Spoonful of sugar leaves judges sweet on Poppins

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This was published 12 years ago

Spoonful of sugar leaves judges sweet on Poppins

By Clare Morgan

THE musical Mary Poppins flew away with the most awards, Belvoir dominated the theatre categories and Cate Blanchett returned to the winner's circle after famously being ignored last year when the Helpmann Awards were handed out last night.

Mary Poppins won eight awards from its 12 nominations and Belvoir shared six awards between its productions of The Diary of a Madman and The Wild Duck.

Eight wins &#8230; Matt Lee and Verity Hunt-Ballard take to the stage in <em>Mary Poppins</em>.

Eight wins … Matt Lee and Verity Hunt-Ballard take to the stage in Mary Poppins.

Forty-one awards were presented at the Sydney Opera House across theatre, musical theatre, dance, opera and music.

Poppins dominated the musical theatre categories, winning best musical, best choreography for Matthew Bourne and Stephen Mear, best direction for Richard Eyre and Matthew Bourne, best supporting actor for Philip Quast, best actress for Verity Hunt-Ballard and best actor for Matt Lee, who edged out Anthony Warlow in Dr Zhivago - which had no wins from seven nominations.

Neil Armfield won a Helpmann award for directing the Belvoir production of <em>The Diary of a Madman</em>.

Neil Armfield won a Helpmann award for directing the Belvoir production of The Diary of a Madman.Credit: Edwina Pickles

Love Never Dies, which had 10 nominations, won awards for Nick Schlieper's lighting design and Gabriela Tylesova's costumes and scenic design. Tylesova's vivid recreation of Coney Island breathed life into Andrew Lloyd Webber's sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, first seen in London last year, and this Simon Phillips-directed version has been tipped as the template for future overseas productions.

In the theatre categories, Belvoir's The Wild Duck, directed and adapted by Simon Stone, was named best play and picked up supporting performer awards for Anthony Phelan and Anita Hegh.

Geoffrey Rush was named best actor in a play for his role in Belvoir's The Diary of a Madman. The production earned Neil Armfield the best director award and best original score for Alan John.

The Helpmanns' judging process came under fire last year after Blanchett's lauded performance in A Streetcar Named Desire wasn't nominated. She wasn't going to be ignored this year and won best actress in a play for her role in Uncle Vanya, the Sydney Theatre Company's sole win of the night.

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Leonard Cohen showed he's still got it, beating U2, Metallica, Gorillaz and Sufjan Stevens for best international contemporary concert. Powderfinger won the best Australian contemporary concert award for its farewell tour, and Splendour in the Grass was named best contemporary music festival.

In the classical music categories, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra's performances at Sydney Opera House and the Perth Concert Hall won the best symphony orchestra concert and Sir Simon Rattle won best individual classical performance.

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Opera Australia's Partenope was named best opera and Nigel Jamieson won best director for the company's La Fanciulladel West. Tim Minchin and the Sydney Symphony won best new Australian work for Tim Minchin Versus the Sydney Symphony.

Nancye Hayes, Toni Lamond and Jill Perryman were joint recipients of the J. C. Williamson Award, the live entertainment industry's highest honour.

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