2nd Helpmann Awards

The 2nd Helpmann Awards ceremony was presented by the Australian Entertainment Industry Association (AEIA), currently known by its trade name, Live Performance Australia (LPA), for achievements in disciplines of Australia's live performance sectors. The ceremony took place on 6 May 2002 at the Star City Show Room in Sydney and was hosted by Simon Burke for the second year in a row. During the ceremony, the AEIA handed out awards in twelve categories for achievements in theatre, musicals, opera, ballet, dance and concerts.^[1]

2nd Helpmann Awards
Date	6 May 2002
Location	Star City Show Room, Sydney
Hosted by	Simon Burke
Television/radio coverage
Network	No broadcast
← 1st · Helpmann Awards · 3rd →

The ceremony received criticism for its rules and voting procedures, and was compared to the previous ceremony's "polished awards night".^[2]

Winners and nominees

In the following tables, winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.^[3][4]

Theatre

Best Play	Best Direction of a Play
Cloudstreet – Company B Belvoir and Black Swan Theatre Master Class – International Concert Attractions The Tempest – Melbourne Theatre Company in association with Melbourne Festival Three Sisters – Sydney Theatre Company	Neil Armfield – Cloudstreet Benedict Andrews – Three Sisters Rodney Fisher – Master Class Simon Phillips – The Tempest
Best Female Actor in a Play	Best Male Actor in a Play
Amanda Muggleton – Master Class Essie Davis – The School for Scandal (Sydney Theatre Company) Kris McQuade – Cloudstreet Caroline O'Connor – Bombshells (Melbourne Theatre Company)	John Bell – Richard III (Bell Shakespeare in collaboration with Queensland Theatre Company) Peter Carroll – The Christian Brothers (Sydney Theatre Company) Willem Dafoe – The Hairy Ape (Melbourne Festival) John Stanton – The Tempest

Musicals

Best Musical
Mamma Mia! – Littlestar in association with Universal and Dainty Consolidated Entertainment Singin' in the Rain – David Atkins Enterprises / IMG Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street – Opera Australia The Wizard of Oz – SEL / GFO / Macks Entertainment
Best Direction of a Musical	Best Choreography in a Musical
Gale Edwards – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street David Atkins – Singin' in the Rain Phyllida Lloyd – Mamma Mia! Graeme Murphy – Tivoli (The Australian Ballet & Sydney Dance Company)	David Atkins – Singin' in the Rain Tony Bartuccio – The Pirates of Penzance (Essgee Entertainment) Kim Gavin – Oh! What a Night (Majestic Theatre Company) Anthony Van Laast – Mamma Mia!
Best Female Actor in a Musical	Best Male Actor in a Musical
Judi Connelli – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Deborah Conway – Always … Patsy Cline (Majestic Theatre Company) Lara Mulcahy – Mamma Mia! Pamela Rabe – The Wizard of Oz	Peter Coleman-Wright – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Martin Crewes – Oh! What a Night Robert Grubb – Mamma Mia! Wayne Scott Kermond – Singin' in the Rain

Opera

Best Opera	Best Direction of an Opera
Batavia – Opera Australia in association with Melbourne Festival L'elisir d'amore – Opera Australia Parsifal – State Opera of South Australia The Fiery Angel (The Kirov Opera) – Melbourne Festival	Lindy Hume – Batavia Stephen Medcalf – Going Into Shadows (Queensland Performing Arts Centre / Queensland Conservatorium / Guildhall School of Music & Drama) Elke Neidhardt – Parsifal Simon Phillips – L'elisir d'amore
Best Female Performer in an Opera	Best Male Performer in an Opera
Lisa Gasteen – Tristan und Isolde (Opera Australia) Kate Ladner – The Marriage of Figaro (West Australian Opera) Margaret Medlyn – Parsifal Elizabeth Whitehouse – Andrea Chénier (Opera Australia)	Jonathan Summers – Parsifal Bruce Martin – Batavia Glenn Winslade – Lohengrin (Opera Australia) Angus Wood – The Gypsy Princess (Opera Australia)

Dance and Physical Theatre

Best Ballet or Dance Work	Best Visual or Physical Theatre Production
Requiem – The Australian Ballet and State Opera of South Australia Corroboree – Bangarra Dance Theatre Eidos:Telos (Ballett Frankfurt) – Melbourne Festival Tivoli – The Australian Ballet and Sydney Dance Company	Same, Same But Different – Performing Lines in association with Sydney Festival Circus Oz (Sydney season) – Circus Oz Puppetry of the Penis – Ross Mollison Productions Stringraphy Ensemble – Melbourne Festival in association with Victorian Arts Centre
Best Choreography in a Ballet or Dance Work
Stephen Page – Corroboree Stephen Baynes – Requiem William Forsythe – Eidos:Telos François Klaus – Don Quixote (Queensland Ballet)
Best Female Dancer in a Dance or Physical Theatre Work	Best Male Dancer in a Dance or Physical Theatre Work
Kate Champion – About Face (Performing Lines) Tracey Carrodus – Tivoli Miranda Coney – Requiem Sheree da Costa – Singin' in the Rain	Steven Heathcote – Giselle (The Australian Ballet) Daryl Brandwood – Beyond Tears (West Australian Ballet) Joshua Horner – Tivoli David McAllister – Giselle

Other

Best Live Music Presentation	Best Presentation for Children
Capsis vs Capsis – Sydney Opera House Mahler Symphony No. 8 – Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Testimony – Sydney Opera House and Sydney Festival in association with Melbourne Festival Tim Draxl in Concert – Spirit Entertainment	Hi-5 Alive – International Concert Attractions, Kids Like Us and Channel 9 Mad, Bad and Spooky – Sydney Festival and Theatre of Image Mice – A Cheesy Little Musical – Barking Gecko Theatre Company The Sign of the Seahorse – Playbox and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Best Special Event or Performance
Buena Vista Social Club - Inaugural Steps of Sydney Opera House paid performance – International Concert Attractions in association with Hocking & Vigo and Sydney Opera House Carmen (12 September [2000] Performance, New York City) – International Concert Attractions and Hocking & Vigo The Alfred Deakin Lectures – Melbourne Festival The Celestial Bells (Transe Express) – Sydney Festival

Industry

Best New Australian Work
Batavia – Richard Mills & Peter Goldsworthy A Man with Five Children – Nick Enright (Sydney Theatre Company) Corroboree – Stephen Page Mavis Goes to Timor – Angela Chaplin, Katherine Thomson & Kavisha Mazzella (Deckchair Theatre)
Best Original Score	Best Musical Direction
Iain Grandage – Cloudstreet David Chisholm – The Shrinking Ledge (Wecreate) Ian McDonald – The Tempest Richard Mills – Batavia	Simone Young – Andrea Chénier Robert Gavin – Always … Patsy Cline Jeffrey Tate – Parsifal Simone Young – Tristan und Isolde
Best Scenic Design	Best Costume Design
Peter England – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Michael Anania and Eamon D'Arcy – Singin' in the Rain Dale Ferguson – The Seagull (Melbourne Theatre Company) Michael Scott-Mitchell – L'elisir d'amore	Kristian Fredrikson – The School for Scandal Roger Kirk – The Gypsy Princess Paula Ryan – Singin' in the Rain Gabriela Tylesova – L'elisir d'amore
Best Lighting Design	Best Sound Design
Mark Howett – Cloudstreet Nigel Levings – The Old Masters (Sydney Theatre Company) John Rayment – Up for Grabs (Sydney Theatre Company) Nick Schlieper – Parsifal	The Wooster Group – The Hairy Ape Max Lyandvert – Three Sisters Wyn Milsom and Michael Waters – Singin' in the Rain David Page and Steve Francis – Corroboree

Lifetime Achievement

JC Williamson Award
Kevin Jacobsen OAM Graeme Murphy AM