After watching more than 200 theatre performances throughout 2016, the 10-strong MTA Panel has narrowed down a shortlist that honours everyone from established star names in main house productions to complete newcomers.
A group of enthusiastic young critics also choose an annual award from amongst the city’s youth theatre productions.
In the past, Manchester Theatre Awards have often gone to actors and actresses who go on to become household or even Hollywood names. Many performers feature the awards in their theatrical CVs.
In the midst of its 40th anniversary year, the Royal Exchange has picked up nearly 20 nominations. This year’s categories for Best Actress and the coveted Best Production proved particularly difficult to narrow down and in the event it is the Royal Exchange and the city’s HOME venue that go head to head for the trophies.
Likewise, Best Musical has been a crowded category with Manchester’s emergent Hope Mill Theatre getting a foot in the door with its regional première production of Parade. This brand new fringe venue, in an old mill in Ancoats, has staged several ambitious productions in 2016.
For the Best Newcomer award, five new faces will be up against two teams of juvenile actors and actresses who performed, respectively, the part of ‘Michael’ in Billy Elliot, or ‘Scout’ in To Kill a Mockingbird, the latter at the Octagon in Bolton.
All nominees are invited to the awards event and public tickets are available, priced £15, at www.homemcr.org or 0161 200 1500.
Manchester Theatre Award nominations
Best Actor
- Rob Edwards, To Kill A Mockingbird, Octagon Theatre, Bolton
- David Neilson, Endgame, HOME, Manchester
- Daniel Rigby, Breaking The Code, Royal Exchange, Manchester
- Don Warrington, King Lear, Royal Exchange
Best Actress
- Niamh Cusack, Ghosts, HOME
- Kaisa Hammarlund, Sweet Charity, Royal Exchange
- Julie Hesmondhalgh, Wit, Royal Exchange
- Kathryn Hunter, The Emperor, HOME
Best Production
- Breaking The Code, Royal Exchange
- Ghosts, HOME
- The Emperor, HOME
- Wit, Royal Exchange
Best Supporting Actor
- Daniel Crossley, Sweet Charity, Royal Exchange
- Raad Rawi, Breaking The Code, Royal Exchange
- Marc Small, To Kill A Mockingbird, Octagon Theatre
- Miltos Yerolemou, King Lear, Royal Exchange
Best Supporting Actress
- Natalie Dew, Breaking The Code, Royal Exchange
- Sharon Duncan-Brewster, A Streetcar Named Desire, Royal Exchange
- Natalie Grady, Martha Josie and the Chinese Elvis, Octagon Theatre
- Amy Nuttall, The Winter’s Tale, Octagon Theatre
Best Visiting Production
- 946: The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips, HOME
- A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing, Lowry, Salford
- Love’s Labour’s Lost / Much Ado About Nothing, Opera House
- The Encounter, HOME
- The James Plays, Lowry
Best Actor in a Visiting Production
- Edward Bennett, Love’s Labour’s Lost / Much Ado About Nothing, Opera House
- Rufus Hound, The Wind in the Willows, The Lowry
- Simon McBurney, The Encounter, HOME
- Michael Pennington, King Lear, Opera House
Best Actress in a Visiting Production
- Lisa Dillon, Love’s Labour’s Lost / Much Ado About Nothing, Opera House
- Aoife Duffin, A Girl Is A Half-Formed Thing, Lowry
- Lisa Maxwell, End Of The Rainbow, Opera House
- Zizi Strallen, Mary Poppins, Palace
Best Newcomer
- Daisy Badger, Look Back In Anger, Octagon Theatre
- Ben Hunter, The Girls, Lowry
- Norah Lopez Holden, Ghosts, HOME
- Kirsty Rider, Pride And Prejudice, Lowry
- Holly Willock, The Wind In The Willows, Lowry
- Young ‘Michael’ cast, Billy Elliot, Palace
- Young ‘Scout’ cast, To Kill A Mockingbird, Octagon Theatre
Best Opera
- Andrea Chénier, Opera North, Lowry
- Billy Budd, Opera North, Lowry
- Don Giovanni, ETO, Buxton Opera House
- Tamerlano, Buxton Festival, Buxton Opera House
The Robert Robson Award for Best Dance
- Akram Khan’s Giselle, Palace
- Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Lowry
- Nederlands Dans Theater 2, Lowry
- The Red Shoes, Lowry
Best Musical
- Billy Elliot, Palace
- Parade, Hope Mill Theatre
- Singin’ in the Rain, Octagon Theatre
- Sweet Charity, Royal Exchange
- The Wind in the Willows, Lowry
Best Fringe Production
- Boomtown Gals, Various venues
- Die Diana, Bandit, Mugger and Thief, Manchester
- Multi Story, Monkeywood, Various venues
- The Trial, Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester
Best Fringe Performance
- Joyce Branagh, Boomtown Gals, Various venues
- Sam Grogan, Waiting Room, King’s Arms, Salford
- William J Holstead, The Trial, Hope Mill Theatre
- Leanne Martin, The Brink, King’s Arms
Best Studio Production
- Dirty Pakistani Lingerie, Lowry
- Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons, HOME
- The Solid Life Of Sugar Water, Royal Exchange
- Wish List, Royal Exchange
Best Actor in a Studio Production
- Alexander Gatehouse, Ventoux, Lowry
- Joseph Quinn, Wish List, Royal Exchange Studio
- Rex Ryan, Pilgrim, Lowry
Best Actress in a Studio Production
- Erin Doherty, Wish List, Royal Exchange Studio
- Sarah Emmott, Declaration, Lowry
- Georgia Henshaw, Bird, Royal Exchange Studio
- Molly Vevers, Ross and Rachel, Lowry
Best New Play
- A Pacifist’s Guide to the War on Cancer, HOME
- Bird, Royal Exchange Studio
- The Emperor, HOME
- Wish List, Royal Exchange Studio
Best Design
- Endgame, HOME
- La Vie Parisienne, Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester
- Singin’ In The Rain, Octagon Theatre
- The Pitmen Painters, Coliseum, Oldham
Best Ensemble
- 946: The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips, HOME
- Singin’ In The Rain, Octagon Theatre
- The Pitmen Painters, Coliseum
- The James Plays, Lowry
Best Special Entertainment
- An Anatomie In Four Quarters, Lowry
- Cirque du Soleil – Amaluna, Trafford Centre
- Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring, Old Granada Studios
- The Peony Pavillion, Lowry
Youth Panel Award
- NOTHING - The Royal Exchange Theatre Young Company
- The Secret Garden – Octagon Youth Theatre
- The Factory – The Royal Exchange Theatre Young Company
- The Siege of Christmas - Contact Youth Company with Swung Low