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2008 Helpmann Award nominations announced
1st July 2008
Story
compiled by Simon Parris
The
nominations for this year’s Helpmann Awards have been announced
simultaneously at both The Capitol Theatre in Sydney and Her
Majesty’s Theatre in Melbourne. The Helpmann’s are Australia’s most
comprehensive awards ceremony, celebrating excellence and
achievement in all forms of live performance in this country,
including plays, musicals, opera, ballet, orchestral performances,
comedy and concerts.
Organisers, Live
Performance Australia (LPA), released the list of nominations across
41 categories whilst also announcing Barry Humphries and Sue
Nattrass as the recipients of the prestigious J C Williamson Award -
a prize that recognises an outstanding contribution to the
Australian live performance industry.
Kathryn Sadler,
Chair of the Stacey Memorial Trust, announced that Paul Fitzsimon
and Vanessa Scammell are the joint winners of the Brian Stacey
Memorial Award for Emerging Australian Conductors and presented each
with a $3,000 prize. Paul and Vanessa are the 11th recipients of
this award.
The 2008 Helpmann
Awards Ceremony will be held on Monday 28 July at 6.30pm at The
Lyric Theatre, Star City, Sydney, whilst the after party will be
held at the Star City Ballroom. Jonathan Biggins and Julia Zemiro,
both acclaimed actors, broadcasters and comedians, will jointly MC
the evening. On the night, performances by the casts of The
Phantom of the Opera, Billy Elliot The Musical, The Rocky Horror
Show, Guys and Dolls, and My Fair Lady will be presented,
along with acts from The Australian Ballet, The Umbilical Brothers,
Ray Crowe, the NG Twins, Vanessa Amorosi and Ana Marina.
Productions that
have been seen in Melbourne and that received multiple nominations
this year include: The Production Company’s Little Me and
Sweet Charity, Guys and Dolls (currently still playing at
the Princess Theatre), The Phantom of the Opera, The
Australian Ballet’s The Nutcracker and Opera Australia’s
Arabella,.
LPA's Chief
Executive, Evelyn Richardson, said "the Helpmann Awards are the
pinnacle industry event for Australia's live performance industry,
recognising the very best in live performances that annually attract
over 13.7 million people to shows across the nation with revenues of
over $A834 million, and growing".
The awards
ceremony will be broadcast live on Foxtel’s Bio Channel on 28 July,
2008, while tickets for the event are currently on sale to the
general public through Ticketmaster.
For the full list
of nominations click
here.
Further
information can be found at
www.helpmannawards.com.au
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