2020 What’s On Stage Award nominations

The nominations for the 20th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards have been announced and I have a thought or two #justiceforAnneHathaway

As a publicly nominated affair, the What’s On Stage Awards always throw up an interesting set of nominations, as fanbases engage alongside theatregoers to produce an idiosyncratic reflection on the year. This year though, the nominees for the nine creative categories (Choreography, Costume Design, Direction, Graphic Design, Lighting Design, Musical Direction, Set Design, Sound Design and Video Design) have been decided by an independent panel of industry experts appointed, which has resulted in some pleasing inclusions for the likes of Equus and Small Island

Acting-wise, the focus does land a little heavily on the more famous names (plus ça change) and that Supporting Actress in a Musical category is super-crowded (the Dear Evan Hansen mothers would have been a shoo-in for me there). My only real point of issue comes with the categorisation for the & Juliet players – are you really going to nominate Oliver Tompsett as a lead and then put Cassidy Janson in the supporting category? Did you not see the show, or get any of its message at all?!

Voting for the winners is open now and closes on 27th January 2020, with the winners being revealed at a ceremony on 1st March 2020.

Best Actor in a Play, sponsored by Edwardian Hotels

Tom Hiddleston – Betrayal – Harold Pinter Theatre
Andrew Scott – Present Laughter – The Old Vic
Matt Smith – Lungs – The Old Vic
Wendell Pierce – Death of a Salesman – Young Vic / Piccadilly Theatre
Laurie Kynaston – The Son – Kiln Theatre / Duke of York’s Theatre

Best Actress in a Play, sponsored by Tonic Theatre

Claire Foy – Lungs – The Old Vic
Zawe Ashton – Betrayal – Harold Pinter Theatre
Hayley Atwell – Rosmersholm – Duke of York’s Theatre
Sharon D Clarke – Death of a Salesman – Young Vic / Piccadilly Theatre
Juliet Stevenson – The Doctor – Almeida Theatre

Best Supporting Actor in a Play

Alexander Vlahos – Peter Pan – Park Theatre
Charlie Cox – Betrayal – Harold Pinter Theatre
Hareet Deol – My Beautiful Laundrette – A Curve Leicester, Belgrade Theatre Coventry, Everyman Theatre Cheltenham and Leeds Playhouse co-production
Hammed Animashaun – A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Bridge Theatre
Giles Terera – Rosmersholm – Duke of York’s Theatre

Best Supporting Actress in a Play

Ria Zmitrowicz – The Doctor – Almeida Theatre
Isabella Pappas – Appropriate – Donmar Warehouse
Monica Dolan – All About Eve – Noël Coward Theatre
Sophie Thompson – Present Laughter – The Old Vic
Indira Varma – Present Laughter – The Old Vic

Best Actor in a Musical, sponsored by Dewynters

David Hunter – Waitress – Adelphi Theatre
Sam Tutty – Dear Evan Hansen – Noël Coward Theatre
Jac Yarrow – Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – The London Palladium
Oliver Tompsett – & Juliet – Shaftesbury Theatre
Charlie Stemp – Mary Poppins – Prince Edward Theatre

Best Actress in a Musical, sponsored by Café de Paris

Lucie Jones – Waitress – Adelphi Theatre
Katharine McPhee – Waitress – Adelphi Theatre
Miriam-Teak Lee – & Juliet – Shaftesbury Theatre
Tracie Bennett – Mame – Hope Mill Theatre
Zizi Strallen – Mary Poppins – Prince Edward Theatre

Best Supporting Actor in a Musical, sponsored by The Umbrella Rooms

Joe Sugg – Waitress – Adelphi Theatre
Jack Loxton – Dear Evan Hansen – Noël Coward Theatre
Jordan Luke Gage – & Juliet – Shaftesbury Theatre
Oscar Conlon-Morrey – Only Fools and Horses the Musical – Theatre Royal Haymarket
Jason Donovan – Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – The London Palladium

Best Supporting Actress in a Musical, sponsored by Newman Displays

Laura Baldwin – Waitress – Adelphi Theatre
Marisha Wallace – Waitress – Adelphi Theatre
Cassidy Janson – & Juliet – Shaftesbury Theatre
Melanie La Barrie – & Juliet – Shaftesbury Theatre
Rachel Tucker – Come From Away – Phoenix Theatre

Best New Play, sponsored by Ticketmaster

The Doctor – Robert Icke – Almeida Theatre
The Son – Florian Zeller – Kiln Theatre / Duke of York’s Theatre
My Beautiful Laundrette – Hanif Kureishi – A Curve Leicester, Belgrade Theatre Coventry, Everyman Theatre Cheltenham and Leeds Playhouse co-production
Life of Pi – Lolita Chakrabarti – Sheffield Theatres
Appropriate – Branden Jacobs-Jenkins – Donmar Warehouse

Best Play Revival, sponsored by JHI Marketing

Betrayal – Harold Pinter Theatre
Death of a Salesman – Young Vic / Piccadilly Theatre
Present Laughter– The Old Vic
A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Bridge Theatre
Lungs – The Old Vic

Best New Musical, sponsored by h Club London

Waitress – Adelphi Theatre
& Juliet – Shaftesbury Theatre
Dear Evan Hansen – Noël Coward Theatre
Come From Away – Phoenix Theatre
Only Fools and Horses the Musical – Theatre Royal Haymarket

Best Musical Revival, sponsored by Concord Theatricals

Mary Poppins – Prince Edward Theatre
Evita – Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – The London Palladium
Mame – Hope Mill Theatre
9 to 5 the Musical – Savoy Theatre

Best Off-West End Production, sponsored by Les Misérables

Fiver – Southwark Playhouse
The View UpStairs – Soho Theatre
High Fidelity – The Turbine Theatre
Preludes – Southwark Playhouse
Falsettos – The Other Palace

Best Regional Production, sponsored by MTI Europe

Mame – Hope Mill Theatre
The Color Purple – A Curve Leicester and Birmingham Hippodrome co-production
Life of Pi – Sheffield Theatres
My Beautiful Laundrette – A Curve Leicester, Belgrade Theatre Coventry, Everyman Theatre Cheltenham and Leeds Playhouse co-production
West Side Story – Royal Exchange, Manchester

Best Choreography

Fabian Aloise – Evita – Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Matthew Bourne – Romeo and Juliet – UK tour
Kelly Devine – Come From Away – Phoenix Theatre
Jennifer Weber – & Juliet – Shaftesbury Theatre
Nick Winston – Mame – Hope Mill Theatre

Best Costume Design

Lez Brotherston – Romeo and Juliet – UK tour
Katrina Lindsay – Small Island – National Theatre
Rob Howell – Present Laughter – The Old Vic
Philip Witcomb – Mame – Hope Mill Theatre
Paloma Young – & Juliet – Shaftesbury Theatre

Best Direction, sponsored by LOVEtheatre

Marianne Elliott and Miranda Cromwell – Death of a Salesman – Young Vic / Piccadilly Theatre
Robert Icke – The Doctor – Almeida Theatre
Jamie Lloyd – Evita – Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Matthew Warchus – Lungs – The Old Vic
Matthew Warchus – Present Laughter – The Old Vic

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 – Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Ben Cracknell – Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – The London Palladium
Howard Hudson – & Juliet – Shaftesbury Theatre
Jessica Hung Han Yun – Equus – UK tour
Tim Lutkin and Hugh Vanstone – Present Laughter – The Old Vic

Best Musical Direction

Ian Eisendrath, Alan Berry and team – Come From Away – Phoenix Theatre
Kimberly Grigsby – The Light in the Piazza – Southbank Centre
Alex Parker – Mame – Hope Mill Theatre
John Rigby – Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – The London Palladium
Alan Williams – Evita – Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

Best Set Design, sponsored by Sine Digital

Soutra Gilmour – & Juliet – Shaftesbury Theatre
Soutra Gilmour – Evita – Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Rob Howell – Present Laughter – The Old Vic
Robert Jones – The Light in the Piazza – Southbank Centre
Rae Smith – The Night of the Iguana – Noël Coward Theatre

Best Sound Design, sponsored by Stage Sound Services

Ben Harrison – Mame – Hope Mill Theatre
Nick Lidster – Evita – Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Gareth Owen – & Juliet – Shaftesbury Theatre
Gareth Owen – Come From Away – Phoenix Theatre
Mick Potter – The Light in the Piazza – Southbank Centre

Best Video Design, sponsored by PRG

Jon Driscoll – Small Island – National Theatre
Will Duke – Grief is the Thing With Feathers – Barbican Theatre
Andrzej Goulding – & Juliet – Shaftesbury Theatre
P J McEvoy – Falsettos – The Other Palace
Ewan Jones Morris – A Very Expensive Poison – The Old Vic

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