Did your favourite show win a Manchester Theatre Award? Full results revealed…

Debbie Manley | 9th March 2018

BBC Breakfast hosts Charlie Stayt and Naga Munchetty were among the presenters at the MTAs. Photo by Anthony Robling

Sheridan Smith and Danny Mac were among the winners at the Manchester Theatre Awards at the Lowry Theatre in Salford Quays.

Presented by comedian Justin Moorhouse – and with BBC Breakfast hosts Charlie Stayt and Naga Munchetty, Roxanne Pallett, Con O’Neill and Sue Devaney among the guest stars – the annual awards honoured productions seen in Greater Manchester during 2017.

HOME led the way with five awards, with the rest of the honours largely even among the area’s other venues including two for Oldham Coliseum, two for the Royal Exchange Theatre and other awards going to productions and performers at The Lowry, the Palace Theatre and Opera House, Hope Mill Theatre, Contact, Royal Northern College of Music and Greater Manchester Fringe festival.

Rosie Fleeshman (centre) with her dad David Fleeshman and mum Sue Jenkins.

Janet Suzman was named Best Actress for Rose at HOME while Kenneth Alan Taylor won Best Actor for The Father at Oldham Coliseum – which also won the Best Production prize.

Best New Play was won by Rosie Fleeshman for Narcissist in the Mirror, part of Greater Manchester Fringe.

The big shows on the touring circuit visiting Manchester in 2017 were also honoured, with Michael Harrison, David Ian and Curve’s production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard winning Best Musical, and its star Danny Mac scooping Best Actor in a Visiting Production for his role as Joe Gillis.

Sheridan Smith was named Best Actress in a Visiting Production for her star turn as Fanny Brice in the West End-turned touring production of Funny Girl.

Curve chief executive Chris Stafford with actress Roxanne Pallett. Photo by Anthony Robling.

The star-studded pantomime Dick Whittington, produced by Qdos and which featured John Barrowman and The Krankies, scooped the Best Special Entertainment prize.

The Robert Robson Award for Dance was taken by English National Ballet for their Double Bill at the Palace Theatre while Opera North’s The Snow Maiden at The Lowry won the opera prize, renamed this year The Philip Radcliffe Award for Best Opera, in memory of the late arts journalist and one of the founders of the Awards.

Scott Hunter won Best Newcomer for his performance in Yank! at Hope Mill Theatre, a role he also reprised in the West End when the show transferred there last year.

The MTA judging panel includes a group of enthusiastic young critics who contribute to deliberations and reviews and have their own dedicated award for youth performances. This prize was won by Singin’ in the Rain by the Royal Northern College of Music Young Company.

Also presented on the day was the Stage Door Foundation award that was given to JB Shorts, the Reallife Theatre company platform for playlets written and performed by industry professionals, which started life at the Joshua Brooks pub in the city and are now performed at the 53Two fringe venue.

Special Achievement Awards were given to Barrie Rutter, founder and former artistic director of Northern Broadsides, and Anne Hornsby of Mind’s Eye audio describers which celebrated its 25th anniversary last year.

Presenters of the awards included BBC Breakfast hosts Charlie Stayt and Naga Munchetty, former Coronation Street cast including Tupele Dorgu and Eric Potts, television and stage actress Roxanne Pallet and Dinnerladies star Sue Devaney.

Guests were also treated to performances during the ceremony by comic singer songwriter Daniel Cainer, performance poetry by Alex Slater and Rosie Fleeshman and Opera North’s Marie Claire Breen and Dean Robinson who performed arias from Don Giovanni.

The 2018 Manchester Theatre Awards are in association with Target Live, who managed the PR for the awards.

Best Actress winner Janet Suzman with Con O’Neill who presented the award. Photo by Anthony Robling.

Actress in a Leading Role: Janet Suzman, Rose, HOME

Also nominated were:

Karen Henthorn, Spring and Port Wine, Oldham Coliseum

Lisa Dwyer Hogg, People, Places & Things, HOME

Nina Hoss, Returning to Reims, Manchester International Festival

 

Actor in a Leading Role: Kenneth Alan Taylor, The Father, Oldham Coliseum

Also nominated were:

Cliff Burnett, Hard Times, Oldham Coliseum

Jason Merrells, Uncle Vanya, HOME

Ashley Zhangazha, Guys And Dolls, Royal Exchange

 

Actress in a Supporting Role: Katie West, Uncle Vanya, HOME

Also nominated were:

Alison Halstead, The House of Bernarda Alba, Royal Exchange

Kate Kennedy, Twelfth Night, Royal Exchange

Kerry Peers, The Father, Oldham Coliseum

Sheridan Smith. Photo by Johan Persson.

 

Actor in a Supporting Role:  Andrew Sheridan, People, Places & Things, HOME

Also nominated were:

Tom Michael Blyth, Hard Times, Oldham Coliseum

David Fleeshman, Uncle Vanya, HOME

 

Actress in a Visiting Production: Sheridan Smith, Funny Girl, Palace Theatre

Also nominated were:

Ria Jones, Sunset Boulevard, Palace Theatre

Laura Pitt-Pulford, Nell Gwynn, The Lowry

Natalie Radmall-Quirke, The Weir, Oldham Coliseum

 

Actor in a Visiting Production: Danny Mac, Sunset Boulevard, Palace Theatre

Also nominated were:

Graham McDuff, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Palace Theatre

Sean Murray, The Weir, Oldham Coliseum

 

Ensemble: The Suppliant Women, Royal Exchange

Also nominated were:

Oh What A Lovely War, Oldham Coliseum

Operation Black Antler, HOME

 

Performance in a Fringe Production: Alexandra Maxwell, The Loves of Others / Freak, Greater Manchester Fringe

Also nominated were:

Rosie Fleeshman, Narcissist in the Mirror, Greater Manchester Fringe

Amie Giselle-Ward, Little Women – The Musical, Hope Mill Theatre

Danny Solomon, Days Of Wine And Roses, 53TWO

 

Best performance in a Fringe Production winner Alexandra Maxwell with Gwynwth Herbert, who presented the award. Photo by Anthony Jobling.

 

Performance in a Studio Production: Rhodri Meilir How My Light Is Spent, Royal Exchange

Also nominated were:

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: English National Ballet double bill, Palace Theatre

Also nominated were:

Debut, Acosta Danza, The Lowry

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

Also nominated were:

Bunny Christie, People, Places & Things, HOME

Alex Lowde, Persuasion, Royal Exchange

Yael Bartana, What If Women Ruled the World?, Manchester International Festival

 

Fringe Production: Moth, Hope Mill Theatre

Also nominated were:

Bad Advice, Greater Manchester Fringe

Gypsy Queen, Hope Mill Theatre

The Marriage of Kim K, Greater Manchester Fringe

Sunset Boulevard. Photo by Manuel Harlan.

 

Musical: Sunset Boulevard, Palace Theatre

Also nominated were:

Funny Girl, Palace Theatre

Jim Steinman’s Bat out of Hell the Musical, Opera House

Yank!, Hope Mill Theatre

 

New Play: Narcissist in the Mirror, writer Rosie Fleeshman, Greater Manchester Fringe

Also nominated were: Gypsy Queen, writer Rob Ward, Hope Mill Theatre

How My Light Is Spent, writer Alan Harris, Royal Exchange

Narvik, writer Lizzie Nunnery, HOME

 

Newcomer: Scott Hunter, Yank!, Hope Mill Theatre

Also nominated were:

Gemma Dobson, Rita, Sue and Bob Too, Octagon Theatre Bolton

Vinay Lad, The Railway Children, The Lowry

 

The Philip Radcliffe Award for Opera: The Snow Maiden, Opera North, The Lowry

Also nominated were:

Cendrillon, Royal Northern College of Music, RNCM

La Cenerentola, Opera North, The Lowry

Opera North Little Greats, Opera North, The Lowry

 

Production: The Father, Oldham Coliseum

Also nominated were:

People, Places & Things, HOME

Rose, HOME

The Suppliant Women, Royal Exchange

 

Special Entertainment: Dick Whittington, Opera House

Also nominated were:

Running Wild, The Lowry

The Toad Knew, The Lowry

Under Glass, Clod Ensemble,The Lowry

 

Studio Production: Man On The Moon, Contact

Also nominated were:

From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads, The Lowry

Joan, Contact

Swansong, The Lowry

 

Target Live Award for Best Visiting Production: The Weir, Oldham Coliseum

Also nominated were:

La Strada, The Lowry

My Country; a Work in Progress, HOME

Nell Gwynn, The Lowry

 

Youth Panel Award: Singin’ in the Rain, RNCM Young Company

Also nominated were:

There is a Light/BRIGHTLIGHT, Contact Young Company

Tis Written in the Stars, Oldham Theatre Workshop, Oldham Coliseum

Host Justin Moorhouse. Photo by Anthony Jobling.