Anson Kearney’s return to the stage was one for the books, with Little Shop of Horrors receiving several Georgy Awards and a Guild Award.
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The 2024 Shepparton Theatre Arts Group musical is now as decorated as it was loved, with Anson Kearney walking away with a total of eight awards across two ceremonies.
Seven were at the Georgy Awards and the other at the Victorian Guild Awards, a statewide award.
Anson was nominated for the Gladys Moncrieff Award for First Feature performance as well as the Harold Burrows Award for Lead Performer in a Male Presenting Role.
He found out through the theatre company secretary and the show’s director, Helen Janke.
“Nicky Pummeroy rang me, and so did Helen Janke,” he said.
“I didn’t realise at the time how big of a thing it was, and they were saying, this is a big deal because not many people are even nominated for a guild award because it’s mainly people from around Melbourne and the metro area.
“It was certainly a great honour to be nominated.”
He said the reality of the award hit him when he walked towards the Gippsland Performing Arts Centre, where the ceremony was held.
“When I got out of the car and actually walked in there, that’s when it really hit me,” Anson said.
“Then seeing some faces that I’d seen in shows in Melbourne, I was like, ‘to be in this crowd among these people is certainly a privilege, really’.”
The night of nights for Victorian performing arts couldn’t have gone without a bit of theatrics, as Anson’s moment in the spotlight showed.
“When we went to book the tickets and there were none left in the stall, so it had to be up in the balcony,” Anson said.
“We were sitting there and came to this award, and there were four nominees, all the others from the Melbourne area and then there was me.
“And then, when they called out my name, all my family was shrieking and clapping, and so I had to get up and scurry past everyone because we were smack bang in the middle of the row.”
Once he finally got to the end of the row, the ushers had the door open and waiting for him.
“I was racing, and they were playing the music waiting for me to come ... everyone in the auditorium was shouting, he’s coming, he’s coming,” Anson said.
“I was running down the stairs and then back into the auditorium into the stalls, and then I was bounding down the aisle.
“I got to the steps at the stage and ran up them, and it was such a theatrical thing for me to do, I got up there, and then I was like, so puffed and exhausted, everyone must have thought, ‘Oh, he’s so dramatic’.”
He wiped his brow and accepted the award, waving to his family in the balcony.
“I couldn’t see them because it was so dark, but it was certainly a thrilling moment,” he said.
After leaving the stage for almost a decade, he certainly returned with a bang, but he put it down to pure luck.
“I was very lucky, I’d say. That’s how I put it,” he said.
“Just to come back after so many years and be in an amazing show with an amazing cast and crew and then to be nominated for this award, I just feel very, very lucky and very privileged.”
Any theatre kid knows about the dreaded post-show blues, but Anson said he rarely felt them.
“I don’t get too attached to shows, which is funny,” he said.
“As much as I enjoy it, and it’s a great passion of mine, the post-production blues aren't really there.
“I think, this one, Little Shop of Horrors with STAG, this certainly felt different.
“There were some blues there, I’d say, just because it was a wonderful cast to work with and great people to work with and everything just gelled together really well.”
He has had a taste for theatre, but is it enough to pull him back again and again?
“I’m not entirely sure, but we’ll wait and see,” Anson said.
Anson was just one of many successful nominees for the 2024 Shepparton Theatre Arts Group season.
Little Shop of Horrors Georgy Award wins
- Best Musical
- Ken Kennedy Award for Achievement in Direction, Helen Janke
- Achievement in Vocal Direction, Tricia Baggs
- Achievement in Choreography, Grace Newman
- Best Performance in a Musical, Anson Kearney and Stevie Renee
- Best Singing Performance, Anson Kearney and Stevie Renee
- Judges Awards, Tricia Baggs
Other Georgy Awards presented to STAG
- Alick Jarvis and Maddie King, It Takes Two
- David Shelly, It Takes Two
- Sam Giervald, The Physicists
- Ted Malloy Award for Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Theatre, Nicky Pummeroy
Cadet Journalist