The 6th Annual Blue Room Awards, held Sunday 1 April at The Blue Room, celebrated productions from the 2006 Open and High Contrast Seasons of the Blue Room Development Program, and awarded the following for their outstanding achievements...
2006 Equity Award Winner Thomas Papathanassiou, Best Actor (Male), added another two accolades for his one man show Looming the Memory, taking out the awards for Best Production and Best Publicity. Producer Alison Van Reeken accepted the awards on Thomas' behalf as he is once again overseas researching for the show's sequel.
Happy Dagger Theatre received the Biggest Box Office (by percentage) Award for their production of Oleanna, which grossed over $12,000 during their run in the Blue Room Theatre before moving on to an equally successful season Downstairs at the Maj. The show has now been accepted into Critical Stages for the opportunity to tour more extensively.
Best Production Team was awarded to The Forlorn and accepted by Weeping Spoon Productions' Tim Watts and Wyatt Nixon-Lloyd. The pair feature in the company's next work, Specks in the Black, premiering in the Blue Room Studio April 17, following on the success of their sold-out Deathtrap season earlier this year.
For its overall design, Side Pony Productions accepted the Judges' Award for Scarecrow on behalf of John Pepper who created the show's amazing set. Side Pony creatives Zoe Pepper and Adrianne Daff are now preparing to undertake professional development in London and New York respectively.
All were surprised at the announcement of a two man show, the sketch review Still Here, taking out the Biggest Bar Tab. M.a.D (Alex Manfrin and Malcolm Dix) are currently working on new sketches and characters for Still There. If accepted in the next Blue Room programme, perhaps they could save time and money by performing in the bar!
And finally, a tense voting period with three shows tied for first place ended with Phobos Mythomanic taking out the Members' Choice Award for Zen's Red Mouth (part of the 2006 City of Perth Winter Arts Festival). Phobos Mythomanic have since relaunched themselves as Mythophobic Productions and will again be producing the work of Jeffrey Jay Fowler in the Blue Room Studio during the 2007 Winter Arts Festival.
The Blue Room thanks award judges Jeremy Rice (Barking Gecko), Dr Donald Pulford (Curtin University), Sarah McNeill (Post News), Georgia Malone (PICA), Wendy Watson-Eckstein and Roger Miller (PACS), along with our MC for the event Adam Mitchell (BSX), and previous winners who presented this year's awards.
See below for the full list of Blue Room 2007 Award nominees and winners.
BEST PRODUCTION TEAM
Nominees:
Looming the Memory
Scarecrow
The Forlorn
Fyodor‚s Demons WINNER: The Forlorn
BEST PUBLICITY
Nominees:
The Loss
Looming the Memory
Falling Petals WINNER: Looming the Memory
BIGGEST BOX OFFICE
Nominees:
Sex With Men
Looming the Memory
Oleanna WINNER: Oleanna
BIGGEST BAR TAB
Nominees:
Discharge
Still Here
Blister WINNER: Still Here
JUDGES' AWARD
Nominees:
Kiss of the Spiderwoman
Zen's Red Mouth
Anthems for Doomed Youth
Scarecrow WINNER: Scarecrow
BEST PRODUCTION
Nominees:
Zen's Red Mouth
Nature As Explained by Theatre
Looming the Memory
Oleanna WINNER: Looming the Memory
MEMBERS' CHOICE AWARD
Nominees:
Discharge
Looming the Memory
Zen's Red Mouth WINNER: Zen's Red Mouth
Rocky Horror Show
Rocky Horror is the apex of 1970’s camp horror, this
schmaltzy parody of the 1950’s late night double feature meets alien
infested sex romp lingers in the popular imagination.
Read more
Company B Launches 2009 SeasonThe Company B 2009 Season, launched last night at Belvoir St Theatre,
is an intrepid journey that will, over 12 months, take audiences across
countries, decades, cultures and circumstances.
Read more
