Most Helpmann Awards nominations for Les Miserables

Musical theatre is bringing them home in the Helpmann Awards, Cameron Mackintosh’s new Les Miserables up for 12 categories.

Night on Bald Mountain

Musical theatre is bringing them home in the Helpmann Awards with Cameron Mackintosh’s new production of Les Miserables earning nominations in 12 categories.

Nominations for Australia’s pre-eminent performing arts honours were announced at simultaneous events last night in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth and Hobart.

Les Mis picked up nominations for best musical, direction, choreography and four acting categor­ies, among others. The haul was followed by nine each for the ­musical Once and the revival of Anything Goes, and eight for the opera Faramondo at the inaugural Brisbane Baroque festival.

The Perth Festival’s presentation of the oversize marionettes from Royal de Luxe last night won the award for best special event, for The Incredible and Phenomenal Journey of the Giants to the Streets of Perth.

Six original shows are in contention for the important category of best new Australian work: Aidan Fennessy’s play with singer-songwriter Tim Rogers, What Rhymes with Cars and Girls (Melbourne Theatre Company); children’s show Marlin (Arena and MTC); Joanna Murray-Smith’s play Switzerland (Sydney Theatre Company); Nicki Bloom’s Little Bird, with songs and music by Cameron Goodall and Quentin Grant (State Theatre Company of SA); singer Kate Miller-Heidke and composer Iain Grandage’s adaptation of The Rabbits (Opera Australia and Barking Gecko Theatre Company); and Tamara Saulwick’s multimedia performance, Endings (Sydney Festival and Insite Arts).

The Helpmanns, hosted since 2001 by industry body Live Performance Australia, had more than 800 entries this year for the 42 categories. LPA chief executive Evelyn Richardson says the nominees show the strength of the performing arts, noting that performances such as The Rabbits also demonstrate the degree of collaboration between small and major arts companies.

In a state-by-state breakdown, NSW dominated the nominations with 98 followed by Victoria with 32. Tasmania did not secure any nominations but the state could have had eight for Faramondo, had it opted to retain the Hobart Baroque festival and not allowed it to migrate to Brisbane.

Richardson says the dominance of NSW is due to the strength of the nominated shows and not because of bias in the system. “There has been a lot of activity in NSW in the past couple of years, and the (nominating) panels have seen those shows and rated them highly,” she says. “I am comfortable that there is not a bias. We have a travel fund that is about getting people outside Sydney and Melbourne … I think that is reflected here. Sometimes it’s the work that has been presented in any given year, and how good people think it has been.”

The nominations throw the spotlight on to some high-achieving companies and individuals. Astonishingly productive lighting designer Nick Schlieper has been nominated 13 times in Helpmanns history and had four wins. He gets a nod this year for Macbeth at STC. Caroline O’Connor, with six nominations and two wins, is up for best actress in a ­musical for Anything Goes.

William Forsythe’s Quintett — presented by Sydney Dance Company in a double bill earlier this year — earned nominations for four of its five dancers: Chloe Leong, Jesse Scales, Cass Mortimer Eipper and David Mack.

In a season that saw rival productions in Sydney and Melbourne of Beckett’s existential comedy Endgame, MTC’s production earned just one nomination, best supporting actress for the remarkable Julie Forsyth as Nell. Forsyth also picked up a best actress nomination for Patrick White’s Night on Bald Mountain at the Malthouse. By comparison, STC’s Endgame was named five times, including nods for director Andrew Upton and actor Hugo Weaving as Hamm.

Todd McKenney earned two nominations in one category, for best actor in a musical: Anything Goes and La Cage aux Folles.

McKenney will host the Helpmann Awards ceremony at Sydney’s Capitol theatre on July 27.