At a ceremony in Washington DC this week, Australia’s leading musical theatre performer Anthony Warlow was awarded the prestigious 2016 Helen Hayes Award for Lead Actor in a Musical for his performance in Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of Man of La Mancha.
The Helen Hayes Awards is an annual presentation of awards to recognize excellence in professional theatre in the Washington, DC area. The awards are named in tribute to Helen Hayes, known as the ‘First Lady of American theatre’.
The Awards are presented by Theatre Washington (formerly known as the Helen Hayes Awards organization), which is the unified voice of Washington theatre since the 1980s – with 40 judges selecting the nominees and recipients.
In its review of the production, The Washington Post said, “The charismatic Warlow leads the charge in one of those cases when a role just flat-out fits. Warlow’s silky baritone unwinds in long, confident phrases that shower the chivalric Dulcinea with tender romanticism and makes The Impossible Dream rewardingly heroic. He also plainly relishes playing the whimsical Cervantes of writer Dale Wasserman’s imagination.”
With a thrilling voice and a gift for mimicry, Anthony Warlow has enthralled Australian and international audiences with an extraordinary diverse selection of roles from high opera to musical comedy. Opera productions include: A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The Magic Flute, La Bohème, Tosca, Otello, The Tales of Hoffman (with Dame Joan Sutherland), Romeo and Juliet, and Don Giovanni.
Warlow’s music theatre career commenced in 1985 with the London National Theatre production of Guys & Dolls. He went on to create the role of Enjolras in the Australian production of Les Miserables, a performance which won him a place on the Grammy Award winning International Cast recording of the work.
Making the most coveted role in music theatre, The Phantom of the Opera (1990 and 2007-2009), his own, set the seal on Warlow’s status as our premier stage performer. Other productions have included: The Secret Garden, Man Of La Mancha, My Fair Lady, Grease the Arena Spectacular and A Little Night Music, Annie (Australian tour and Broadway), Doctor Zhivago, and Finding Neverland. Warlow was recently seen as Tevye in the Australian touring production of Fiddler on the Roof.
For more information about Theatre Washington and the Helen Hayes Awards, visit: www.theatrewashington.org for details.
Image: Anthony Warlow as Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha – photo by Scott Suchman