Tuesday, 19 August 2014

MUSICAL THEATRE TAKES A BOW

Musical theatre takes a bow with the Rob Guest Endowment Award, an exciting scholarship program to provide financial assistance and industry support to the next generation of musical theatre stars, creators and musicians.

Six finalists for this year’s award were chosen by an expert panel of judges which included Guy Simpson, Todd McKenney and Stuart Maunder. They are Ben Bennett (2013 Rob Guest Endowment Semi-finals Encouragement Award), Andrew Cook (Strictly Ballroom), Joshua Robson (Les Miserables), Angela Scundi (The Rocky Horror Show), Monica Swayne (Wicked) and Karla Tonkich (Grease).

All six finalists will perform alongside guest artists, including Natalie Bassingthwaighte and the cast of Wicked, at a gala concert evening hosted by veteran Australian entertainer Bert Newton, on Monday 13 October at the Capitol Theatre, Sydney, where the judging panel will announce the winner.

Now in its 6th year, the 2014 Rob Guest Endowment Award winner will take home $20,000 and the runners up will each take home $1,500. The prize is intended to help a current artist in the musical theatre genre gain performance experience, media training, guidance and a public image to help them become a leading artist.

NSW Deputy Premier and Minister for Tourism and Major Events Andrew Stoner congratulated the Rob Guest Endowment Award finalists.

“Making the finals of the 2014 Rob Guest Endowment Awards is an outstanding achievement and recognition for the hard work and dedication of these six talented performers. I wish each of them the best of luck for October’s awards night in Sydney,” Mr Stoner said.

“Sydney, Australia’s major events and creative industries capital, is home to a number of other key creative industry awards events, such as the Helpmann Awards, the AACTAs and the ARIAs. Securing the Rob Guest Endowment Award through our tourism and major events agency Destination NSW is an important part of the Government’s commitment to maintaining our status as the number one creative industries state in Australia.”

For more information on the finalists please visit the Rob Guest Endowerment website

No comments:

Post a Comment