The 2009 Helpmann Awards®

On Monday 27 July, Live Performance Australia (LPA) celebrated its 9th Annual Helpmann Awards®. The Awards, celebrating the best in Australia’s live entertainment industry, made its debut at the iconic Sydney Opera House, giving the night extra sparkle, as some of our brightest stars strolled down the Red Carpet.

Host of Rock Wiz and all round funny woman, Julia Zemiro kick-started the evening as the Host of Act I, introducing performances from Scared Weird Little Guys, the cast of Candy Man, Metro Street, Jerry Springer - The Opera and Monty Python’s Spamalot.

Jonathan Biggins continued through Act II, keeping audiences entertained with his on-stage antics. The Awards also featured performances from the cast from Wicked, Avenue Q, Sydney Dance Company Shane Warne The Musical, Chicago as well as a special performance from Canadian circus troupe 7 Fingers.

Tyler Coppin made tribute to the man himself, acting as Sir Robert Helpmann in celebration of the centenary of his birth. The Australian Ballet also paid tribute, performing a pas des deux from Don Quixote – a ballet that Sir Robert Helpmann made uniquely his own.

A star-studded line-up of presenters also helped to make the evening special. They included Alison Bell, Bille Brown, Marta Dusseldorp, Craig McLachlan, Bojana Novakovic, Tim Rogers, Liv Ullmann, Stephen Page, Grant Piro, Sharon Millerchip and UK comedians Hale and Pace.

The highlight of the evening saw two industry greats awarded JC Williamson Awards, for their continuing contribution to Australian Live Entertainment Industry.

Anna Volska and Jackie Weaver spearheaded a funny and witty tribute to John Bell AO AM OBE along with daughters Lucy and Hilary Bell and performers Drew Forsythe and Darren Gilshenan. John was awarded the JC Williamson Award for his outstanding work in Australian theatre.

Michael Gudinski AM was the other JC Williamson recipient for 2009 for his contribution to our Live Music Industry. Molly Meldrum presented the award, and there was a surprise appearance from Diesel, Jimmy Barnes and members of the Skyhooks who performed a foot-stomping rendition of ‘Women in Uniform’.

Both JC Williamson recipients will be inducted into LPA’s Hall of Fame.

Award winners from all 41 categories reflect the diversity and talent across Australia in our live entertainment industry and we congratulate them all.

We warmly thank and acknowledge our Executive Producer Jon Nicholls, Associate Producers Simone Parrott and Liza McLean, Director Stuart Maunder and all performers, presenters, crew members and volunteers who gave their time to make our 9th Annual Helpmann Awards® a success.

This year we received a record number of votes and with our voting collegiate expanding every year we are delighted that the Helpmann Awards® continue to grow and are so highly valued and supported by our industry.

The success of the 2009 Helpmann Awards® was only made possible due to the tremendous support of our sponsors, particularly our Strategic Partners Events NSW and Foxtel (see Partners page) and the Helpmann Awards® Administration Committee.

See you in 2010 for our 10th Annual Helpmann Awards®!