JULY 21
We can all help the Helpmanns

Next Monday we celebrate the performing arts in Australia with the Helpmann Awards, a concept that has been the subject of a lot of attention in recent weeks surrounding the way they are structured and indeed, the very need for them at all.

The Helpmanns are very much in their infancy – they still aren’t even a decade old at this stage – and there is little doubt much work is to be done before they earn the respect of the industry itself, let alone the general theatre-going public. However, those wanting to take it to the gallows are going a little bit overboard.

When Wicked opened in Melbourne earlier this month, the last thing on anyone’s mind was the Helpmann Awards. Nobody said, “wow, Amanda Harrison will take home a Helpmann for that performance”, and I didn’t hear anyone calling for a Wicked clean sweep at the 2009 ceremony. Such talk is reserved for overseas with the Tony and Olivier Awards gaining major attention on a yearly basis. Both have been around a lot longer than the Helpmanns, however, and comparisons are indeed unfair.

The growth of the Helpmann Awards isn’t helped by those who refuse to throw their support behind it despite the fact it supports an industry we are all so desperate to see keep thriving.

Diana Simmonds, a journalist from the website Stage Noise, said recently: “The event will be ‘televised live on the Bio Channel Foxtel’ apparently, which may or may not mean more viewers than Nine’s Footy Show ... the only light in what will otherwise be a long, long Helpmann night are the MCs: Jonathan Biggins and Julia Zemiro.”

I don’t know but I find it a shame that people who love this industry so much can easily bag a live television broadcast – even if it is on a pay television provider – and declare weeks in advance of the ceremony that it will be a “long, long” night with only the MCs as highlights. There’s confidence for you, and in the same paragraph, the very reason why the Helpmanns will never succeed. After all, if the people already on the “right side” can’t even support the industry, then what hope have we got of those who haven’t discovered the world of showbusiness yet coming across and joining us?

Ms Simmonds is, of course, on the judging panel of the Sydney Theatre Awards, which according to her recent article, boasts the “best and most economical Awards Ceremony”.

In the interests of fairness, Ms Simmonds’ full story can be read here.

The Helpmann Awards may not have the glitz and glamour attached to them of the Tony Awards, or closer to home the Aria or Logie Awards, but they very much serve a purpose and their place on the Australian theatre scene is relevant.

The biggest problem the Helpmann Awards has is that it doesn’t quite know what it honours. On the surface, it’s main focus is theatre – after all, Best Musical is always considered the major award of the night and the Helpmanns themselves seem to focus on the theatrical side of things moreso than the other genres it celebrates, such as opera and comedy.

Having the Helpmanns as a ceremony that celebrates the “live entertainment industry” is a big call – after all, live entertainment is all-encompassing and throwing everything into the same pool is akin to kissing your sister – you still get something, but it’s not all that great or memorable. Any night that can include a performance by Vanessa Amorosi within minutes of the cast of Guys And Dolls is clearly just a little bit lost.

While you might piss some people off in doing it, I truly believe for the Helpmanns to emerge as a major success it needs to dump the two-hour pre-broadcast section, and only present the live to air section. Cut opera and comedy and any other genres that don’t quite fill the theatre criteria, incorporate independent theatre and cabaret and you will have a tight, punchy ceremony with a purpose. At the moment, that purpose is unknown because of how many industries the Helpmanns try to cover. The Sydney Theatre Awards are a fantastic concept, but they cannot be our main awards ceremony as it’s just not right to have theatre’s night of nights held at the Paddington RSL. However, taking the best elements from that concept and throwing them together with the Helpmanns could provide a very polished result.

I am not willing to throw the Helpmann Awards in the trash just yet. It’s early days, but they certainly need to make some alterations before it can proceed in a way in which the theatre industry is honoured in the right way.

But then, you say, what of opera? What of comedy? Won’t they suffer? And there, my friends, is the double edged sword Helpmann organisers must juggle.

As far as this year’s ceremony is concerned, chookas to all the nominees – I hope it’s a fantastic night in which we can sit back and relive some of the great memories of the last 12 months.

I, for one, am excited about next Monday night and I won’t be letting any of the doomsdayers ruin that excitement.

Declaration of interest: Troy Dodds is a member of the Helpmann Awards' Musical Theatre Panel.


Read Last Week's Just Having My Say