2017 CONDA Awards
THE ever-increasing strength of theatre in Newcastle and the Lower Hunter was evident at the City of Newcastle Drama Awards (CONDAs) 2017 presentation night on December 2, with 15 productions staged by 13 companies and schools winning trophies in 22 categories.
The biggest winner was the Newcastle St Philip’s Christian College staging of the musical Mary Poppins, which collected five awards, among them Best Musical Production, Director (Musical) – Robert Stuart, and Best Ensemble Acting. The show, staged in the big Civic Theatre, was praised by the judges as “boundlessly colourful and exceptionally realised”, with “spirited performances” and “impressive production details”.
Six other musicals won awards: Metropolitan Players’ Les Miserables, Opera Hunter’s Don Giovanni, Pantseat Performing Arts’ Rent, Hunter Drama’s Seussical KIDS, Young People’s Theatre’s Cats Abridged, and Hunter School of the Performing Arts’ Catch Me If You Can.
The other winners included three Newcastle Theatre Company productions, Picnic (Best Drama or Comedy), Festive Spirit (Best Play or Musical Written for a Newcastle Company) and Inherit the Wind, Maitland Repertory Theatre’s The Diary of Anne Frank, Knock and Run Theatre’s Grace, Lindsay Street Players’ The Crucible, Micro Theatre Pty Ltd’s Micro Theatre Festival 2017, and Tantrum Youth Arts’ Home.
Greg Paterson, a musical director whose work on Les Miserables won him the Musical Director or Vocal Director award, was also the recipient of the year’ CONDA for Outstanding Contribution and Achievement in Newcastle Theatre, with the judges noting that he had been a supportive mentor and teacher to thousands of emerging artists through his role from 1998 to 2007 as musical director of the annual public schools event Star Struck and that he had worked with virtually all Newcastle musical companies in a voluntary basis over several decades. Paterson announced after the final performance of Les Miserables that he was retiring from theatre.
THE 2017 CONDA WINNERS
Outstanding Contribution and Achievement in Newcastle Theatre: Greg Paterson
Youth Ambassadors: Georgia Vaughan and Hamish Pickering
Dramatic Production: Picnic, Newcastle Theatre Company
Musical Production: Mary Poppins, St Philip’s Christian College
Special Theatrical Event: Micro Theatre Festival 2017, Micro Theatre Pty Ltd
New Play or Musical Written for a Newcastle Company: Festive Spirit, by Sally Davies (Newcastle Theatre Company)
Male Actor in a Leading Role in a Drama or Comedy: Mathew Lee, Grace (Knock and Run Theatre)
Female Actor in a Leading Role in a Drama or Comedy: Katy Carruthers, Inherit the Wind (Newcastle Theatre Company)
Male Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical: Liam Bird, Rent (Pantseat Performing Arts)
Female Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical: Konstanze Koedam, Rent (Pantseat Performing Arts)
Male Actor in a Supporting Role: Tristan Entwhistle, Don Giovanni (Opera Hunter)
Female Actor in a Supporting Role: Alison Cox, Picnic (Newcastle Theatre Company)
Male Actor Under 18: Declan Dowling, Catch Me If You Can (Hunter School of the Performing Arts)
Female Actor Under 18: Alexandra Jensen, The Crucible (Lindsay Street Players, in association with Young People’s Theatre)
Ensemble Acting: Mary Poppins, St Philip’s Christian College
Director (Drama or Comedy): Guil Noronha and Lesley Coombes, The Diary of Anne Frank (Maitland Repertory Theatre)
Director (Musical): Robert Stuart, Mary Poppins (St Philip’s Christian College)
Musical Director or Vocal Director: Greg Paterson, Les Miserables (Metropolitan Players)
Choreographer: Eva-Marie Irwin and Natalie Baker, Mary Poppins (St Philip’s Christian College)
Costume Design: Melanie Hunt, Seussical KIDS (Hunter Drama)
Hair, Make-up and Wigs: Claire Thomas, Cats: Abridged (Young People’s Theatre)
Set and Props Design: Guil Noronha, The Diary of Anne Frank(Maitland Repertory Theatre)
Lighting and Audio Visual Design: Lyndon Buckley, Mary Poppins (St Philip’s Christian College)
Sound Design: Huw Jones, Home (Tantrum Youth Arts, in collaboration with PACT)
Image: Greg Paterson, left, the winner of the Outstanding Achievement Award, with presenter Marty Adnum, the CEO of Out of the Square Media, the principal sponsor of the CONDA Awards.