Sydney news

Nominations have been announced for the Sydney Theatre Awards for 2010, which will be presented at a gala ceremony on Monday January 17 at 6pm at the Paddington RSL.

Leading the list of nominations with eight nominations each are two Belvoir productions, The Diary of a Madman (Best Mainstage Production, Best Director, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Best Stage Design, Best Costume Design, Best Lighting Design and Best Score or Sound Design) and Namatjira, co-produced with Big hART (Best Mainstage Production, Best Director, Best New Australian Work, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Newcomer, Best Lighting Design and Best Score or Sound Design).

Measure for Measure, a Belvoir production, receives seven nominations including Best Mainstage Production, and STC‟s Uncle Vanya receives six, including Best Mainstage Production. In Musical Theatre categories, The Sapphires leads with four nominations, with Jersey Boys following with three. Nominations are spread across 35 different productions produced in Sydney during the calendar year of 2010.

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 Reviewers consist of Elissa Blake (Sun Herald), Jason Blake (Sydney Morning Herald), Deborah Jones (The Australian), Alex Lalak (Daily Telegraph), Jo Litson (The Sunday Telegraph), John McCallum (The Australian) and Diana Simmonds (Stagenoise website).
Jason Blake said “It‟s been a fascinating year with the boundaries between the mainstream and the „edgy‟ eroding noticeably. Sydney‟s theatre is bold, diverse and in creative rude health.”

“This is an exciting time for theatre,” said Alex Lalak, “and in the past year Sydney audiences have been treated to some cracking productions, which are reflected in this year's nominations. Some of the categories inspired healthy debate among the panel, which is surely the sign of a great year in which audiences have been spoiled for choice.”

Vying for Best Mainstage Production are The Diary of a Madman (Belvoir), Measure for Measure (Belvoir), Namatjira (Belvoir/ Big hART) and Uncle Vanya (Sydney Theatre Company/ Bell Shakespeare). The nominees for Best Independent Production are Bang (White Box Theatre in association with B Sharp), The Fence (Urban Theatre Projects/Sydney Festival), Seven Kilometres North-East (Version 1.0 in association with the Tamarama Rock Surfers) and Way to Heaven (Ride On Theatre in association with Griffin Independent).

BEST MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
The Diary of a Madman (Belvoir)
Measure for Measure (Belvoir)
Namatjira (Belvoir and Big hART)
Uncle Vanya (Sydney Theatre Company in association with Bell Shakespeare)

BEST INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Bang (White Box Theatre in association with B Sharp)
The Fence (Urban Theatre Projects and Sydney Festival)
Seven Kilometres North-East (Version 1.0 in association with the Tamarama Rock Surfers)
Way to Heaven (Ride On Theatre in association with Griffin Independent)

BEST DIRECTION
Benedict Andrews (Measure for Measure)
Neil Armfield (The Diary of a Madman)
Scott Rankin and Wayne Blair (Namatjira)
Sam Strong (The Power of Yes)

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Melissa Jaffer (Gwen in Purgatory)
Robin McLeavy (Measure for Measure)
Robyn Nevin (Long Day‟s Journey Into Night)
Susie Porter (That Face)

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Wayne Blair (True West)
Trevor Jamieson (Namatjira)
Richard Roxburgh (Uncle Vanya)
Geoffrey Rush (The Diary of a Madman)

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Cate Blanchett (Uncle Vanya)
Sue Ingleton (Gwen in Purgatory)
Hayley McElhinney (Uncle Vanya)
Yael Stone (The Diary of a Madman)

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Peter Carroll (King Lear)
Derek Lynch (Namatjira)
Toby Schmitz (Measure for Measure)
Hugo Weaving (Uncle Vanya)

BEST NEW AUSTRALIAN WORK
Paul Capsis and Julian Meyrick (Angela‟s Kitchen)
Jonathan Gavin (Bang)
Scott Rankin (Namatjira)
Richard Tulloch (The Book of Everything)

BEST NEWCOMER
Arka Das (Animals Out of Paper)
Casey Donovan (The Sapphires)
Derek Lynch (Namatjira)
Lizzie Schebesta (The Seagull)

BEST STAGE DESIGN
Dale Ferguson (The Power of Yes)
Catherine Martin (The Diary of a Madman)
Ralph Myers with Sean Bacon (Measure for Measure)
Pip Runciman (Our Town)

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Kim Carpenter (The Book of Everything)
Dale Ferguson (Measure for Measure)
Nicholas Dare (Smoke and Mirrors)
Tess Schofield (The Diary of a Madman)

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN
Nigel Levings (Namatjira)
Niklas Pajanti (Spring Awakening)
Nick Schlieper (Uncle Vanya)
Mark Shelton (The Diary of a Madman)

BEST SCORE OR SOUND DESIGN
Stefan Gregory (Measure for Measure)
David Heinrich (Quack)
Alan John and Paul Charlier (The Diary of a Madman)
Genevieve Lacey and Jim Atkins (Namatjira)

BEST PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL
Jersey Boys (Dodger Theatricals, Rodney Rigby, Dainty Consolidated Entertainment, Joseph J Grano, Tamara and Kevin Kinsella, Pelican Group, Michael Watt)
Kiss of the Spiderwoman (Gaiety Theatre in association with Darlinghurst Theatre Company)
The Sapphires (Belvoir)
Spring Awakening (Sydney Theatre Company)

JUDITH JOHNSON AWARD FOR BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Christine Anu (The Sapphires)
Alinta Chidzey (West Side Story)
Casey Donovan (The Sapphires)
Nancye Hayes (A Little Night Music)

JUDITH JOHNSON AWARD FOR BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MUSICAL OR CABARET
Bobby Fox (Jersey Boys)
iOTA (Smoke and Mirrors)
Scott Johnson (Jersey Boys)
James Lee (Kiss of the Spiderwoman)

BEST CABARET PRODUCTION
I‟m Every Woman – Trevor Ashley (Sydney Opera House)
Newley Discovered – Hugh Sheridan (Sydney Opera House)
Smoke and Mirrors (Sydney Festival)
The Man in Black (Folsom Prison Productions at the Sydney Opera House)

BEST PRODUCTION FOR CHILDREN
Actor on a Box – The Loaded Dog (Sydney Theatre Company)
The Book of Everything (Belvoir/Theatre of Image)
House on Fire (Australian Theatre for Young People)
Mr Freezy (Arena Theatre Company in association with Men of Steel

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
To be announced at the ceremony