Latest Melbourne News

The Green Room Awards Association announced the nominations today for their 2010 Awards for excellence on the Melbourne stage. The recipients will be announced on Monday, 21st March 2011 at a gala ceremony housed in Melbourne’s newest “hot spot”, The Famous Spiegeltent, located in the forecourt of the Arts Centre, Melbourne.

Each year the Green Room Awards go to a wide variety of professional performing artists from both behind and in front of the curtain. The best and brightest of our city’s celebrated theatre, musical theatre, cabaret, opera and dance creators will be in the running for Melbourne’s premier awards. Nominations are made by the Association membership and voted on by secret ballot.

Richard Watts, the newly appointed President of the Green Room Awards Association, describes the event as means to “celebrate the strength and vitality of Melbourne’s performing arts sector and the remarkable range of works seen on Melbourne’s stages. A rare and important opportunity to recognise the achievements of the talented individuals and companies responsible for maintaining Melbourne’s reputation as a centre of excellence in the arts.”

The Green Room Association members, comprised of industry professionals, including directors, playwrights, choreographers, performers and critics, decide the nominations and awards. The members are organized into panels in each discipline. The voting year for the Green Room Awards is from 1 January to 31 December. All professional productions with a minimum number of Melbourne seasons are eligible for Awards.

In 2010, the Green Room panels saw more than 120 independent theatre productions, 46 professional dance works, 15 first-run musicals, 16 operas, over 30 productions by major theatre companies, and more than 50 alternative and hybrid theatre works - circus, puppetry productions, and other works reliant on new media.

Along with the individual awards presented on Monday 21st March, the Green Room Awards will present the prestigious 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award to an individual whose work has “significantly enriched Melbourne’s cultural landscape”. This year also includes a 2010 Technical Achievement Award, given to the “unsung” heroes of the performing arts, those whose work often goes unseen and unrecognised by audiences.

Nominations for the Green Room Awards are traditionally announced on the third Tuesday of February, proclaimed as Theatre Day by the then Lord Mayor of Melbourne Winsome McCaughey in 1987.

---

Full list of nominees

::Theatre - Alternative & Hybrid Performance::

Outstanding Production
The Bougainville Project – Paul Dwyer
Pin Drop – Tamara Saulwick
Propaganda – Acrobat

Composition and Sound Design
Irony is not Enough – Jethro Woodward (Fragment 31)
Pin Drop – Peter Knight (Tamara Saulwick / Arts House)
Urchin – Jethro Woodward (Full Tilt / Encyclopaedia of Animals)

Production Design
Cageling – Design – Emma Valente and Kate Davis (The Rabble)
Carnival of Mysteries – Visual Artists & Production Design – The Sister Hayes (Finucane & Smith / MIFA)
Hole in the Wall – Conceptual Design – Claire Britton, Matt Priest, Danny Egger (Matt Priest & Clare Britton / NextWave)
Pin Drop – Design & Production – Bluebottle (Tamara Saulwick / Arts House)

Video Design
This Kind of Ruckus – Sean Bacon (Version 1.0)
2 Dimensional Life of Her – Fleur Elise Noble
The Animals and Children Took to the Streets – Paul Barrit (Malthouse / 1927)

Mise-en-Scene
This Kind of Ruckus – Version 1.0
The Bougainville Photoplay Project – Paul Dwyer
Pin Drop – Tamara Saulwick
Propaganda – Acrobat
The Animals & Children Took to the Streets – 1927

Site-Specific Production
The Lost Story of the Magdalen Asylum – The Abbotsford Convent (Peepshow Inc.)
Southern Crossings – Southern Cross Station (One Step at a Time Like This)

Best New Original Writing for the Melbourne Stage
Peta Brady Status Update (La Mama)
Patricia Cornelius Do Not Go Gentle (fortyfivedownstairs)
Adriano Cortese (Concept & Direction), Raimondo Cortese (text) with Beth Buchanan, Paul Lum & Patrick Moffatt (co-devisors) Intimacy (Ranters Theatre/Malthouse Theatre/Melbourne International Arts Festival)
Declan Greene Moth (Arena Theatre Company/Malthouse Theatre)

Best Adaptation for the Melbourne Stage
Gary Abrahams (writer, inspired by and based on the novella by James Baldwin) Acts of Deceit (Between Strangers in a Room) (Dirty Pretty Theatre/La Mama)
Gary Abrahams (writer, based on, adapted from and inspired by the short stories of Katherine Mansfield) Something Natural but Very Childish (Dirty Pretty Theatre/La Mama)
Simon Stone, Thomas Henning, Chris Ryan and Mark Winter (co-writers) Thyestes after Seneca (The Hayloft Project/Malthouse Theatre)
Anne-Louise Sarks and Benedict Hardie (writers) The Nest after Maxim Gorky’s The Philistines


::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)
Shut Up and Sing (Geraldine Quinn)
Big in Sweden (Carl-Einar Hackner)
Mrs Bang: A Series of Seductions in 55 Minutes (Sheridan Harbridge)
Britney Spears: The Cabaret (Luckiest Productions)

Artiste
Geraldine Quinn, Shut Up and Sing
Yana Alana, Yana Alana and tha Paranas in Concert
Mike McLeish, The World is Winning and body of work
Carl-Einar Hackner, Big in Sweden
Mikelangelo, The Mysteries of Love and body of work

Ensemble
Yana Alana and the Paranas, Yana Alana and the Paranas in Concert
Die Roten Punkte, Kunst Rock
The Beautiful Losers, The Beautiful Losers
The Brown Bears, From Russia With Lust

Original Songs
Geraldine Quinn, Shut Up and Sing
Die Roten Punkte, Kunst Rock
Yana Alana and tha Paranas, Yana Alana and tha Paranas in Concert
Mikelangelo and Saint Clare, The Mysteries of Love
Karin Muiznieks, First Against the Wall

Director
Anni Davey, Yana Alana and tha Paranas in Concert
Dean Bryant, Britney Spears: The Cabaret
Scott Gooding, First Against the Wall
Martin White, Hello You

Musical Direction
Sarah Ward, Bec Matthews & Ania Reynolds, Yana Alana and the Paranas in Concert
Matthew Frank, Britney Spears: The Cabaret
Mark Jones, The Divine Cabaret

Innovative Use of Form
Emily Taylor, Hello You

Contribution to Cabaret
Kaye Sera


::Dance::

Music/Sound Composition and Performance
David Page, Of Earth and Sky (Bangarra)
Gerard Brophy, Halcyon (Australian Ballet)
Kelly Ryall, Expectation (Carlee Mellow)
Ezio Bosso & George Gorga, We Unfold (Sydney Dance Company)

Design
Gideon Obarzanek (set), Paul Jackson (lighting), Anna Cordingly (set realisation), Human Interest Story (Lucy Guerin Inc.)
Jacob Nash (set), Artefact (of Earth and Sky) (Bangarra)
Bluebottle, Expectation (Carlee Mellow)
Daniel Askill (video), Hugh Taranto (lighting), We Unfold (Sydney Dance Company)

Male Dancer
Waangenga Blanco, Of Earth and Sky (Bangarra)
Daniel Gaudiello, Coppelia (Australian Ballet)
Chen Wen, We Unfold (Sydney Dance Company)
Tony Yap, Rasa Sayang (Tony Yap Company)
Tim Ohl, Mix Tape (Chunky Move)

Female Dancer
Emily Amisano, We Unfold (Sydney Dance Company)
Lucinda Dunn, Silver Rose (Australian Ballet)
Madelaine Eastoe, Coppelia (Australian Ballet)
Carlee Mellow, Expectation (Carlee Mellow)
Sabina Perry, Human Abstract (Jack Productions)

Ensemble
Sydney Dance Company – We Unfold
Australian Ballet – Molto Vivace
Luke George Co. – Now Now Now
Chunky Move – Mix Tape
Bangarra – Of Earth and Sky

Concept & Realisation
Private Dances (Next Wave Festival – Natalie Cursio)
Expectation (Carlee Mellow)
The Oak’s Bride (Red Moon Rising)

Betty Pounder Award for Choreography
Frances Rings, Artefact (or Earth and Sky) (Bangarra)
Rafael Bonachela, We Unfold (Sydney Dance Company)
Stephanie Lake, Mix Tape (Chunky Move)


::Theatre – Independent::

Male Performer
Dennis Moore (performer) Crime and Punishment (The Stork Theatre/Alliance Francaise)
Daniel Schlusser (performer) Cageling (The Rabble/fortyfivedownstairs)
Ben Pfeiffer (‘Lady’ Macbeth) Manbeth (Band of Creatures/Optic Nerve/fortyfivedownstairs)
Thomas Conroy (Henry) Something Natural but Very Childish (Dirty Pretty Theatre/La Mama)
Josh Price (Pedagogus) Elektra (Fraught Outfit/The Dog Theatre)

Female Performer
Justine Campbell (Jane Franklin) The Fate of Franklin and his Gallant Crew (Four Larks Theatre)
Nicola Gunn (performer) At the Sans Hotel (Theatreworks)
Peta Brady (performer) Status Update (La Mama)
Hannah Norris (performer) My Name is Rachael Corrie (fortyfivedownstairs)
Nikki Shields (Maddy) Madeleine (Jenny Kemp & Black Sequin Productions/Arts House

Ensemble
Acts of Deceit (Between Strangers in a Room) (Dirty Pretty Theatre/La Mama)
Something Natural but Very Childish (Dirty Pretty Theatre/La Mama)
Orpheus (Four Larks Theatre)
Us (Grit Theatre/The Function Room)

Design
Sebastian Peters-Lazaro & Ellen Strasser (Set & Properties Design) Body of Work (Four Larks Theatre)
Chloe Greaves (Costume Design) The Fate of Franklin and his Gallant Crew (Four Larks Theatre)
Tim Stitz, Kelly Somes & Ashlee Hughes (Design Concept & Realisation) Lloyd Beckmann, Beekeeper (Two Blue Cherries/Soulart/La Mama)
Nicola Gunn, Gwendolyna Holmberg-Gilchrist & Rebecca Etchell (design) At the Sans Hotel (Theatreworks)
Daniel Harvey (Design) Back From The Dead Red (Melboune Fringe/The Loft, Lithuanian Club)

Lighting Design
Lisa Mibus (Lighting Design) The Colour of Glass (La Mama)
Emma Valente (Lighting) Bare Witness (La Mama/fortyfivedownstairs)
Bluebottle - Ben Cobham with Jenny Hector (Lighting Design & Realisation) Madeleine (Jenny Kemp & Black Sequin Productions/Arts House)
Katie Sfetkidis (Lighting) Elektra (Fraught Outfit/The Dog Theatre)

Sound/Composition
Four Larks Theatre (Music/Sound/Composition) Body of work
Luke Paulding (Original Sound) At the Sans Hotel (Theatreworks)
M. Davis (Sound Designer/Composer) Cageling (The Rabble/fortyfivedownstairs)
Lou Bennett (Original Music) Wakaid Girl Lyndhurst Kid (Loose Canon Art Services/La Mama)

Direction
Gary Abrahams (direction) Body of work
Andrew Gray (Director) The Colour of Glass (La Mama)
Adena Jacobs (Direction) Elektra (Fraught Outfit/The Dog Theatre)
Anne-Louise Sarks (Director) The Nest (The Hayloft Project/Northcote Town Hall)

Production
The Fate of Franklin and his Gallant Crew (Four Larks Theatre)
At the Sans Hotel (Theatreworks)
Something Natural but Very Childish (Dirty Pretty Theatre/La Mama)
Us (Grit Theatre/The Function Room)
The Lounge Room Confabulators: Unverified Stories from a Travelling Suitcase (Melbourne Fringe)


::Music Theatre::

Direction
Nancye Hayes, The Boy From Oz
David Atkins, Hairspray
Richard Eyre & Matthew Bourne, Mary Poppins

Costume and/or Set Design
Janet Hine (costume and wigs), Hairspray
Eaemon D’Arcy (production design), Hairspray
Robbi Klaesi, Tracey Taylor, Frantz Kantor, Digital Pulse (graphic & digital content), Hairspray
Bob Crowley (set & costumes), Mary Poppins

Lighting Design
Trudi Dalgleish, Hairspray
Trudi Dalgleish, The Boy from Oz

Sound
Peter Grubb, Mary Poppins

Choreography
Matthew Bourne & Stephen Mear, Mary Poppins
Jerome Robbins, West Side Story
Andrew Hallsworth, The Boy from Oz
Andrew Hallsworth, The Drowsy Chaperone
Kelley Abbey, Fame - The Musical

Musical Direction
Michael Tyack, Mary Poppins
Simon Holt, Starting Here, Starting Now

Female Artist – Leading Role
Jaz Flowers, Hairspray
Verity Hunt-Ballard, Mary Poppins
Christie Whelan, Sugar
Delia Hannah, Cats

Male Artist – Leading Role
Todd McKenny, The Boy From Oz
Geoffrey Rush, The Drowsy Chaperone

Male Artist – Featured Role
Philip Quast, Mary Poppins
Rohan Browne, West Side Story
Rohan Brown, The Drowsy Chaperone
Adam Murphy, The Drowsy Chaperone
Michael-John Hurney, Cats

Female Artist – Featured Role
Christen O’Leary, The Boy From Oz
Robyn Arthur, The Boy From Oz
Esther Hannaford, Hairspray
Alinta Chidzey, West Side Story
Lisa Marie Parker, Cats

Featured Ensemble or Full Ensemble Performance
Mary Poppins
Fame – The Musical
Cats
Hairspray

Best Production
Hairspray
Mary Poppins


::Opera::

Production
Bliss – Opera Australia
La Sonnambula – Opera Australia
The Bear/Angelique – Victorian Opera
The Barber of Seville – Melbourne Opera
Julius Caesar – Victorian Opera

Design
Brian Thomson (Set and LED Images Designer) – Bliss (Opera Australia)
Richard Roberts – La Sonnambula (Opera Australia)
Adam Gardir (Set) and Harriet Oxley (Costume) – Angelique (Victorian Opera)
Richard Roberts (set) Angus Strathie (Costume) – Fledermaus (Opera Australia)
Andrew Bellchambers (set) – Cavalleria Rusticana /Pagliacci (Melbourne Opera)

Female Lead
Emma Matthews (Amina) – La Sonnambula (Opera Australia)
Danielle Calder (Governess) – The Turn of the Screw (Victorian Opera)
Nicole Youl (Floria Tosca) – Tosca (Opera Australia)
Merlyn Quaife (Betty Joy) – Bliss (Opera Australia)
Theresa Borg (Angelique) – Angelique (Victorian Opera)

Male Lead
Peter Coleman-Wright (Harry Joy) Bliss
David Hansen (Giulio Cesare) – Julius Caesar (Victorian Opera)
John Bolton Wood (Smirnov) – The Bear (Victorian Opera)
Phillip Calcagno (Figaro) The Barber of Seville (Melbourne Opera)
Tobias Cole (Oberon) A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Opera Australia)

Female Support
Sian Pendry (Cheribino) – Marriage of Figaro (Opera Australia)
Lisa Harper Brown (Helena) – The Midsummer Night’s Dream (Opera Australia)
Jessica Aszodi (Sesto) – Julius Caesar (Victorian Opera)
Taryn Fiebig (Lisa) – La Sonnambula (Opera Australia)
Catherine Carby (Orlovsky) – Fledermaus and (Hippolyta) – A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Opera Australia)

Male Support
Conal Coad (Bottom/Pyramus) – A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Opera Australia)
Benjamin Namdarian (The Italian) – Angelique (Victorian Opera)
Joshua Bloom (Count Rodolfo) La Sonnambula (Opera Australia)
Roger Howell (Sharpless) – Madam Butterfly (Melbourne Opera)
Ian Cousins (Bartolo) – The Barber of Seville (Melbourne Opera)

Conductor
Paul Kildea – The Turn of the Screw (Victorian Opera) / A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Opera Australia)
Elgar Howarth – Bliss (Opera Australia)
Shao-Chia Lu – Tosca (Opera Australia)
Richard Bonynge – La Sonnambula (Opera Australia)
Marko Letonja – Rigoletto (Opera Australia)

Director
Neil Armfield – Bliss (Opera Australia)
Julie Edwardson – La Sonnambula (Opera Australia)
Christopher Alden – Tosca (Opera Australia)
Steven Heathcote – Julius Caesar (Victorian Opera)
Talya Masel – The Bear (Victorian Opera)

Lighting
Nigel Levings – Bliss (Opera Australia)
Matt Scott – La Sonnambula (Opera Australia)
Damien Cooper – Julius Caesar (Victorian Opera)


::Theatre - Companies::

Lighting Design
Nick Schlieper, Richard III (MTC)
Rachel Burke, Moth (Malthouse / Arena)
Paul Jackson, The Trial (Malthouse / STC / Thinice)
Luiz Pampolha, Twelfth Night (Bell Shakespeare)
Govin Ruben, Thyestes (Malthouse / Hayloft Project)

Set/Costume Design
Shaun Gurton (set), Richard III (MTC)
Dayna Morrissey (set), The City (Red Stitch)
Claude Marcos (set), Thyestes (Malthouse / Hayloft Project)
Anna Tregloan (set / costume), Twelfth Night (Bell Shakespeare)
Dale Ferguson (set / costume), Life Without Me (MTC)

Sound / Composition
David Franzke (sound), Intimacy (Malthouse / Ranters / M.I.F.A)
Jethro Woodward (composer), Moth (Malthouse / Arena)
Ash Gibson Greig (composer) & Kelly Ryall (sound), The Trial (Malthouse / STC / Thinice)
Bree van Reyk (musician / composer), King Lear (Bell Shakespeare)
Stefan Gregory (sound) Thyestes (Malthouse / Hayloft Project)

Female Actor
Alison Whyte (Queen Elizabeth) Richard III (MTC)
Fiona Macleod (Clair) The City (Red Stitch)
Sarah Ogden (Claryssa) Moth (Malthouse / Arena)
Andrea Demetriades (Viola) Twelfth Night (Bell Shakespeare)
Bernadette Robinson (female performer) Songs for Nobodies (MTC)

Male Actor
Ewen Leslie (Richard) Richard III (MTC)
Dylan Young (Sebastian) Moth (Malthouse / Arena)
Elan Zavelsky (Orsino / Sir Andrew Aguecheek) Twelfth Night (Bell Shakespeare)
Mark Leonard Winter (performer) Thyestes (Malthouse / Hayloft Project)
Christopher Ryan (performer) Thyestes (Malthouse / Hayloft Project)

Direction
Simon Phillips, Richard III (MTC)
Peter Evans, The Ugly One (MTC)
Chris Kohn, Moth (Malthouse / Arena)
Lee Lewis, Twelfth Night (Bell Shakespeare)
Simon Stone, Thyestes (Malthouse / Hayloft Project)

Production
Richard III (MTC)
The City (Red Stitch)
Moth (Malthouse / Arena)
Twelfth Night (Bell Shakespeare)
Thyestes (Malthouse / Hayloft Project)

Ensemble
The Ugly One (MTC)
Twelfth Night (Bell Shakespeare)
Intimacy (Malthouse / Ranters / M.I.F.A)
Thyestes (Malthouse / Hayloft Project)


::Association Awards::

Best New Original Writing for the Melbourne Stage
Peta Brady Status Update (La Mama)
Patricia Cornelius Do Not Go Gentle (fortyfivedownstairs)
Adriano Cortese (Concept & Direction), Raimondo Cortese (text) with Beth Buchanan, Paul Lum & Patrick Moffatt (co-devisors) Intimacy (Ranters Theatre/Malthouse Theatre/Melbourne International Arts Festival)
Declan Greene Moth (Arena Theatre Company/Malthouse Theatre)

Best Adaptation for the Melbourne Stage
Gary Abrahams (writer, inspired by and based on the novella by James Baldwin) Acts of Deceit (Between Strangers in a Room) (Dirty Pretty Theatre/La Mama)
Gary Abrahams (writer, based on, adapted from and inspired by the short stories of Katherine Mansfield) Something Natural but Very Childish (Dirty Pretty Theatre/La Mama)
Simon Stone, Thomas Henning, Chris Ryan and Mark Winter (co-writers) Thyestes after Seneca (The Hayloft Project/Malthouse Theatre)
Anne-Louise Sarks and Benedict Hardie (writers) The Nest after Maxim Gorky’s The Philistines