The Helpmann Awards have finally noticed there's a state north of New South Wales.
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After years of nearly ignoring the great live performance offerings of the Sunshine State, the Australian version of the Tony Awards has finally turned the tide and Queensland has been bestowed 30 nominations.
La Boite Theatre Company's 2015 boxing drama Prize Fighter has earned multiple nominations after being overlooked in the local awards.
It will vie for Best New Australian Work, Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Play for Thuso Lekwape, Best Male Actor in a Play for Pacharo Mzembe along with the highly coveted Best Play.
The late David Page earned two nominations in this year's awards, both for his work on Bangarra Dance Theatre's Ochres.
Shake & Stir Theatre Company also earned two nominations for its production of Roal Dahl's Revolting Rhymes and Dirty Beast.
In the dance categories, Townsville's Dancenorth earned a nomination for Best Ballet or Dance Work for its production Spectra while the show's choreographers, Kyle Page and Amber Haines, were recognised for their work.
Expressions Dance Company's Daryl Brandwood has been nominated for best male dancer for his performance in Natalie Weir's The Host.
Two Queenslanders, Jack Chambers and Simon Gallaher, will battle against each other for the title of Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical, Chambers for his performance in Singin' In The Rain and Gallaher for his turn as The Wizard in the Brisbane and Perth seasons of Wicked.
Brisbane Festival, Circa and The Camerata of St Johns also earned nominations in this year's categories.
But the real star for Queensland was Queensland Theatre Company's Ladies In Black, which earned six nominations including Best New Australian Work, Best Director of a Musical, Best Costume Design, Best Original Score, Best Music Direction and the most coveted award of the night - Best Musical.
It will fight for the awards from some of the biggest shows in the country with Fiddler on the Roof, The Sound of Music and Matilda also nominated for Best Musical.
Matilda is the darling of the night having been nominated for an impressive 13 awards including at least one nomination in every music theatre category.
Baroque bags big as dark cloud continues
As the dark cloud that hangs over Brisbane Baroque continues to grow, the event has earned nominations in several Helpmann Awards categories.
The Handel opera Agrippina was a smart programming choice proving to be a winner with audiences but it has also been a winner with the Helpmanns judges, who have given it seven nominations.
Director Laurence Dale was recognised for his work while Keri Fuge, Joao Fernandes, Russell Harcourt, Ulrike Schneider and Carlo Vistoli were nominated in the performance categories.
In an ironic twist, some of the performers nominated were among those who are believed to have not been paid by the event.
Meanwhile, event organisers are continuing to refuse to respond to media inquiries about the future of the event.
The two directors of the company, Jarrod Carland and Shannon Pigram, are not answering their phones and have still not responded to questions put to them by Fairfax Media.
A shadow was cast over the hugely successful event, which drew funding from Tourism and Events Queensland, after another event organised by the pair Sydney Sings, was postponed just a week after it was launched citing Mr Carland's illness as the reason for the postponement.
