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MTNZ Annual Conference 2009
Hosted by Showbiz Queenstown 20 - 22 March

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winner - Nola Speir Patron's Encouragement Award
2009 - Presented by MTNZ Patron Donna Philpott QSM
Daniel Martin
Excerpts from the Oamaru Operatic Newsletter:
To round off the meeting a special presentation was made to Daniel Martin as the successful recipient of the
Nola Speir Patron’s Youth Encouragement Award, an annual award which was announced at the National
Conference in Queenstown.  Unaware of his nomination Daniel was appropriately stunned and speechless
(first time Daniel lost for words!!! – ed), but was warmly and enthusiastically congratulated by all
those in attendance!!  A wonderful end to the evening, with lots of “pics” taken of our
award winner over supper!!

The late Nola Speir, previous Patron of MTNZ, was passionate in her support of young people and urged musical
theatre societies to nurture and encourage them.  Nominations from throughout NZ are submitted each year
to the national executive of MTNZ and this year Daniel was selected as the winner from a strong field of contenders. 
 He is a very deserving winner and we value his enthusiasm and commitment.  Daniel of course knew nothing
about either the award or his nomination until he was presented with it at the AGM, so it was a huge surprise for him. 
For once he was speechless!

MTNZ Conference 2009
 The one thing I have to say after attending my first  MTNZ conference is – If you ever get the opportunity  to go to conference, don’t turn it down! Well - who would want to turn down a weekend in Queenstown anyway, or a weekend in Auckland, Wanganui  or Nelson?  Go to conference and see NZ!
Not that we got to see much of Queenstown apart from the magnificent view from the hotel! Our programme was full on, with the first seminar on Consortiums on Friday afternoon. Here we heard from the Queenstown Society about a successful set-build venture between them and Oamaru – we felt quite proud to have Oamaru on our name-tags. That evening Terry introduced me to lots of people (I’ll never remember their names!) over drinks and nibbles.  When it came to the seminars the following day at least I recognized a few faces. One thing about Musical Society people is their friendliness and their ability to make others feel welcome.  The AGM on Saturday morning, which I thought was going to be  to be b-o-r-i-n-g turned out to be very well run by an extremely switched on and competent National Executive. Another highlight for us here –Daniel Martin was awarded the Nola Speir Youth Encouragement Award. We were really getting the warm fuzzies after this! Terry was delighted to receive the trophy on Daniel’s behalf – and we couldn’t wait for the meeting to end to get the exciting news back to Oamaru. After lunch we attended a range of seminars - Paul Frisby and Michael Shaw also travelled up for the afternoon. The four Oamaru reps attended a total of seven seminars and learned so much. Just as well we were provided with note pads as there was too much to remember, all of it really useful. We will share it in more detail with you all at a General Meeting otherwise there won’t be room in the newsletter for anything else. The final function was the Miners’ Hop with everyone dressing up to support the theme of “Rush”  Queenstown’s home grown gold mining musical. Your Oamaru reps did the Victorian upper class thing quite elegantly. Needless to say some of the ‘lower classes’ showed a distinct lack of decorum,  turning  up in the crudest of costumes – woollen underwear, women of the night and oh dear even a carrot! We had to avert our eyes at the winning costume, a male dressed as a gold nugget, in a form fitting gold lame cat-suit. On Sunday morning, with conference formally over, we met up again with the other delegates over a Miners’ breakfast on the hotel rooftop .  Yes – Conference is a valuable experience. You get to see your how our own Society fits into the national organization. Names become faces. You make lots of contacts and share ideas. You get to meet the Rights holders and learn about new shows and much more…….. come with us to Auckland 2010 and see for yourself - Pat Gunn, Oamaru Operatic

The Nola Speir Patron's Encouragement Award - Daniel Martin, Oamaru Operatic Society

Origin Theatrical Poster Competition 2009        
Runner Up: Drama League South Canterbury – The Buddy Holly Story
Winner:  Showbiz Christchurch - Chicago

John Herber/NZ Fire-Shield Showbill Competition
Judge:  Adam Blackwell, First Star Communications
 Third Place  - Porirua Little Theatre - Oliver
Lots of points of interest, nice visual storytelling
Tidy, clean execution
Reflected the scale of the production and provided a strong sense of community

Second Place  - Rotorua Operatic – High School Musical
Bright, bold, colourful and energetic  - just like the show
Care taken with execution; careful image and text placement
A good visual record of the show

First Place  - Invercargill Musical Theatre – Cats
Presentation is everything; large, professional and high-impact
Cute use of fur and tail pieces to provide a strong Cats thematic
A piece that reflects the excitement of the show, the Society’s fun in producing in it and the success of the production overall

Programme Competition
Judges:  Lindsay Woods and Margaret O’Hanlon
ACT Multi A Award
Presenter: David Spicer, representing ACT
Second:  Tauranga Musical Theatre - The Wizard of Oz
First Equal: Wellington Musical Theatre – Sound of Music and CATS

New Plymouth Operatic Multi B Award –
Presenter – Kevin Landrigan, President, New Plymouth Operatic
 Third: Manukau Performing Arts - The Buddy Holly Story
Second:  North Shore Music Theatre - The Producers
First: Taieri Musical Society - Honk!

MTNZ Constance Stewart Memorial Multi C Award
Presenter:  John MacGibbon, Life Member
 Second: Porirua Little Theatre - Bat Boy
First: Whangarei Theatre Company - I'll Be Back Before Midnight

MTNZ – Frank Terry Memorial Single Sheet Award
Presenter:  Len Speir  Life Member
 Second: Levin Performing Arts - STIFF
First: Auckland Music Theatre - Putting It Together

MTNZ – Kevin Lynch Memorial Black and White Award
Presenter:  Jim Fenton Life Member
 Second: Manukau Performing Arts - Secondary Cause of Death
First: Levin Performing Arts - Blue Eyes

MTNZ Website Competition
Presenter:  Kevin Murphy (Life Member)
 Winner:  Invercargill Musical Theatre

Click here for judges' comments regarding the Programme Competition

Merit Award Winners will be posted to the website early April

Click here to go download MTNZ 2008 Reports

A big thanks from MTNZ to the following individuals and companies, for their assistance with
the planning for the 49th annual MTNZ conference and AGM - Queenstown 2009: