2018 Helpmann Award winners – Act II

Bangarra Dance Theatre, Muriel’s Wedding and Beautiful: The Carole King Musical are the big winners at the 18th annual Helpmann Awards.

Esther Hannaford wins the 2018 Helpmann Award for Best Female Actor in a Musical
Esther Hannaford wins the 2018 Helpmann Award for Best Female Actor in a Musical

Act II of the 2018 Helpmann Awards took place at Sydney’s Capitol Theatre, with 23 of the total 43 awards announced at the televised ceremony. Act I awards were announced at Sydney Town Hall on Sunday and a full list of winners can be found here.

In 2018, Live Performance Australia received over 730 entries for the nation’s Live Performance Awards, with 176 Nominations announced and 43 winners confirmed.

Happily, the category with the highest number of entries this year was BEST NEW AUSTRALIAN WORK, with the gong going to Bangarra’s Bennelong

Check out the full list of winners in Act II below

BEST MALE ACTOR IN A MUSICAL

DAVID CAMPBELL
Dream Lover
John Frost AM and Gilbert Theatrical

BEST FEMALE ACTOR IN A MUSICAL

ESTHER HANNAFORD
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
Michael Cassel in association with Paul Blake & Sony/ATV Music Publishing & Mike Bosner

BEST MALE ACTOR IN A PLAY

HUGO WEAVING
The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui
Sydney Theatre Company

BEST FEMALE ACTOR IN A PLAY

PAMELA RABE
The Children
Melbourne Theatre Company and Sydney Theatre Company

BEST COMEDY PERFORMER

CELIA PACQUOLA
All Talk
Token Events

BEST CABARET PERFORMER

TAYLOR MAC
A 24-Decade History of Popular Music
Melbourne International Arts Festival and Pomegranate Arts

BEST MALE DANCER IN A BALLET, DANCE OR PHYSICAL THEATRE PRODUCTION

BEAU DEAN RILEY SMITH
Bennelong
Bangarra Dance Theatre

BEST FEMALE DANCER IN A BALLET, DANCE OR PHYSICAL THEATRE PRODUCTION

AKO KONDO
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
The Australian Ballet

BEST VISUAL OR PHYSICAL THEATRE PRODUCTION

TIDE
Bleach* Festival and The Farm

BEST MALE PERFORMER IN AN OPERA

ALLAN CLAYTON
Hamlet
Glyndebourne Festival and Adelaide Festival in association with the State Opera of South Australia
and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra

BEST FEMALE PERFORMER IN AN OPERA

NICOLE CAR
La Traviata
Opera Australia

BEST INTERNATIONAL CONTEMPORARY CONCERT

PAUL MCCARTNEY, FRONTIER TOURING, MPL & MARSHALL ARTS
Paul McCartney – One On One World Tour 2017

BEST CONTEMPORARY MUSIC FESTIVAL

MUSEUM OF OLD AND NEW ART (MONA)
Mona Foma

BEST AUSTRALIAN CONTEMPORARY CONCERT

GOTYE, SYDNEY FESTIVAL & MONA FOMA
Gotye Presents a Tribute to Jean-Jacques Perrey

BEST INDIVIDUAL CLASSICAL MUSIC PERFORMANCE

JONAS KAUFMANN
Parsifal
Opera Australia

BEST CHAMBER AND/OR INSTRUMENTAL ENSEMBLE CONCERT

JORDI SAVALL WITH HESPERION XXI & TEMBEMBE ENSAMBLE
CONTINUO Perth Festival

BEST SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA CONCERT

BLUEBEARD’S CASTLE: WITH BACH AND BRAHMS
The Sydney Symphony Orchestra

BEST BALLET

ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND
The Australian Ballet

BEST DANCE PRODUCTION

BENNELONG
Bangarra Dance Theatre

BEST PLAY

THE CHILDREN
Melbourne Theatre Company and Sydney Theatre Company

BEST OPERA

HAMLET
Glyndebourne Festival, Adelaide Festival, State Opera of South Australia and the Adelaide Symphony
Orchestra.

BEST MUSICAL

BEAUTIFUL:THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL
Michael Cassel in association with Paul Blake & Sony/ATV Music Publishing & Mike Bosner

BEST NEW AUSTRALIAN WORK

STEPHEN PAGE AO
Bennelong
Bangarra Dance Theatre

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

2017 Centenary Sue Nattrass Award

Carrillo Gantner AO
Susan Provan AO
Ian McRae AO
Rhoda Roberts AO
Frank Van Straten AM

2017 Centenary JC Williamson Award

Robyn Archer AO
Reg Livermore AO
Robyn Nevin AM
Archie Roach AM
Jim Sharman

Erin James

Erin James is AussieTheatre.com's former Editor in Chief and a performer on both stage and screen. Credits include My Fair Lady, South Pacific and The King and I (Opera Australia), Love Never Dies and Cats (Really Useful Group), Blood Brothers (Enda Markey Presents), A Place To Call Home (Foxtel/Channel 7) and the feature film The Little Death (written and directed by Josh Lawson).

Erin James

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *