WINNERS ANNOUNCED FOR
20TH ANNUAL WHATSONSTAGE AWARDS
- & JULIET LEADS THE FIELD WITH 6 WINS FROM 13 NOMINATIONS, HOWEVER IT IS PIPPED TO THE POST FOR BEST NEW MUSICAL BY COME FROM AWAY
- THE OLD VIC TAKES 3 TOP ACTING AWARDS – BEST ACTOR IN A PLAY FOR ANDREW SCOTT, BEST ACTRESS IN A PLAY FOR CLAIRE FOY AND BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A PLAY FOR SOPHIE THOMPSON
- DIRECTOR JAMIE LLOYD CONTINUES A SUCCESSFUL YEAR RECEIVING THE BEST DIRECTION AWARD FOR EVITA AND BEST PLAY REVIVAL FOR BETRAYAL
- LIFE OF PI WINS BEST NEW PLAY – THE FIRST TIME THE AWARD HAS BEEN WON BY A VENUE OUTSIDE LONDON
- SIX THE MUSICAL WINS THE BBC RADIO 2 AUDIENCE AWARD FOR BEST MUSICAL
- ERA 50:50 RECEIVES THE EQUITY AWARD FOR SERVICES TO THEATRE
At a ceremony tonight at the Prince of Wales Theatre hosted by Jodie Prenger and Tom Read Wilson, the winners of the 20th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards were announced – the only major theatre awards decided entirely by the theatregoers themselves. For the first time this year the event was broadcast live on BBC Radio 2 hosted by Elaine Paige and Paddy O’Connell.
WhatsOnStage’s Chief Operating Officer Sita McIntosh said today, “In our 20th year, we’d like to say a particular thank you to the audiences who are the lifeblood of our Awards, voting in their tens of thousands. Their support and championing of shows is what keeps our industry alive. It’s galvanising to see that a play that has never been staged in London has picked up the Best New Play Award, showing how the WhatsOnStage Awards really are decided by audiences across the nation. For Lolita Chakrabarti to win for Life of Pi is equally exciting, in a category dominated by diverse and cutting-edge voices. Working alongside BBC Radio 2 this year has taken the Awards onto a whole new level, and to have new kids on the block SIX the Musical pick up the inaugural Audience Award for Best Musical shows just how much West End theatregoers can welcome bold and brilliant shows with open arms.”
The big winner of the night was & Juliet with 6 awards from its 13 nominations, receiving Best Actress in a Musical for Miriam-Teak Lee, as well as Best Set Design (Soutra Gilmour), Best Costume Design (Paloma Young), Best Lighting Design (Howard Hudson), Best Video Design (Andrzej Goulding) and Best Graphic Design (Dewynters).
However the coveted Best New Musical Award went to Come From Away, which received 5 awards in total – additionally, Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for Rachel Tucker, Best Choreography (Kelly Devine), Best Musical Direction (Ian Eisendrath, Alan Berry & Team), and Best Sound Design (Gareth Owen).
Dear Evan Hansen received two awards – both in acting categories, with Sam Tutty winning Best Actor in a Musical, and Jack Loxton winning Best Supporting Actor in a Musical; and Mary Poppins won Best Musical Revival.
The Old Vic triumphed in the play categories, with Andrew Scott continuing his winning streak this awards season by taking Best Actor in a Play for his critically acclaimed performance in Present Laughter; with his co-star Sophie Thompson winning Best Supporting Actress in a Play. Making it a triple for the theatre, Claire Foy received the Best Actress in a Play Award for Lungs.
Also fresh from his Evening Standard and Critics’ Circle wins, Jamie Lloyd received the Best Direction Award for Evita at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre; and Best Play Revival for his production of Betrayal, part of his ambitious Pinter season.
In a first for a non-London venue, Sheffield Theatres won Best New Play for Lolita Chakrabarti’s adaptation of Yann Martel Booker Prize-winning Life of Pi – the play transfers to the West End later this year. The Bridge Theatre received their first WhatsOnStage Award with Hammed Animashaun winning Best Supporting Actor in a Play for A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
The BBC Radio 2 Audience Award for Best Musical went to the smash-hit Six the Musical. Elaine Paige presented the award to the current West End company; with Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss receiving their award via a video from New York, where they are currently opening the show on Broadway.
Musicals also triumphed in the Off-West End Production and Best Regional Production categories – with Falsettos (The Other Palace) and The Color Purple (Curve Leicester and Birmingham Hippodrome co-production) winning respectively.
The Equity Award for Services to Theatre was presented to ERA 50:50 – Equal Representation for Actresses. Maureen Beattie, President of Equity, presented the award to Denis Gough.
The awards were presented by Aimie Atkinson, Amy Booth-Steel, Amy Hart, Max Harwood, Tyrone Huntley, John Kani, Oti Mabusi, Danny Mac, Daniel Monks, Vinegar Strokes, Liam Tamne, Giles Terera, Faye Tozer and Susan Wokoma.
Each of the 5 nominated productions for Best New Musical performed live at the event – Bit of a Sort from Only Fools and Horses, You Will Be Found from Dear Evan Hansen, It’s My Life from & Juliet, Welcome to the Rock from Come From Away, and She Used to be Mine from Waitress. There was also a performance of I’m Here by the cast of Curve Leicester and Birmingham Hippodrome’s production of The Color Purple, which won the Best Regional Production category, as well as two further numbers specially created for the evening. The event was co-produced by Paul Taylor-Mills.
For the full list of nominations and winners, please see below.
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THE 20TH ANNUAL WHATSONSTAGE AWARDS:
Winners in red
BEST ACTOR IN A PLAY SPONSORED BY EDWARDIAN HOTELS
Tom Hiddleston – Betrayal
Andrew Scott – Present Laughter
Matt Smith – Lungs
Wendell Pierce – Death of a Salesman
Laurie Kynaston – The Son
BEST ACTRESS IN A PLAY SPONSORED BY TONIC THEATRE
Claire Foy – Lungs
Zawe Ashton – Betrayal
Hayley Atwell – Rosmersholm
Sharon D. Clarke – Death of a Salesman
Juliet Stevenson – The Doctor
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A PLAY
Alexander Vlahos – Peter Pan
Charlie Cox – Betrayal
Hareet Deol – My Beautiful Laundrette
Hammed Animashaun – A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Giles Terera – Rosmersholm
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A PLAY
Ria Zmitrowicz – The Doctor
Isabella Pappas – Appropriate
Monica Dolan – All About Eve
Sophie Thompson – Present Laughter
Indira Varma – Present Laughter
BEST ACTOR IN A MUSICAL SPONSORED BY DEWYNTERS
David Hunter – Waitress
Sam Tutty – Dear Evan Hansen
Jac Yarrow – Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Oliver Tompsett – & Juliet
Charlie Stemp – Mary Poppins
BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL SPONSORED BY CAFÉ DE PARIS
Lucie Jones – Waitress
Katharine McPhee – Waitress
Miriam-Teak Lee – & Juliet
Tracie Bennett – Mame
Zizi Strallen – Mary Poppins
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Joe Sugg – Waitress
Jack Loxton – Dear Evan Hansen
Jordan Luke Gage – & Juliet
Oscar Conlon-Morrey – Only Fools and Horses
Jason Donovan – Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL SPONSORED BY NEWMAN DISPLAYS
Laura Baldwin – Waitress
Marisha Wallace – Waitress
Cassidy Janson – & Juliet
Melanie La Barrie – & Juliet
Rachel Tucker – Come From Away
BEST NEW PLAY SPONSORED BY TICKETMASTER
The Doctor
The Son
My Beautiful Laundrette
Life of Pi
Appropriate
BEST PLAY REVIVAL SPONSORED BY JHI MARKETING
Betrayal
Death of a Salesman
Present Laughter
A Midsummer Night’s Dream [Bridge Theatre]
Lungs
BEST NEW MUSICAL SPONSORED BY h CLUB LONDON
Waitress
& Juliet
Dear Evan Hansen
Come From Away
Only Fools and Horses
BEST MUSICAL REVIVAL SPONSORED BY CONCORD THEATRICALS
Mary Poppins
Evita
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Mame
9 to 5 The Musical
BEST OFF-WEST END PRODUCTION SPONSORED BY LES MISERABLES
Fiver
The View UpStairs
High Fidelity
Preludes
Falsettos
BEST REGIONAL PRODUCTION SPONSORED BY MTI EUROPE
Mame
The Color Purple
Life of Pi
My Beautiful Laundrette
West Side Story [Royal Exchange Manchester]
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
Fabian Aloise – Evita
Matthew Bourne – Romeo & Juliet
Kelly Devine – Come From Away
Jennifer Weber – & Juliet
Nick Winston – Mame
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Lez Brotherston – Romeo & Juliet
Katrina Lindsay – Small Island
Rob Howell – Present Laughter
Philip Witcomb – Mame
Paloma Young – & Juliet
BEST DIRECTION SPONSORED BY LOVETHEATRE
Marianne Elliott & Miranda Cromwell – Death of a Salesman
Robert Icke – The Doctor
Jamie Lloyd – Evita
Matthew Warchus – Lungs
Matthew Warchus – Present Laughter
BEST GRAPHIC DIRECTION SPONSORED BY HEXAGON PRINT
& Juliet – Dewynters
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – Muse Creative Communications
Equus – Feast Creative
Evita – Feast Creative
Rosmersholm – Bob King Creative
BEST LIGHTING DESIGN SPONSORED BY WHITE LIGHT
Jon Clark – Evita
Ben Cracknell – Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Howard Hudson – & Juliet
Jessica Hung Han Yun – Equus
Tim Lutkin & Hugh Vanstone – Present Laughter
BEST MUSICAL DIRECTION SPONSORED BY AKA
Ian Eisendrath, Alan Berry & Team – Come From Away
Kimberly Grigsby – The Light in the Piazza
Alex Parker – Mame
John Rigby – Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Alan Williams – Evita
BEST SET DESIGN SPONSORED BY SINE DIGITAL
Soutra Gilmour – & Juliet
Soutra Gilmour – Evita
Rob Howell – Present Laughter
Robert Jones – The Light in the Piazza
Rae Smith – The Night of the Iguana
BEST SOUND DESIGN SPONSORED BY STAGE SOUND SERVICES
Ben Harrison – Mame
Nick Lidster – Evita
Gareth Owen – & Juliet
Gareth Owen – Come From Away
Mick Potter – The Light in the Piazza
BEST VIDEO DESIGN SPONSORED BY PRG
Jon Driscoll – Small Island
Will Duke – Grief is the Thing With Feathers
Andrzej Goulding – & Juliet
P J McEvoy – Falsettos
Ewan Jones Morris – A Very Expensive Poison
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