Helpmann Awards cabaret category nominees announced

Live Performance Australia (LPA) announced the List of Nominations in each of the 42 categories for the 2010 Helpmann Awards® yesterday.  The announcement was made concurrently in Sydney and Melbourne.

Helpmann Awards® recognise distinguished artistic achievement and excellence in Australia’s live performing arts sectors, and cabaret category was added this year to honour the excellence in cabaret performance in Australia. 

I was thrilled about this, given that I’ve seen the cabaret scene in this country go strength to strength over the years with the Adelaide Cabaret Festival gaining solid and well-warranted international recognition, additions of dedicated cabaret festivals, and more recently, Sydney Opera House embracing the genre by launching their House Cabaret programme.

In my opinion, small cabaret venues, such as The Butterfly Club in Melbourne, La Boheme in Adelaide and The El Rocco Room (formerly Bar Me) in Sydney have all contributed enormously to the success by nurturing new acts and showcasing the veterans.  Showqueen series, produced and hosted by Trevor Ashley (who is an exceptional cabaret performer himself) almost ran for two years and gave many cabaret performers a place to gather and entertain.

With Melbourne Cabaret Festival joining the scene this year with mammoth success, Adelaide Cabaret festival having the best season ever in its 10th year and a number of cabaret acts gaining much bigger presence at the Fringe and comedy festivals around the country, the future of Australian cabaret scene is looking bright (touch wood).

Now with the nominees.  I’ve seen three out of four, and am absolutely over the moon to see A Company of Strangers, a smash hit at Adelaide Fringe Festival in 2009 on the list.  A collection of quirky artists all gave amazing and surreal performances and told memorable stories.  They completely dazzled me.  iOTA’s Smoke and Mirrors comes close second.

The awards will be presented on the 6th of September at Sydney Opera House and David Campbell will host the event, adding a touch of cabaret to the awards night.

Click here for the complete list of Helpmann Awards® nominees in all categories.

Helpmann Awards® Official Website: www.helpmannawards.com.au

Best Cabaret Performer Nominees

Moira Finucane

The Burlesque Hour

Finucane & Smith with fortyfivedownstairs, Auspicious Arts Projects and The Street Theatre

iOTA

Smoke & Mirrors

Sydney Festival

Melissa Madden Gray (Meow Meow)

Meow to the World: Crisis is Born (Again)

Sydney Opera House presents

Paul Capsis, Martin Martini, Le Gateau Chocolat, Lady Carol, Christine Johnson, Simone Page Jones

A Company of Strangers

Strut n Fret 

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Comments

[Matthew]

Great post, Lena.
Melissa is Meow Meow. Have you seen her perform?
I agree, it's great for cabaret to be represented. I'll be interested to see which show wins.

[Lena Nobuhara]

Thank you! Yes, when I was writing the post, I did stop and wonder if I should add Meow Meow in brackets next to her name, as she is better known by her stage name. I'll add it now. I haven't seen her perform live yet... Have you?