She’s up against three actresses, including another Matilda cast member, Elise McCann, who plays Miss Honey, a sympathetic teacher of the troubled Matilda.

The Sydney Theatre Awards, with the nominees and winners chosen by 10 theatre critics, will be announced on January 15.

Another former Newcastle actor, Glenn Hazeldine, was a member of the casts of Sydney Theatre Company’s After Dinner and Love and Information, both of which are nominated for the Best Ensemble Award.

Hazeldine appeared in a 2000 Newcastle production of After Dinner, winning a CONDA for his performance as Stephen, a man waiting with a mate for a band to start in a pub. In the STC production he played the mate, Gordon, desperate to talk to someone about his relationship breakdown.

Matilda, which plays at Sydney’s Lyric Theatre until February 28, already has a quartet of winners, the girls who alternate in the role of the title character.

Molly Barwick, Sasha Rose, Georgia Taplin and Bella Thomas will receive a Special Achievement Award.

The show’s other nominees, both in the Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical category, are Daniel Frederiksen as Mr Wormwood, and James Millar as headmistress Miss Trunchbull.