Nominations have been announced for the Manchester Theatre Awards for productions seen in Greater Manchester during 2017. The winners will be announced at a ceremony to be held at The Lowry’s Quays Theatre on Friday 9 March hosted by actor and comedian Justin Moorhouse.
The Lowry in Salford leads with 15 nominations in dance, opera and drama, with HOME Manchester following closely behind with 13. Critically-acclaimed fringe venue Hope Mill Theatre has collected six nominations for its programme and performers.
Two further awards, The Stage Door Foundation Award For Excellence and Special Achievement Award, are presented on the day.
Coronation Street and Broadchurch actress Julie Hesmondhalgh, a previous multiple MTA winner, said, “I love the Manchester Theatre Awards. It’s always such a lovely coming together of our artistic community in the best city in the world, and is a celebration of all things theatrical here: from the emerging raw talent of the burgeoning fringe scene to the bobby dazzler spectaculars in our main houses and from the internationally acclaimed cultural highlights of MIF to a couple of people in a tiny space above a Salford pub.”
The full list of nominees is:
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
Opera
- Cendrillon, Royal Northern College of Music, RNCM
- La Cenerentola, Opera North, The Lowry
- Opera North Little Greats (Pagliacci / Cavalleria Rusticana, L'Enfant et les Sortilèges / Osud, Trouble in Tahiti / Trial by Jury), 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