Two stars of New Zealand stage and screen, Miranda Harcourt and Paul Ego, will lead the Pride In Print Awards Night in Wellington on Friday May 3.
Harcourt, part of the famous Harcourt acting dynasty, and comedian Ego from the country’s top-rating music breakfast show, The Rock’s Morning Rumble, will team to MC the event at the TSB Arena.
Organisers say that traditionally, Awards Night works as a showpiece to rewards the cream of New Zealand’s print expertise and a fun night where printers, suppliers and customers let their hair down in celebration. Sue Archibald, awards manager for Pride In Print, believes the pairing of Miranda Harcourt and Paul Ego will bring a special blend of laughter and serious focus to fit with the culture of Awards Night.
She says, “We needed two MCs who could project to an audience, keep things moving and inject their own personalities on to proceedings, yet at the same time ensure the serious business of the Awards proceedings move smoothly. Miranda and Paul will do just that. They will complement one another and I am sure they will play a big part in making the evening go well.”
“We are set to put the glitz back into Wellywood with the event being held in the TSB Arena situated on the harbour a stone’s throw from the Capital City’s CBD. It is guaranteed to provide a popular setting for both the glamour side of the evening and the fun part.”
Miranda Harcourt has appeared in a number of stage, film and television productions, including three series of Gloss, Marlin Bay, Typhon's People, City Life, the award-winning Ends Meat, and TV1's telemovie, Duggan. She has toured New Zealand and overseas (Edinburgh, London, Denver, Hong Kong and Sydney) with the solo show Verbatim, by William Brandt. As former head of acting at New Zealand drama school Toi Whakaari, she has experience passing on her knowledge to the new generation, and now specialises in child acting courses and on-set coaching. A woman with a social and political conscience, she has taught drama in prisons, psychiatric institutions, schools and with the deaf and disabled.
Over the years accolades from her peers include an ONZM, a Media Peace Prize, Best Actress, Best Short Film and Best Production at both the Chapman Tripp Awards and the New Zealand Film and Television Awards.
Paul Ego began his stand-up comedy career in London in 1994 and has become one of New Zealand’s top comedians. He has opened for British comedy legend Ross Noble, toured with Ireland’s Ed Byrne and has performed in every New Zealand International Comedy Festival since 1996, with his solo shows playing to sold-out houses.
In 2000, he received the Billy T Award, a comedy grant awarded by the NZ Comedy Trust in recognition of outstanding commitment to NZ comedy. His radio career began with his role as chief writer and script editor on award-winning radio comedies Starship Cortina and News In Briefs. He joined the team of the multi-award winning Kim and Corbett Show on Auckland’s More FM, creating and bringing comedy characters to life on-air whilst working alongside Jeremy Corbett, Kim Adamson and Hilary Barry. Now co-host on The Rock’s Morning Rumble, he has enhanced his reputation in comedy with his improvisational skills as an MC and brings to the role his own unique comedy.
Harcourt and Ego will lead off a night that will continue the theme of the Print Out Loud campaign.
Further information can be found at the Awards’ website www.prideinprintawards.co.nz
