I did it, I saw nearly 60 less plays than last year! Granted it only took me down from about 330 to about 270, but it is still progress. So here’s an attempt to try and determine whose performances I enjoyed the most across the year – and those which have stuck in my mind – with the 2012 fosterIAN (fos-tîr’ē-ən) award nominations for acting this year.
(NB Eligibility is quite simple: if I saw this play/production for the first time this year, it went in the hat. So since I saw Sweeney Todd in 2011, it fell into last’s year cohort.)
Best Actor in a Play
Billy Carter, Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me
David Suchet, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Rafe Spall, Constellations
Hugh Ross, A Life
Luke Treadaway, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
Dominic Rowan, A Doll’s House
Best Actress in a Play
Laurie Metcalf, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Helen McCrory, The Last of the Haussmans
Cate Blanchett, Big and Small
Hattie Morahan, A Doll’s House
Sally Hawkins, Constellations
Kate O’Flynn, Lungs
Best Actor in a Musical
Richard Dempsey, Victor/Victoria
Simon Russell Beale, Privates on Parade
Julian Ovenden, Finding Neverland
Will Young, Cabaret
Dominic West, My Fair Lady
Mark Umbers, Merrily We Roll Along
Best Actress in a Musical
Caroline O’Connor, Gypsy
Janie Dee, Hello, Dolly!
Anna Francolini, Victor/Victoria
Rosalie Craig, Ragtime
Carly Bawden, My Fair Lady
Jenna Russell, Merrily We Roll Along
Best Supporting Actor in a Play
Robin Soans, Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me
Charles Edwards, This House
Paul Chahidi, Twelfth Night
Rory Kinnear, The Last of the Haussmans
Cyril Nri, Julius Caesar
Olly Alexander, Mercury Fur
Best Supporting Actress in a Play
Ruth Sheen, In Basildon
Nicola Walker, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
Niamh Cusack, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
Laura Howard, Lost in Yonkers
Katie Brayben, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Fenella Woolgar, Hedda Gabler
Best Supporting Actor in a Musical
Alistair Brookshaw, A Winter’s Tale
Stuart Matthew Price, Sweet Smell of Success
Ben Kavanagh, Boy Meets Boy
Oliver Boot, Finding Neverland
Michael Xavier, Hello, Dolly!
Damian Humbley, Merrily We Roll Along
Best Supporting Actress in a Musical
Josefina Gabrielle, Merrily We Roll Along
Bonnie Langford, 9 to 5 The Musical
Debbie Kurup, The Bodyguard
Clare Foster, Merrily We Roll Along
Helena Blackman, A Winter’s Tale
Laura Pitt-Pulford, Hello, Dolly!