The winners of the inaugural Technical Theatre Awards were announced last night (8th October) at the PLASA Show 2013.
Sponsored by AVW Controls, dbs Solutions, Load Cell Rental, Mayflower, Philips Entertainment, PLASA, Production Resource Group (PRG), StageBitz, Stage Jobs Pro, The Fifth Estate Ltd and Triple E, the TTAs are also very kindly supported by Lighting and Sound International and The Theatres Trust. A drinks reception, generously sponsored by Philips Entertainment and Triple E was held pre and post the awards ceremony.
Supporters of the TTAs gathered eagerly around the Theatres Trust stage to await the announcement of this years winners. Hosted by multi-award winning lighting designer Rick Fisher (Billy Elliot the Musical, An Inspector Calls) the ceremony was also attended by representatives from the award sponsors, with a drinks reception held generously by Philips Entertainment and Triple E.
The ‘Stage Jobs Pro’ Award for Outstanding Achievement in Stage Management went to Jason Benterman. Jason started working in Stage Management in 1991 with The Oxford Stage Company and has since worked on various productions ranging from Children’s theatre to Musical Theatre through to many Shakespeare productions at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.
The ‘dBs’ Solution Award for Outstanding Achievement in Sound went to top sound designer Paul Arditti who specialises in the design of sound systems and sound scores. His recent work includes Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, The Audience, Feast and Dr Dee.
International lighting designer Tim Routledge took the ‘Philips Entertainment’ Award for Outstanding Achievement in Lighting. Tim is an experienced lighting designer and programmer and the past 12 months have seen him work on the biggest shows in the UK. He was associate lighting designer for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Concert at Buckingham Palace and lead lighting programmer for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.
The ‘AVW’ Award for Outstanding Achievement in Automation went to Ben Philips. Ben’s automation experience spans over six years, in which time he has opened and worked on a number of major West End and touring shows including: The Sound of Music (Palladium), We Will Rock You (UK Tour), Legally Blonde (Savoy), The Wizard of Oz (Palladium), The Bodyguard (Adelphi) and most recently Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at Theatre Royal Drury Lane.
The ‘StageBitz’ Award for Outstanding Achievement in Prop Making went to Jonathan Hall. Jonathan has recently worked on The Lord of the Rings at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, White Christmas the Musical and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the London Palladium and on the UK Tour.
The Award for Outstanding Achievement in Education went to Chris Layton of LIPA. Chris teaches on the sound technology and the theatre and performance technology degree programmes and on the foundation certificate programme.
The ‘IOGIG Ltd’ Award for Outstanding Achievement in Wardrobe went to Megan Cassidy.
The ‘Load Cell’ Rental Award for Outstanding Achievement in Flys and Rigging went to Adam Searle. Adam founded industry acclaimed rigging company ‘Rigging Team’ and now spends his time working on a multitude of shows. Recent projects include flying Heidi Klum for the MTV EMA’s in Frankfurt, several permanent installations and production rigging for Derren Brown’s Svengali tour and the Michael Grandage Company season at the Noël Coward Theatre.
The ‘Theatres Trust’ Award for Outstanding Achievement in Wigs and Makeup was won by Stefan Musch who is currently the Head of Hair, Wigs and Make-up for ‘The Book of Mormon’ and the Wigs and Hair Supervisor for ‘The Phantom of the Opera, in London. He also teaches Wig and Hair Work at the Delamar Academy.
The ‘Spotlight Accounting’ Award for Receiving Venue of the Year was given to Sadler’s Wells. Sadler’s Wells has a history of over 300 years on Rosebery Avenue, Islington and presents a wide-ranging programme of emerging and established artists.
The ‘AdVision’ Hire Company of the Year Award went to Autograph which says: “Anybody can hire you a ‘kit’ – we pride ourselves on a hire department that is manned by people who value and understand the merits of quality equipment over soulless ‘gear’. They know how intense the creation of live performance sound can be and how it feels to be ill-equipped and unsupported… and how utterly useless a CD player is without a mains lead!”
The ‘Triple E’ award for outstanding achievement in Building and Set Construction went to Janet Williamson, whose career has spanned over 20 years. She now works at Guildford School of Acting.
The Mayflower award for outstanding achievement in Stage Crew went to Dan Cauldwell who has been working in the industry since 1998. He has been at Milton Keynes Theatre, since 2006 as the Assistant Technical Manager.
Well-known industry personality Richard Bullimore won The Lighting and Sound International award for outstanding achievement in Production Management. Currently on tour with Wicked, Richard has worked on many of London’s leading musicals including: Cats; Starlight Express; Crazy for You; Jesus Christ Superstar; Whistle Down the Wind; Saturday Night Fever; The King and I; Fosse; Chitty Chitty Bang Bang; Bombay Dreams; Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker; Absolutely! {perhaps}; The Producers; Sinatra; Evita; Wicked; Joseph; Wizard of Oz; Gone with the Wind; Imagine This and Toyer.
Finally The Entertaining Sustainability award for Venue Sustainability went to Bedlam Theatre – a unique, entirely student-run theatre in the centre of Edinburgh. Bedlam is a fully operational 90-seat venue housed in an imposing neo-gothic church. It’s both a listed building and a historical landmark – a unique space and community where students maintain the building throughout the year.
The TTA team are absolutely delighted with the success of the awards and the support from sponsors, voters and the nominees, who’ve taken to Twitter and Facebook to champion the awards and campaign for one another has been overwhelming.
Plans are already busy being made in preparation for next year, so standby for more information regarding nominations in the new year. In the meantime, the team invite you to contact [email protected] with any feedback or suggestions – we’d love to hear from as many of you as possible in order to allow the awards to become bigger and better!
