COMEDIAN Justin Moorhouse acted as MC at the Manchester Theatre Awards Ceremony at The Lowry.
Singer Gwyneth Herbert, who, with her husband, Ned Cartwright, has been appearing at the Cinnamon Club, Bowdon, for 10 years, presented the award for Performance in a Fringe Production.
She said: “I was told not to peep in the envelope, so the winner, Alexandra Maxwell, The Loves of Others/Freak from Greater Manchester Fringe Festival, was a complete surprise.
“It was exciting to witness the breadth of achievement, the sense of a creative family and a very welcoming community.”
Sheena Wrigley, theatre director of the Manchester Palace Theatre and the Opera House, accepted the Robert Robson award for Dance on behalf of the English National Ballet for its double bill at the Palace.
She was an appropriate recipient. For Sheena, who was brought up in Brooklands, attended the June Rendell School of Dancing, Altrincham, from the ages of six to 18.
“I was a very average ballet dancer although I did reach grade six. I was tall and not suited to classical ballet although I loved it,” she said.
She was impressed with the broad range of theatre represented ranging from new writers to international companies.
HOME won the most awards with five.
Winner of the Best Actress award was Janet Suzman for Rose at HOME and the Best Actor award went to Kenneth Alan Taylor for Father at the Oldham Colisseum, which also won the Best Production Prize.
Barrie Rutter, founder and former Artistic Director of Northern Broadsides and Anne Hornsby, an audio describer with Mind’s Eye Audio Describers were given special achievement awards.
Guests were kept amused by comic singer song-writer Daniel Cainer, performance poets, Alex Slater and Rosie Fleeshman and Dean Robinson, from Opera North, who performed arias from Don Giovanni.
Manchester Theatre Awards 2018 at the Lowry
* denotes winners
Actress in a Leading Role
Karen Henthorn, Spring and Port Wine, Oldham Coliseum
Lisa Dwyer Hogg, People, Places & Things, HOME
Nina Hoss, Returning to Reims, Manchester International Festival
* Janet Suzman, Rose, HOME
Actor in a Leading Role
Cliff Burnett, Hard Times, Oldham Coliseum
Jason Merrells, Uncle Vanya, HOME
* Kenneth Alan Taylor, The Father, Oldham Coliseum
Ashley Zhangazha, Guys And Dolls, Royal Exchange
Actress in a Supporting Role
Alison Halstead, The House of Bernarda Alba, Royal Exchange
Kate Kennedy, Twelfth Night, Royal Exchange
Kerry Peers, The Father, Oldham Coliseum
* Katie West, Uncle Vanya, HOME
Actor in a Supporting Role
Tom Michael Blyth, Hard Times, Oldham Coliseum
David Fleeshman, Uncle Vanya, HOME
* Andrew Sheridan, People, Places & Things, HOME
Actress in a Visiting Production
Ria Jones, Sunset Boulevard, Palace Theatre
Laura Pitt-Pulford, Nell Gwynn, The Lowry
Natalie Radmall-Quirke, The Weir, Oldham Coliseum
* Sheridan Smith, Funny Girl, Palace Theatre
Actor in a Visiting Production
* Danny Mac, Sunset Boulevard, Palace Theatre
Graham McDuff, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Palace Theatre
Sean Murray, The Weir, Oldham Coliseum
Ensemble
Oh What A Lovely War, Oldham Coliseum
Operation Black Antler, HOME
* The Suppliant Women, Royal Exchange
Performance in a Fringe Production
Rosie Fleeshman, Narcissist in the Mirror, Greater Manchester Fringe
Amie Giselle-Ward, Little Women – The Musical, Hope Mill Theatre
* Alexandra Maxwell, The Loves of Others / Freak, Greater Manchester Fringe
Danny Solomon, Days Of Wine And Roses, 53TWO
Performance in a Studio Production
* Rhodri Meilir How My Light Is Spent, Royal Exchange
Lucy Jane Parkinson, Joan, Contact
Keisha Thompson, Man On The Moon, Contact
Alex Walton, From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads, The Lowry
Robert Robson Award for Dance
Debut, Acosta Danza, The Lowry
* English National Ballet double bill, Palace Theatre
Ghost Dances, Rambert Dance, The Lowry
Leviathan, James Wilton Dance, Contact
Design
* Jenny Melville (set) and Lysander Ashton (video), Paul Auster’s City of Glass, HOME
Bunny Christie, People, Places & Things, HOME
Alex Lowde, Persuasion, Royal Exchange
Yael Bartana, What If Women Ruled the World?, Manchester International Festival
Fringe Production
Bad Advice, Greater Manchester Fringe
Gypsy Queen, Hope Mill Theatre
The Marriage of Kim K, Greater Manchester Fringe
* Moth, Hope Mill Theatre
Musical
Funny Girl, Palace Theatre
Jim Steinman’s Bat out of Hell the Musical, Opera House
* Sunset Boulevard, Palace Theatre
Yank!, Hope Mill Theatre
New Play
Gypsy Queen, writer Rob Ward, Hope Mill Theatre
How My Light Is Spent, writer Alan Harris, Royal Exchange
* Narcissist in the Mirror, writer Rosie Fleeshman, Greater Manchester Fringe
Narvik, writer Lizzie Nunnery, HOME
Newcomer
Gemma Dobson, Rita, Sue and Bob Too, Octagon Theatre Bolton
* Scott Hunter, Yank!, Hope Mill Theatre
Vinay Lad, The Railway Children, The Lowry
The Philip Radcliffe Award for Opera
Cendrillon, Royal Northern College of Music, RNCM
La Cenerentola, Opera North, The Lowry
Opera North Little Greats, Opera North, The Lowry
* The Snow Maiden, Opera North, The Lowry
Production
* The Father, Oldham Coliseum
People, Places & Things, HOME
Rose, HOME
The Suppliant Women, Royal Exchange
Special Entertainment
* Dick Whittington, Opera House
Running Wild, The Lowry
The Toad Knew, The Lowry
Under Glass, Clod Ensemble,The Lowry
Studio Production
From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads, The Lowry
Joan, Contact
* Man On The Moon, Contact
Swansong, The Lowry
Target Live Award for Best Visiting Production
La Strada, The Lowry
My Country; a Work in Progress, HOME
Nell Gwynn, The Lowry
* The Weir, Oldham Coliseum
Youth Panel Award
There is a Light/BRIGHTLIGHT, Contact Young Company
* Singin' in the Rain, RNCM Young Company
Tis Written in the Stars, Oldham Theatre Workshop, Oldham Coliseum
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