Cate in Black. Again

The faces on the paparazzi said it all. Superstar Cate Blanchett a great supporter of the local ACCTA Awards was in black again. It may have been a gorgeous Armani gown but as one well known snapper said : "one pic of Cate in black is pretty much like another. They just don't sell very well."

He probably has a point. Look at our snap of Blanchett at the ACTTA Awards 3 years ago in that amazing red dress. This pic taken by your humble scribe has been used over and over in European glossy magazines.
 Below is our snap of Cate at the Helpmann Awards earlier this year. Black again.

The other disappointment for the media was the expectation that Harrison Ford would attend the awards. Hardly, he has a huge Star Wars launch to attend tonight at the Opera House.

Blanchett received the Longford Lyell Award for outstanding contribution to Australian screen at the ceremony in Sydney.

 

Death of music figure Eric Robinson

Elton John & Patti Mostyn

Eric Robinson (centre) with Michael Chugg & Glen Shorrock

Australia's show business community is in mourning today after the death of music figure Eric Robinson who passed away from cancer on Wednesday.
Beginning as a roadie for local bands, Robinson eventually rose through hard work to become Australia's foremost lighting and sound provider for the biggest entertainment acts. For a time he also excelled in the same business in the UK before returning to Australia. Along the way he married the countries most powerful music publicist Patti Mostyn who achieved fame after becoming the best pal of some of her superstar clients like Elton John. This year Eric received the Sue Nattrass Award at the  Helpmann Awards to honour his long standing commitment to the live performance industry.

Robinson and Patti retired to Port Douglas a few years ago where Eric died at age 67 from complications from cancer.  He leaves behind wife Patti and their daughter Tara and will be farewelled in a private funeral.

Hollywood Stars at the Helpmanns

Every year the Helpmann Awards for live theatre in Australia has become a bigger and grander event and this year it did not disappoint.
Held at the Capitol Theatre guests were treated to a two hour extravaganza featuring numbers from the Lion King and Strictly Ballroom and plenty more. And a host if international names turned up from Geoffrey Rush, Baz Luhrmann and Lou Diamond Phillips.
You can read the full list of winners here : but special congratulations must go to the superb new intimate Kings Cross theatre, the Hayes Theatre which opened just 6 months ago. Their production (and the Shuttle watched it from the very back row which has a superb view of the stage) of Sweet Charity, an ambitious feat, picked up three well deserved gongs.

Lisa McCune & Lou Diamond Phillips     Robyn Nevin & Nicholas Hammond   Silvia Colloca & Richard Roxburgh

Andrew Upton                          Baz Luhrmann & Catherine Martin                  Kelley Abbey & Craig McLachlan

Below : Nancye Hayes with Hayes Theatre Director David Campbell : Sweet Charity

Diva Night at the Helpmann Awards

The 2014 Helpmann Awards will be held tonight, not at the Opera House as our pic implies but at the very beautiful Capitol Theatre in Haymarket.
Special guest will be US actor Lou Diamond Phillips.
Awards up for grabs include gongs for some of our fabulously talented female performers in musical theatre.
Below are just some of these terrific actors.

Lisa McCune                                             Katrina Retallick                                          Queenie van de Zandt                          

 

                  Christine Wheeler Brown                                                  Debora Krizak

                    Caroline O'Connor                                                    Geraldine Turner
courtesy : http://divaknowsbest.com.au/

Looking Good

One guest at the Helpmann Awards last night was supermodel and Foxtel star Sarah Murdoch. Sarah is an ambassador for the Australian Ballet Company. Although she trained to be a ballet dancer she switched careers when told she was probably too tall for the ballet.

Today News Ltd has run a story claiming that the ailing Sydney Morning Herald has refused to run $30,000 worth of adverts promoting the book Killing Fairfax, the book by Fairfax writer Pamela Williams which is odd given that the current managing team at Fairfax weren't running the show during the period the events take place. James Packer, who isn't Fairfax's greatest fan and Sarah's husband Lachlan Murdoch, son of Rupert Murdoch were both at the launch of the book.
Meanwhile the Sydney Morning Herald has a new Editor In Chief, one of the countries most experienced investigative reporters Darren Goodsir- a move in the right direction.

Legal Blondes Galore !

Tim Mimchin with Sarah & Nel Minchin at the Helpmanns

Legally Blonde swept the boards at the 2013 Helpmann Awards last night at the Sydney Opera House scooping up 5 gongs including  best musical, direction and choreography and an award for Lucy Durack as best female actor in a musical.

the Tap Bros

The spectacular Melbourne based stage event  King Kong, won four design awards for costumes, lighting, sound and scenery, plus a special award for Outstanding Theatrical Achievement. There are bound to be more plaudits for King Kong as it's heading for Broadway in the near future.

A total of 43 Helpmann Awards were presented during a glitzy night honouring the most outstanding live performances in Australia in the past year.

Colin Friels won for Death of a Salesman at Sydney's Belvoir Street Theatre and Alison Bell won for her role in Hedda Gabler at the State Theatre Company of South Australia. Geoffrey Rush was named best male actor in a musical for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.



Paul Capsis (below right) Lucy Durack (right )  Elizabeth Debicki (below)

theatre heavyweights : Baz Luhrmann, Andrew Upton and a glamorous blonde

Briden Star         Helen Dallimore            Erika Heynatz & Andrew Kingston           Cheryl Barker                                       

heading for Broadway : King Kong

What a Cheek !

Our national treasure Kylie Minogue has been posting pics of herself via Instagram taken by a pal in Positano in Italy. And doesn't she look fab !

On Monday the Singing Budgie will receive the foremost honour that the Australian live entertainment industry can bestow - the JC Williamson Award at the 2013 Helpmann Awards to be held at the Sydney Opera House.

Past recipients have included Barry Humphries, Dame Joan Sutherland, Googie Withers and John Farnham

Chip Of The Old Block

 Not too hard to see who this lad takes after. Young Roman Upton is Cate Blanchett's son and he escorted her last night to the Helpmann Awards. Dad Andrew Upton, who Roman is the image of was busy working.
 Cate picked up the Best Actress Award for her role in the Sydney Theatre Company's Gross Und Klein while Paul Capsis (right) picked up Best Actor for his brilliant part in the Belvoir Street Theatre's Angela's Kitchen.

A Night For Awards

the Emmy's kick off this morning in Los Angeles with two Australians up for awards : Nicole Kidman for her portrayal of Martha Gellhorn in the film Hemingway and Gellhorn while the reclusive Judy Davis ('best actress in the world' :Woody Allen) will be attending to see if she picks up the Best Supporting Actress gong in the political drama Page Eight.

Nicole Kidman as Martha Gellhorn with co-star Clive Owen

Trevor Ashley : Diamonds Are For Trevor

In the evening the stars of the Australian stage and local Hollywood types will gather at the Sydney Opera House for the Helpmann Awards. The Shuttle will be on hand to see if the brilliant rising drag star Trevor Ashley picks up an award for his superb show Diamonds Are For Trevor while Tim Minchin is nominated for Best Comedy performance.

Judy Davis' husband Colin Freils may get Best Actor in A Play for Red and no Sydney theatre event is worth it's salt without either Cate Blanchett in attendance or getting a Best Actress Award as she may for her role in Gross Und Klein. And Miranda Otto should be there along with the Otto clan including dad Barry Otto ('best actor in the world' : John Gielgud). Miranda has been nominated in the supporting role in The White Guard.

Bruce Beresford has been nominated for his direction of the opera Mice And Men.
Prince, Kylie Minogue, Foof Fighters, Sade and Keith Urban have all been nominated in various categories.
For the full list go to the Helpmann Awards website and check back at the social shuttle later tonight.