Barrie Kosky's Saul and Belvoir Theatre's The Drover's Wife dominated the 2017 Helpmann Awards, announced in Sydney on Monday night, taking home several gongs each, including best opera and best play, respectively.
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The centrepiece of this year's Adelaide Festival, Kosky's production of Handel's Saul premiered at the Glyndebourne festival in England and was bankrolled by the South Australian government to come to Adelaide.
It earned rave reviews and Kosky, who was once Adelaide Festival's youngest director at age 29, took home a Helpmann for best direction of an opera for his efforts. British baritone Christopher Purves won best male opera lead, while local star Kanen Breen won best supporting male and Erin Helyard best music direction.
Elsewhere in opera, American soprano Lise Lindstrom added a Helpmann to her Green Room award for best female lead, for her performance in Opera Australia's reprised Ring Cycle. Australian soprano Lorina Gore won best supporting female role in Opera Australia's King Roger.
In theatre, Sydney's Belvoir St Theatre scooped up a slew of of awards for its production of Leah Purcell's The Drover's Wife. It won best play, while Purcell won a Helpmann for best new work. Leticia Caceres won a gong for best director, and Mark Coles Smith took home best male actor in a play.
Melbourne Theatre Company's Jasper Jones, originally produced by Belvoir, picked up awards for best male supporting actor (Guy Simon) and best set design (Anna Cordingley).
In dance, Melbourne's Lucy Guerin Inc dominated. Attractor, a collaboration with Newcastle's Dancenorth and Gideon Obarzanek, won best dance production and best choreography. Lilian Steiner took home best female ballet dancer for her performance in the Lucy Guerin Inc and Arts House show Split.
Best ballet went to Ballet Preljocaj's Snow White at Queensland Performing Arts Centre in conjunction with Brisbane Festival, while Kevin Jackson won best male dancer for his performance in the Australian Ballet's Nijinsky.
Kate Mulvany's acclaimed portrayal of Richard III for Bell Shakespeare won her a Helpmann for best female actor in a play.
In musical theatre, The Book of Mormon was crowned best production, with US team Trey Parker and Casey Nicholaw taking out the prize of best direction of a musical. Jerry Mitchell, who also has a Tony award under his belt in the same category, won the Helpmann for best choreography in a musical.
Locals Anna O'Byrne and Robyn Nevin won best female lead and best female supporting actor in a musical, respectively, for their performances in My Fair Lady.
Britain's Callum Francis won best male actor in a music for his performance as Lola in Kinky Boots, while American Michael James Scott won best supporting male actor as Genie in Aladdin. Gregg Barnes also took home best costume design for Aladdin.
Comedian Hannah Gadsby added a Helpmann to her Barry and best comedy awards from the Melbourne and Adelaide comedy festivals for her knockout show Nanette, while the Hot Brown Honey ensemble won best cabaret, which they also won at the Green Room Awards.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds took out best Australian concert for their Skeleton Tree tour, with Patti Smith winning in the international category. MONA FOMA, run by the Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart won best music festival.
The Academy of St Martin in the Fields won best chamber/instrumental ensemble concert, with the ensemble's Joshua Bell taking home best individual classical performer. Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra won in the category of best symphony orchestra concert, for Stemme, Skelton, Tristan & Isolde.
Satan Jawa, presented by Melbourne's inaugural Asian-focused performing arts festival, AsiaTOPA, won best original score. The soundtrack was written by Iain Grandage and Rahayu Supanggah, and performed live by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra during a one-off screening of the Indonesian film.
Best sound design went to the British Tony Award-winning team Gareth Fry and Pete Malkin for The Encounter, which took audience members on a journey into the Amazon with an intricately designed live and pre-recorded soundtrack delivered through headphones.
Powerhouse Youth Theatre's collaboration with Force Majeure won best children's production for Jump First, Ask Later,and Bangarra Dance Theatre won best touring production for Terrain.