Well, who’d have guessed that? I am the happy recipient of not one but two 2013 Helpmann Awards for my work on the STC show ‘Secret River’.

The awards were for Best Musical Direction and Best Original Score.

‘Secret River’ also picked up awards for Best Play, Best New Australian Work, Best Direction of a Play for Neil Armfield and Best Supporting Actor in a Play for Colin Moody.

The Helpmann Awards “recognize distinguished artistic achievement and excellence across the major disciplines of Australia’s live performance industry.” The full list of winners can be seen here.

The ceremony was held on the 29th July in the Sydney Opera House, presented by my old friend and colleague Eddie Perfect and new friend and colleague Christie Whelan-Browne. Which is all well and good, but I wasn’t there sharing the fun with them – I was with my dear family in Germany, and sent acceptance speeches by video.

These awards belong to every member of the Secret River family, and I can’t wait to chop the statuettes up into the dozens of pieces required to disperse amongst the deserving many.