A relatively controversy-free set of results for once, though sad not to see Waitress get any love at the 20th What’s On Stage Awards
Publicly voted awards often end up rewarding celebrity and/or social media pull rather than any sense of theatrical merit, so it is nice to see a more balanced set of results emerging from this year’s What’s On Stage Awards. & Juliet and Come From Away could both claim to have ‘won big’ with Dear Evan Hansen also nicking a couple of prize acting awards. This did sadly mean Waitress went home empty handed and I thought Mary Poppins might have scored at least another one award to go with Best Musical Revival.
On the plays side of things, the lack of a clear front-runner in terms of nominations resulted in a nice spread of recognition, topped off with Life of Pi nabbing the best new play and representing well for the regions, ahead of its West End debut in June. The only bum note comes with the continued lack of engagement with the concerns raised around Jewish representation in the recent production of Falsettos. Rewarding the show without recognising any of these issues (I don’t think WoS has published anything about it at all) feels like a thoughtless compounding of something which shouldn’t be swept under the carpet. We can all do better.
Best Actor in a Play, sponsored by Edwardian Hotels
Tom Hiddleston – Betrayal – Harold Pinter Theatre
WINNER – 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
WINNER – 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
WINNER – 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
WINNER – 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
WINNER – 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
WINNER – 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
WINNER – 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
WINNER – 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
WINNER – Life of Pi – Lolita Chakrabarti – Sheffield Theatres
Appropriate – Branden Jacobs-Jenkins – Donmar Warehouse
Best Play Revival, sponsored by JHI Marketing
WINNER – 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
WINNER – Come From Away – Phoenix Theatre
Only Fools and Horses the Musical – Theatre Royal Haymarket
Best Musical Revival, sponsored by Concord Theatricals
WINNER – 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
WINNER – Falsettos – The Other Palace
Best Regional Production, sponsored by MTI Europe
Mame – Hope Mill Theatre
WINNER – 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
WINNER – 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
WINNER – 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
WINNER – 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
WINNER – & 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
WINNER – 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
WINNER – 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
WINNER – 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
WINNER – 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
WINNER – Andrzej Goulding – & Juliet – Shaftesbury Theatre
P J McEvoy – Falsettos – The Other Palace
Ewan Jones Morris – A Very Expensive Poison – The Old Vic
The Equity Award for Services to Theatre
ERA 50:50
The BBC Radio 2 Audience Award for Best Musical
Six the Musical