Harry Potter and the Cursed Child might have picked up Best Play at both London's Olivier Awards and Broadway's Tony Awards, but JK Rowling's wizarding juggernaut has been beaten to all the biggest awards at this year's Helpmanns. In fact, Cursed Child walked away from the ceremony tonight in Melbourne with just one win.
The Helpmann Awards recognise the best live performance in Australia, and this year most of the major awards went to homegrown productions and homegrown plays. And as they should: our theatre artists are creating some extraordinary work at the moment that speak directly to where we are in the world. They mightn't always have the budgets or razzle dazzle of the Pottersphere, but they're every bit as important.
The big winner of the night was Sydney's Belvoir St Theatre, which took out both Best Production of a Play for its Sydney Festival epic Counting and Cracking, and Best Musical for its production of Ursula Yovich's Barbara and the Camp Dogs, which toured to Melbourne earlier this year. Altogether the company picked up a massive 13 awards.
Ursula Yovich won Best Female Actor in a Musical for her performance in her own play, while Brent Hill picked up Best Male Actor in a Musical for School of Rock. Kate Mulvany, who is currently filming opposite Al Pacino for Jordan Peele's TV series The Hunt, won Best Female Actor in a Play for her one-woman turn in Belvoir's Every Brilliant Thing, while the award for Best Male Actor in a Play went to veteran Indian actor Prakash Belawadi for Counting and Cracking.
See the full list of winners below.
DANCE
BEST BALLET
AURUM The Australian Ballet
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY IN A BALLET, DANCE OR PHYSICAL THEATRE PRODUCTION
ANTONY HAMILTON Forever & Ever
BEST DANCE PRODUCTION
THE BEGINNING OF NATURE Australian Dance Theatre
BEST FEMALE DANCER IN A BALLET, DANCE OR PHYSICAL THEATRE PRODUCTION
TARA JADE SAMAYA Common Ground
BEST MALE DANCER IN A BALLET, DANCE OR PHYSICAL THEATRE PRODUCTION
WAANGENGA BLANCO Dark Emu
BEST VISUAL OR PHYSICAL THEATRE PRODUCTION
OUT OF CHAOS... Gravity & Other Myths
CABARET
BEST CABARET PERFORMER
ALI MCGREGOR Yma Sumac - The Peruvian Songbird
COMEDY
BEST COMEDY PERFORMER
HANNAH GADSBY Douglas
CONTEMPORARY MUSIC
BEST AUSTRALIAN CONTEMPORARY CONCERT
TIM MINCHIN AND LIVE NATION AUSTRALASIA Back
BEST CONTEMPORARY MUSIC FESTIVAL
MUSEUM OF OLD AND NEW ART (MONA) MONA FOMA 2019
BEST INTERNATIONAL CONTEMPORARY CONCERT
DAVID BYRNE AND FRONTIER TOURING American Utopia Tour 2018
INDUSTRY
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
GABRIELA TYLESOVA Twelfth Night
BEST LIGHTING DESIGN
NEIL AUSTIN Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
BEST MUSIC DIRECTION
ERIN HELYARD Artaserse
BEST NEW AUSTRALIAN WORK
S. SHAKTHIDHARAN AND EAMON FLACK Counting & Cracking Belvoir & Co-Curious
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
URSULA YOVICH, ALANA VALENTINE AND ADM VENTOURA Barbara and the Camp Dogs
BEST SCENIC DESIGN
DALE FERGUSON Counting & Cracking
BEST SOUND DESIGN
STEFAN GREGORY Counting & Cracking
BEST SPECIAL EVENT
DARK MOFO 2018 Museum of Old and New Art
MUSICALS
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY IN A MUSICAL
MALIK LE NOST & MITCHELL WOODCOCK Saturday Night Fever
BEST DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL
FRANCESCA ZAMBELLO Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour: West Side Story
BEST FEMALE ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
URSULA YOVICH Barbara and the Camp Dogs
BEST FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
ELAINE CROMBIE Barbara and the Camp Dogs
BEST MALE ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
BRENT HILL School of Rock the Musical
BEST MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
TONY SHELDON Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
BEST MUSICAL
BARBARA AND THE CAMP DOGS Belvoir
OPERA & CLASSICAL MUSIC
BEST CHAMBER AND/OR INSTRUMENTAL ENSEMBLE CONCERT
GABRIELI CONSORT & PLAYERS - PURCELL'S KING ARTHUR Melbourne Recital Centre and State Opera of South Australia
BEST DIRECTION OF AN OPERA
BARRIE KOSKY AND SUZANNE ANDRADE Komische Oper Berlin’s The Magic Flute
BEST FEMALE PERFORMER IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN AN OPERA
TARYN FIEBIG Metamorphosis
BEST FEMALE PERFORMER IN AN OPERA
LISE LINDSTROM Salome
BEST INDIVIDUAL CLASSICAL MUSIC PERFORMANCE
ASHER FISCH Tristan und Isolde
BEST MALE PERFORMER IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN AN OPERA
TOM ERIK LIE Komische Oper Berlin’s The Magic Flute
BEST MALE PERFORMER IN AN OPERA
MICHAEL HONEYMAN Wozzeck
BEST OPERA
KOMISCHE OPER BERLIN'S THE MAGIC FLUTE Arts Projects Australia, Adelaide Festival and Perth Festival
BEST SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA CONCERT
TRISTAN UND ISOLDE West Australian Symphony Orchestra
PRESENTATION FOR CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE
BEST PRESENTATION FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE
ROBOT SONG Arena Theatre Company
REGIONAL TOURING
BEST REGIONAL TOURING PRODUCTION
BENNELONG Bangarra Dance Theatre
THEATRE
BEST DIRECTION OF A PLAY
EAMON FLACK AND S. SHAKTHIDHARAN Counting & Cracking
BEST FEMALE ACTOR IN A PLAY
KATE MULVANY Every Brilliant Thing
BEST FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A PLAY
VAISHNAVI SURYAPRAKASH Counting & Cracking
BEST MALE ACTOR IN A PLAY
PRAKASH BELAWADI Counting & Cracking
BEST MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A PLAY
PAUL BLACKWELL Faith Healer
BEST PRODUCTION OF A PLAY
COUNTING & CRACKING Belvoir & Co-Curious