Sydney Critics Announce Nominations

The Diana Simmonds and Ian Phipps Club of Theatre Critics has put together their yearly list of nominations for the very best in Sydney's Performing Arts.

I went along to the awards ceremony last year for the first time and it was a very good night filled with a lot of good-will, humility and celebration. Indeed, the Sydney Theatre Critics' Awards are probably the most representative of any of the awards for the performing arts in Sydney.

And as Jason Blake says in the media release;
“The Sydney Theatre Awards is a chance to celebrate a year’s-worth of work, compare notes and come together as a community. That’s part of the reason we’re delighted to be back at the Paddington RSL – it’s a place where people can be a crowd rather than an audience. The drinks are way cheap, too.”

Indeed.

But don't be fooled into thinking the judges see all of the shows.

As Simmonds said about the Helpmann Awards earlier this year, "the likelihood of the nominating "judges" having seen all or even nearly all nominees in a category is virtually nil". The same of course goes for these awards so don't be dismayed if you aren't nominated

The panel of judges consists of Stagenoise blogger Simmonds along with Stephen Dunne, Bryce Hallett and John Shand from the Sydney Morning Herald, Jason Blake from the Sun Herald, Jo Litson from the Sunday Telegraph, John McCallum from The Australian, blogger and SMH reviewer James Waites and finally ABC Radio's Ian Phipps.

The list for this year's awards is a pretty narrow in scope and a little underwhelming. It's all confined within the circl between Kings Cross, Redfern and Walsh Bay with not a single production from Carriageworks nominated or even a physical theatre piece recognised.

Below is the list, with what's missing and my picks.


NOMINATIONS FOR 2008 SYDNEY THEATRE AWARDS

BEST MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
The Great (STC)
Ngapartji Ngapartji (Company B)
The Pillowman (Company B)
The Women of Troy (STC)

What's missing?
Scorched (Company B)

SAJ Pick - Scorched (Company B)
Close Second - The Pillowman (Company B)



BEST INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Killer Joe (Adam Booth and B Sharp)
My Name is Rachel Corrie (Bareboards Productions and B Sharp)
Ruben Guthrie (murri fulla films & B Sharp)
Spring Awakening (The Hayloft Project and B Sharp)

What's missing?
Miss Julie (B Sharp)
Fearless N (Theatre Kantanka)
Twelfth Night (Siren Theatre Company)
The Packer (Old Fitzroy)
Salome (The Rabble)
Stoning Mary (Stablemates)

Pool (no water) (Darlinghurst Theatre Company)

SAJ Pick - Salome (The Rabble)
Close second - Miss Julie (B Sharp)



BEST DIRECTION
Craig Ilott (The Pillowman)
Barrie Kosky (The Women of Troy)
Shannon Murphy (My Name is Rachel Corrie)
Scott Rankin (Ngapartji Ngapartji)

SAJ Pick - Miss Julie (Vladislavs Nastavshevs)
Close second - Craig Ilott (The Pillowman)



BEST ACTRESS IN A LEAD ROLE
Belinda Bromilow (My Name is Rachel Corrie)
Melita Jurisic (The Women of Troy)
Robyn Nevin (The Women of Troy)
Greta Scacchi (Mary Stuart)

SAJ Pick - Yael Stone (Stoning Mary)
Close second - Melita Jurisic (Women of Troy)



BEST ACTOR IN A LEAD ROLE
Damon Herriman (The Pillowman)
Trevor Jamieson (Ngapartji Ngapartji)
Toby Schmitz (Ruben Guthrie)
Sean Taylor (Death of a Salesman)

SAJ Pick - Damon Herriman (The Pillowman)
Close second - Jay Ryan (The Packer)



BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Judi Farr (The Pig Iron People)
Genevieve Mooy (Queen C)
Genevieve Picot (Rock n Roll)
Yael Stone (The Kid)

SAJ Pick - Maggie Blinco (The Beauty Queen of Leenane)
Close second - Yael Stone (The Kid)



BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Marton Csokas (The Pillowman)
Steve Rodgers (The Pillowman)
Toby Schmitz (The Great)
Christopher Stollery (Killer Joe)

SAJ Pick - Christopher Stollery (Killer Joe)
Close second - Marton Csokas (The Pillowman)



BEST NEW AUSTRALIAN WORK
Brendan Cowell (Ruben Guthrie)
Tony McNamara (The Great)
Damien Millar (The Modern International Dead)
Peter Rutherford and James Millar (The Hatpin)

SAJ Pick - Salome (The Rabble)
Close Second - Noelle Janaczewska (Fearless N)



BEST NEWCOMER
Akos Armont (The Kid)
Ivan Donato (The Age of Consent)
Ian Meadows (The Modern International Dead)
Yael Stone (The Kid + Frankenstein)

SAJ Pick - Yael Stone (The Kid, Frankenstein)
Close second - Ivan Donato (The Age of Consent)



BEST SET DESIGN
Alice Babidge and Barrie Kosky (The Women of Troy)
Fiona Crombie (The Great)
Nicholas Dare (The Pillowman)
Alexandra Sommers and Bradley Clark (All the Blood and All the Water)

SAJ Pick - Kate Davis and The Rabble (Salome)
Close Second - Kate Gaul (Twelfth Night)



BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Alexandra Sommers and Bradley Clark (Gallipoli)
Roger Kirk (My Fair Lady)
Tess Schofield (The Great)
Kate Shanahan (Queen C)

SAJ Pick - Kate Davis and The Rabble (Salome)
Close Second - Ailsa Paterson (Twelfth Night)



BEST LIGHTING DESIGN
Damien Cooper (The Great)
Paul Jackson (Moving Targets)
Nick Schlieper (The Serpent’s Teeth)
Matt Scott (Rock n Roll)

SAJ Pick - Nick Schlieper (The Serpent's Teeth)
Close second - Emma Valente (Salome)




BEST SCORE OR SOUND DESIGN
Brett Collery (Anatomy Titus Fall of Rome)
David Gilfillan (The Women of Troy)
Steve Francis and Alan John (The Great)
Max Lyandvert, Mark Blackwell and Tony Melov (The Age I’m In)

SAJ Pick - Daryl Walis (Twelfth Night)
Close second - Max Lyandvert and Eva Mueller (Salome)




BEST PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL
Little Women (Kookaburra Musical Theatre Company)
My Fair Lady (Opera Australia)
The Phantom of the Opera (The Really Useful Company and the Gordon/Frost Organisation)
Priscilla Queen of the Desert The Musical (Back Row Productions, Specific Films, Alan Scott, John Frost and Chugg Entertainment)

SAJ Pick - My Fair Lady (Opera Australia)



JUDITH JOHNSON AWARD FOR BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Gemma Ashley-Kaplan (The Hatpin)
Michelle Doake (The Hatpin)
Taryn Fiebig (My Fair Lady)
Kate Maree Hoolihan (Little Women)

SAJ Pick - Taryn Fiebig (My Fair Lady)



JUDITH JOHNSON AWARD FOR BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Richard E Grant (My Fair Lady)
Todd McKenney (Priscilla Queen of the Desert The Musical)
Tony Sheldon (Priscilla Queen of the Desert The Musical)
Anthony Warlow (The Phantom of the Opera)

SAJ Pick - Richard E Grant (My Fair Lady)



BEST CABARET PRODUCTION
The Fabulous Frances Faye (Nick Christo)
The Kransky Sisters (Sydney Opera House Studio)
LoveBites (White Box)
Vamp (Meow Meow at Sydney Opera House studio)

SAJ didn't see any cabaret this year.



BEST PRODUCTION FOR CHILDREN
The Arrival (Spare Parts Puppet Theatre)
Just Macbeth (Bell Shakespeare)
Special Delivery (Patch Theatre)
The Wiggles (The Wiggles)

SAJ didn't see any kids theatre this year.



LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
To be announced at the ceremony

Review: Cabaret Décadanse

Cabaret Décadanse
The Studio, Sydney Opera House


The puppets in Cabaret Décadanse have attitude, they have a lot of rouge and they have a wardrobe that would make Liza Minnelli blush.

Their masters (or servants) Enock Turcotte and Serge Deslauriers bring the puppet divas out one by one to perform jazz, blues and samba classics in a drag like performance that is hilarious.

Puppets, in a similar way to clowns, is an element of theatre that carries you back to your childhood. It’s the suspension of disbelief - you can see the hands and strings attached, but the magic of their world, their faces and their characteristics is too fantastic to ignore.

Turcotte and Deslauriers, the Canadian puppeteers behind the elegantly gregarious puppets capture the essence of smoky French lounges and sultry burlesque performances. For those that saw snippets of their skill and humour during the Sydney Festival La Clique season at the Spiegeltent will not be disappointed by the expanded version of their show.

The adult-only characters of Conrad the French transvestite, Lorraine the old madame, Kiko the lusty Latino and the seductress Chica are just some of the characters that come on to woo their audience. The skill and expertise of the SOMA show is not only the characters but also the skill and sleight of hand that Turcotte and Deslauriers use in delivering the performances.

It is a puppetry performance that is unafraid to show the strings and the mechanics of puppets. With that element plainly in sight it is enough to let the puppets capture your imagination and take you off to the slightly seedy world of decadence.


12 - 23 February $27 – 35
www.sydneyoperahouse.com 02 9250 7777