December 13, 2012

THE HACKMAN THEATRE AWARDS (Auckland) 2012

Nominees and Winners announced and presented at a gala function in the Civic Theatre’s Wintergarden on Monday 10 November 2012. 

The AUCKLAND ACTORS Award for Best Entrance of the Year…
Sam Snedden – The Pride – The Nazi!
Yael Gevenzky – Nuclear Family
The Basement Toilets – No longer making the bar smell like Urine.
Black Confetti – Various Trap-door entrances and exits
The Magic Chicken – Trygve Wakenshaw
And the winner is
Sam Snedden – The Pride!

The ELEPHANT PUBLICITY Award for Best Poster of the Year…
The Heart’s Path – Jessica Sanderson
Ross Liew – Terror Island
Private Lives – the boob – Silo Theatre
Black Confetti – ATC
And the winner is:
The Heart’s Path – Jessica Sanderson

The Armstrong Creative Award for Best Technical ***k up of the Year…
Jen Lal – for being amazing!
The potting mix Incident – Death of a Salesman
Gunshot going off too early – Punk Rock
The bed that wouldn’t slot back into the set, and then later clonked, the lead actor on the head – Bucket Boy
And the winner is:
The bed that wouldn’t slot back into the set, and then later clonked, the lead actor on the head – Bucket Boy  

The SOUTH PACIFIC PICTURES Award for Best Break Up of the Year…
Simon Kane and Bruce Philips – Copenhagen
Geraldine Brophy and George Henare – Awatea
Simon London and Kip Chapman – The Pride 
And the winner is:
There were tears, dribbles and emotional moans – it was intense with a capital I!
Geraldine Brophie and George Henare – Awatea 

The ELIZABETH WHITING Award for Best Costume of the Year are… 
The Lobster in Love It Up – Lara Fischel-Chisholm  
Rima Te Wiata’s T-shirt in Little Shop of Horrors – Plant Voice
All the Food in the Pantry Shelf.
And the Winner is:
All the Food in the Pantry Shelf

The APRA Award for Best Singing in a Play… 
Colleen Davis – Little Shop of Horrors
Michelle Blundell – Eigengrau
BREL – The Cast of Brel
Ryan Richards – Bombs Away
And the winner is:
Colleen Davis – Little Shop of Horrors

The ROBERT BRUCE AGENCY Award for the best director of a gay play starring Kip Chapman, Simon London, Dena Kennedy and Sam Snedden And the winner is: 
Sophie Roberts – The Pride.

The PLAYMARKET Award for Best Line in a Kiwi Play…
‘I can’t die yet I’m only up to season three of the wire’ – Eli Kent – Black Confetti
‘Fuck you New Zealand’ – Jamie McCaskill – Manawa
‘33 the same age as Jesus was when he was 33’ – Stephen Papps – Third Person Tense
And the Winner is:
‘Fuck you New Zealand’ – Jaimie McCaskill Manawa

The GAIL COWAN MANAGEMENT Award for Best Actress/Actor Playing a Character with a Disability/Medical Condition of the Year… 
– this is a full category!
Leon Wadham for Tribes
Yvette Parsons for Silent Night  
Sophie Hambleton for both characters in Top Girls
Renee Lyons for Nick
John Goudge for Mrs Van Gogh
And the Winner is:
Yvette Parsons – Silent Night

The AUCKLAND THEATRE COMPANY Award for Best Special Effect of the Year are…
Snow Machine in everything Celery Productions did
Black Confetti – hand opening projected body-bag – ATC
The Vibrator Play – The Vibrator – It seemed so real – ATC
The Projector in Alice – The Outfit
And the winner is:
The Projector in Alice – The Outfit

The NZ DANCE COMPANY Award for Best Dancing in a play
Mia Blake – Private Lives
Dynamotion – Terror Island
The Cast of Bombs Away
And the Winner is:
Dynamotion – Terror Island – especially Kate Simmonds

The JOHNSON AND LAIRD MANAGEMENT Award for Best Cross Gender Acting of the Year… 
Shipal Lesi in A Frigate Bird Sings
Andrea Kelland in Speak Easy
Joseph Moore as “Wife” in Bombs Away
Renee Lyons in Nick
And the winner is:
Renee Lyons in Nick

The HACKMAN Award for Best Unlucky in Love Character of the Year… 
The Cast of Eigengrau
Thomas Sainsbury as Tom in Yeti is Dead/I am Tom
Leon Wadham in Tribes
Simon London in The Pride
And the winner is:
Thomas Sainsbury as Tom – Yeti is Dead/I am Tom

The SILO THEATRE Award for Best Ensemble Acting of the Year… 
The Laramie Project Ten Years on
The Cast of Brave – Massive Theatre Company
The Pride – Silo Theatre
Michael Hurst – Bards Days Night
And the winner is:
The cast of the The Brave

The THEATREVIEW Award for Best Review Quote of the Year are… 
“I’m being blinded by the light reflecting off the nipple tassles” – Sarah Idle
The quick pit stop at the Ladies was almost a revelation. Everything was pristine clean and fresh as a daisy. – Lexie Matheson, Theatreview (Eigengrau)

“I can’t say I slept very well, being a man of above average height, having to curl myself to fit.” – James Wenley, Theatre Scenes (Sleepover)

And the winner is:
“Going to the theatre is an experience. Some companies even have a Customer Experience Manager who monitors the entire occasion from beginning to end. It’s not just what happens on the stage but the journey to the theatre, the cost and convenience of car parking, finding a meal nearby, the welcome at the box office, the cleanliness of the toilets, the smile from the usher, the ambience of the theatre, the glass of wine during the interval, the ease of departure, the air conditioning, the whole kit and caboodle that makes going to the theatre a joy or a nightmare.

“I’ve been critical of The Basement in the past but not this time. The box office experience is always pleasant and this continued to be the case with Eigengrau. A smile costs nothing and the one I was greeted with was warm and welcoming. The quick pit stop at the Ladies was almost a revelation. Everything was pristine clean and fresh as a daisy.

“The usher was sweet and the theatre, to be frank, the most pleasant surprise I’ve had in a performance space for a long time. There was no hint of the old dust and grime; the smell of fresh paint sat lightly in the air, the walls were gleaming from a spanking new paint job and the whole place looked delightfully revamped.” – Lexi Matheson reviews Eigengrau.

The Nic and Joe award for Best Self-Promotion in the Hackman Theatre Award forums.
The Outfit – not so much this year
The Big Rethink
Everyone who voted for themselves
And the winner is
The Big Rethink

The KATHRYN RAWLINGS AND ASSOCIATES Award for best Nudity on stage are:
Poster for Private Lives – Silo theatre
The Cast of The Sex Show – The Outfit
Kip Chapman for everything he was in
The Vibrator Play – Anna Jullien and Adam Gardiner
The winner is
Poster for Private Lives – Silo Theatre 

The JAMES WALLACE ARTS TRUST AWARD for the fastest pack in/pack out by a production team of the year… 
The Sex Show – Brad Gledhill and co.
Nuclear Family – Ruby Reihana-Wilson and co.
The Big Rethink Team
Ruby Reihana-Wilson for every show she’s done this year
And the Winner is:
Ruby Reihana-Wilson

The AUCKLAND ARTS FESTIVAL Award for Most Original Production of the Year… 
Brel
Tiny Spectacle / Shitty Lyricism
Little Histories of the Life Ordinary
Nick
Black Confetti
CONTANTINOPLE 
And the winner is:
CONTANTINOPLE

The Winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award was Paul Minifie 

The STAMP at the Edge Best Newcomer Awards…

The Winner of the Best Newcomer Stage Manager of the Year was Stacey Donaldson

The Winner of the Best Newcomer Producer Award of the Year was Celery Productions

The Winner of the Best Newcomer Marketing Manager of the Year was Tim Blake

The Winner of the Best Newcomer All-Rounder of the Year was Nisha Madhan

The Winner of the Best Newcomer Actor of the Year was Jordan Mooney.