Helpmanns To Honor Festival Director Rob Brookman

Australia’s live performance Helpmann Awards will this year honour Rob Brookman with the Sue Nattrass Award for “exceptional service to the Australian live performance industry.” 

helpmannawards.com.au –

In 1992, Brookman co-founded WOMADelaide, the Adelaide version of the UK-founded world music festival brand, and served as its artistic director for 15 years, He has also served as artistic director for Adelaide Festival, the Adelaide Festival Centre, the National Festival of Australian Theatre, and the New Zealand International Festival of Arts, as well as founding co-director of Arts Projects Australia and general manager of Sydney Theatre Company.

He most recently wound up a five-year stint as executive director at State Theatre Company South Australia and takes up a new role as executive director of Adelaide Festival in early May. Brookman, who was presented with the Order of Australia for his contribution to the arts, called his latest honour “the best kind of icing on the most fabulously rich, complex, beautiful and utterly enjoyable, cake.”

The Helpmanns were set up 17 years ago by Live Performance Australia to cover musical theatre, contemporary music, comedy, opera and classical music, theatre, ballet, dance and physical theatre, presentations for children, regional touring and cabaret.

LPA’s latest data estimated the Australian live performance industry at A$1.41 billion ($1.05 billion) revenue with an attendance of 18.38 million.

The awards are July 24 at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney, with performances by the casts of “Kinky Boots,” “The Book of Mormon,” “Disney’s Aladdin The Musical” and “My Fair Lady” among the first to be announced.