana Alana and tha Paranas in Concert– Gasworks & Arts Victoria in association with Melbourne Workers Theatre and Yana Alana and tha Paranas

Artiste: Yana Alana – Yana Alana and tha Paranas in Concert

Ensemble:Yana Alana and the Paranas – Yana Alana and tha Paranas in Concert

Original Songs: Yana Alana and tha Paranas – Yana Alana and tha Paranas in Concert

Director: Anni Davey – Yana Alana and the Paranas in Concert

Musical Direction: Sarah Ward, Bec Matthews & Ania Reynolds – Yana Alana and tha Paranas in Concert

Innovative Use of Form: Emily Taylor – Hello You

Contribution to Cabaret: Kaye Sera

Image: Yana Alana (Photographer: Mia Mala McDonald)

 

Dance

Music/Sound Composition and Performance: Ezio Bosso & George Gorga – We Unfold (Sydney Dance Company)

Design: Jacob Nash – Set – Artefact (Bangarra Dance Theatre)

Male Dancer: Tim Ohl – Mix Tape (Chunky Move)

Female Dancer: Emily Amisano – We Unfold (Sydney Dance Company)

Ensemble: Bangarra Dance Theatre - Of Earth and Sky

Concept & Realisation: Private Dances(Next Wave Festival & Natalie Cursio)

Betty Pounder Award for Choreography:
TIE: Frances Rings – Artefact (Bangarra Dance Theatre)
AND: Stephanie Lake – Mix Tape (Chunky Move)

Image: We Unfold. Photographer: Jeff Busby

 

Theatre – Independent

Male Performer: Thomas Conroy (Henry) – Something Natural But Very Childish (Dirty Pretty Theatre / La Mama)

Female Performer: Justine Campbell (Jane Franklin) – The Fate of Franklin and his Gallant Crew (Four Larks Theatre)

Ensemble: Us (Grit Theatre / The Function Room)

Design: Sebastian Peters-Lazaro & Ellen Strasser – Set & Properties Design – Body of work (Four Larks Theatre)

Lighting Design: Bluebottle – Ben Cobham with Jenny Hector – Lighting Design & Realisation – Madeleine (Jenny Kemp & Black Sequin Productions / Arts House)

Sound / Composition: Mat Diafos Sweeney (Four Larks Theatre) – Music/Sound/Composition – Body of work

Direction: Gary Abrahams – Body of work

Production: Us (Grit Theatre / The Function Room)

 

Opera

Production: La Sonnambula– Opera Australia

Design: Adam Gardir (set) and Harriet Oxley (costume) – Angelique (Victorian Opera)

Female Lead: Emma Matthews (Amina) – La Sonnambula (Opera Australia)

Male Lead: Peter Coleman-Wright (Harry Joy) – Bliss (Opera Australia)

Female Support: Catherine Carby (Orovsky) – Fledermaus and (Hippolyta) – Midsummer Night’s Dream (Opera Australia)

Male Support: Conal Coad (Bottom/Pyramus) – A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Opera Australia)

Conductor: Paul Kildea – The Turn of the Screw (Victorian Opera) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Opera Australia)

Director: Julie Edwardson – La Sonnambula (Opera Australia)

Lighting: Nigel Levings – Bliss (Opera Australia)

Image: Emma Matthews & Joshua Bloom. Photographer: Jeff Busby

 

Association Awards

Lifetime Achievement Award: Carrillo Gantner AO

Technical Achievement Award: David Miller, Production Manager, Malthouse Theatre

Award for Outstanding Contribution to Melbourne Theatre: Lisle Jones

Best New Original Writing for the Melbourne Stage: Declan Greene – Moth (Malthouse Theatre / Arena Theatre Company)

Best Adaptation for the Melbourne Stage: Simon Stone, Thomas Henning, Chris Ryan & Mark Winter – Thyestes after Seneca (Malthouse Theatre / The Hayloft Project)

Image: Carrillo Gantner AO

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