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Donmar Warehouse team and Opera North Stage Manager Triumph at this year's National Awards for Stage Management
At a packed ceremony during the ABTT Theatre Show at the Royal Horticultural Halls on Wednesday 10th June, Michael Grandage, artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse, ended up presenting one of the awards to his own team, whose nomination by executive producer James Bierman he'd strongly supported.
The team for the four shows the Donmar Warehouse has been presenting in the West End, at the Wyndham's, were commended by, amongst others, actor Kenneth Branagh who starred in Ivanov, as well as Michael Grandage himself who wrote that ‘All of us at the Donmar would work with every one of these individuals again - in a heartbeat. They have re-defined a level of stage managerial dedication that gives the theatre a good name. The veteran theatre director, Peter Gill, once said that if a British stage management team was put in charge of the railway system, every train would run on time. He's right - and this team could run the country, never mind the railway system.'
The highly sought after Stage Manager of the Year Award this year went to Kate Davy, stage manager for Opera North, whose nomination received extremely strong support from across the entire organisation, including all technical departments, performers, singers, chorus, director Richard Jones, as well as music director Richard Farnes.
She beat Jo Miles, veteran West End stage manager, currently on Priscilla - Queen of the Desert; Nick Hayman, deputy stage manager of the Queen's Theatre in Hornchurch, nominated by artistic director Bob Carlton, himself a former stage manager; Tracey Booth, a young assistant stage manager from Clwyd Theatr Cymru, specially commended by artistic director Terry Hands in a personal letter to the selection panel; as well as nominees from the Maddermarket in Norwich, Shrewsbury Music Hall panto, Tamasha's Wuthering Heights and Dominic Phillips of Forest Forge Theatre Company who won the award once before, in 2004.
Michael Grandage spoke of the special contribution that stage managers made to the success of a production, and how they are artists, not technicians, the best of whom can be a valuable sounding board for a director, sharing and contributing to a vision in the way they call a show and manage the performance. He emphasised, therefore, how very honoured he was to be able to present these awards this year.
12th June 2009
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