Leah Harvey and Alfred Enoch today announced the nominations for the 23rd Annual WhatsOnStage Awards, the only major theatre prize-giving decided entirely by the theatregoers themselves.
The announcement of the nominations marks the opening of the final voting stage (until 10 January), with winners announced at the annual Awards ceremony held on 12 February 2023 at the Prince of Wales Theatre.
WhatsOnStage’s Sarah Coleman said today, “Once again the public have done us proud, making this the most heavily nominated WhatsOnStage Awards in our history. It’s wonderful to see the breadth of nominees this year, with theatre around the country being represented across the major categories, making these awards truly representative of the theatre community as a whole. We look forward to joining the nominees in February next year to celebrate the brilliance, innovation and pure joy of the past year on stage.”
Leading this year is My Neighbour Totoro with 9 nominations – Mei Mac for Best Performer in a Play, Best New Play, Best Direction for Phelim McDermott, Best Musical Direction/Supervision, Best Lighting Design, Best Set Design, Best Sound Design, Best Video Design and Best Graphic Design. The next best nominated straight play is Good with 5 nominations, including 3 acting nominations for David Tennant, Sharon Small and Elliot Levey.
The critically acclaimed Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!, which transfers to the West End next year, leads the musical categories, with 8 nominations – Best Supporting Performer in a Musical for Marisha Wallace, Best Musical Revival, Best Director for Daniel Fish, Best Musical Direction/Supervision, Best Casting Direction, Best Lighting Design, Best Sound Design and Best Video Design. Other top nominees in the musical categories were both Almeida Theatre productions, directed by the company’s Artistic Director Rupert Goold – Spring Awakening with 6 nominations, and Tammy Faye, the most nominated new musical, with 5 nominations.
In the Best Performer in a Play category Doctor Who faces off with Villanelle, as David Tennant is nominated for Good alongside Jodie Comer for Prima Facie. Jonathan Bailey for Cock, Carrie Hope Fletcher for The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Mei Mac for My Neighbour Totoro, and Rafe Spall for To Kill a Mockingbird complete the category.
The Best Supporting Performer in a Play category sees Tennant’s co-stars Sharon Small and Elliot Levey face competition from Jade Anouka for Cock, Gwyneth Keyworth for To Kill a Mockingbird, Natasha Magigi for The Clothes They Stood Up In, and Greg Tannahill for Good Luck, Studio.
The Best Performer in a Musical category sees co-stars Jordan Luke Gage and Frances Mayli McCann from Bonnie & Clyde the Musical, up against Katie Brayben’s powerhouse performance as Tammy Faye, Courtney Bowman for Legally Blonde, Divina De Campo for Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and Charlie Stemp for Crazy for You. Best Supporting Performer in a Musical sees Bonnie & Clyde co-star Natalie McQueen up against Jocasta Almgill and Paul French from Grease, Lauren Drew for Legally Blonde, John Owen-Jones for The Great British Bake Off Musical and Marisha Wallace for Oklahoma!.
Up against Tammy Faye for Best New Musical are Bonnie & Clyde, The Great British Bake Off Musical, Identical, The Band’s Visit, and The Osmonds: A New Musical; whilst Best Musical Revival sees Oklahoma! and Spring Awakening up against Billy Elliot, Grease, Legally Blonde and My Fair Lady.
The heavily nominated My Neighbour Totoro will face A Different Stage, Best of Enemies, Eureka Day, Prima Facie and To Kill a Mockingbird in the battle for Best New Play; whilst in Best Play Revival Good takes on Blues for an Alabama Sky, Cock, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, The Crucible, and The Seagull.
Best West End Show sees firm favourites pitted against each other for the prize – Back to the Future: The Musical, Hamilton, Les Misérables, SIX, The Phantom of the Opera, and Wicked. This year also sees the return of the Best Takeover category, with nominations for Lauren Byrne for Matilda The Musical, Erin Caldwell for Heathers: The Musical, Lucie Jones for Wicked, Reuben Joseph for Hamilton, Ben Joyce for Back to the Future: The Musical, and Joel Harper-Jackson who rose to the occasion in Cock.
Competing with Oklahoma!’s Daniel Fish, Spring Awakening’s Rupert Goold and My Neighbour Totoro’s Phelim McDermott for Best Direction are Dominic Cooke for Good, Nikolai Foster for Billy Elliot, and Indhu Rubasingham for The Father and the Assassin. With Best Professional Debut, seeing nominations for Tomisin Ajani for The Play That Goes Wrong, Joe Locke for The Trials, Oliver Nicholas for Back to the Future: The Musical, Aharon Rayner for The Great British Bake Off Musical,
Nadine Shah for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Djavan van de Fliert for Frozen the Musical.
In the Best Off-West End Production category, the nominations are Anyone Can Whistle, But I’m A Cheerleader: The Musical, DIVA: Live from Hell!, Millennials, RIDE – A New Musical, and Ruckus; with Best Regional Production featuring Billy Elliot, Crazy for You, The Great British Bake Off Musical, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella, The Book Thief, and The Osmonds. For the first time this year, the award feature a Best Concert Event catering to a new and welcome addition to the theatrical calendar with nominations for Chess, Jeremy Jordan, SIX in Concert at Hampton Court Palace, Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends, The Witches of Eastwick and Treason.
The 23rd Annual WhatsOnStage Award Nominations in Full:
BEST PERFORMER IN A MUSICAL
Courtney Bowman, Legally Blonde, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Katie Brayben, Tammy Faye, Almeida Theatre
Divina De Campo, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Leeds Playhouse and HOME Manchester
Jordan Luke Gage, Bonnie & Clyde the Musical, Arts Theatre
Frances Mayli McCann, Bonnie & Clyde the Musical, Arts Theatre
Charlie Stemp, Crazy for You, Chichester Festival Theatre
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMER IN A MUSICAL sponsored by NEWMAN DISPLAYS
Jocasta Almgill, Grease, Dominion Theatre
Lauren Drew, Legally Blonde, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Paul French, Grease, Dominion Theatre
Natalie McQueen, Bonnie & Clyde the Musical, Arts Theatre
John Owen-Jones, The Great British Bake Off Musical, Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham
Marisha Wallace, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!, Young Vic
BEST PERFORMER IN A PLAY sponsored by SINE DIGITAL
Jonathan Bailey, Cock, Ambassadors Theatre
Jodie Comer, Prima Facie, Harold Pinter Theatre
Carrie Hope Fletcher, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Rose Theatre Kingston
Mei Mac, My Neighbour Totoro, Barbican Theatre
Rafe Spall, To Kill a Mockingbird, Gielgud Theatre
David Tennant, Good, Harold Pinter Theatre
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMER IN A PLAY sponsored by EDWARDIAN HOTELS LONDON
Jade Anouka, Cock, Ambassadors Theatre
Gwyneth Keyworth, To Kill a Mockingbird, Gielgud Theatre
Elliot Levey, Good, Harold Pinter Theatre
Natasha Magigi, The Clothes They Stood Up In, Nottingham Playhouse
Sharon Small, Good, Harold Pinter Theatre
Greg Tannahill, Good Luck, Studio, Mercury Theatre, Salisbury Playhouse and Yvonne Arnaud Theatre
BEST TAKEOVER PERFORMANCE sponsored by TANDEM MARKETING
Lauren Byrne, Matilda The Musical, Cambridge Theatre
Erin Caldwell, Heathers: The Musical, The Other Palace
Joel Harper-Jackson, Cock, Ambassadors Theatre
Lucie Jones, Wicked, Apollo Victoria Theatre
Reuben Joseph, Hamilton, Victoria Palace Theatre
Ben Joyce, Back to the Future: The Musical, Adelphi Theatre
BEST PROFESSIONAL DEBUT PERFORMANCE sponsored by AKA
Tomisin Ajani, The Play That Goes Wrong, Duchess Theatre
Joe Locke, The Trials, Donmar Warehouse
Oliver Nicholas, Back to the Future: The Musical, Adelphi Theatre
Aharon Rayner, The Great British Bake Off Musical, Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham
Nadine Shah, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare North Playhouse
Djavan van de Fliert, Frozen, Theatre Royal Drury Lane
BEST NEW MUSICAL sponsored by TRAVELZOO
Bonnie & Clyde the Musical, Arts Theatre
The Great British Bake Off Musical, Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham
Identical, Nottingham Playhouse and The Lowry Salford
Tammy Faye, Almeida Theatre
The Band’s Visit, Donmar Warehouse
The Osmonds: A New Musical, UK tour
BEST MUSICAL REVIVAL sponsored by CONCORD THEATRICALS
Billy Elliot, Curve, Leicester
Grease, Dominion Theatre
Legally Blonde, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
My Fair Lady, London Coliseum and tour
Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!, Young Vic
Spring Awakening, Almeida Theatre
BEST NEW PLAY sponsored by TICKETMASTER
A Different Stage, Duke of York’s Theatre and tour
Best of Enemies , Young Vic and Noël Coward Theatre
Eureka Day, The Old Vic
My Neighbour Totoro, Barbican Theatre
Prima Facie, Harold Pinter Theatre
To Kill a Mockingbird, Gielgud Theatre
BEST PLAY REVIVAL sponsored by AUDIENCEVIEW
Blues for an Alabama Sky, National Theatre
Cock, Ambassadors Theatre
Good, Harold Pinter Theatre
The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Rose Theatre, Kingston
The Crucible, National Theatre
The Seagull, Harold Pinter Theatre
BEST WEST END SHOW sponsored by DEWYNTERS
Back to the Future: The Musical, Adelphi Theatre
Hamilton, Victoria Palace Theatre
Les Misérables, Sondheim Theatre
SIX, Vaudeville Theatre
The Phantom of the Opera, Her Majesty’s Theatre
Wicked, Apollo Victoria Theatre
BEST REGIONAL PRODUCTION sponsored by MUSIC THEATRE INTERNATIONAL
Billy Elliot, Curve, Leicester
Crazy for You, Chichester Festival Theatre
The Great British Bake Off Musical, Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham
Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Hope Mill Theatre
The Book Thief, Octagon Theatre, Bolton
The Osmonds: A New Musical, UK tour
BEST OFF-WEST END PRODUCTION
Anyone Can Whistle, Southwark Playhouse
But I’m A Cheerleader: The Musical, The Turbine Theatre
DIVA: Live from Hell!, The Turbine Theatre
Millennials, The Other Palace Studio
RIDE – A New Musical, Charing Cross Theatre
Ruckus, Southwark Playhouse
BEST CONCERT EVENT
Chess, Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Jeremy Jordan, Theatre Royal Drury Lane
SIX in Concert, Hampton Court Palace
Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends, Sondheim Theatre
The Witches of Eastwick, Sondheim Theatre
Treason , Theatre Royal Drury Lane
BEST DIRECTION sponsored by LOVETHEATRE
Dominic Cooke, Good, Harold Pinter Theatre
Daniel Fish, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!, Young Vic
Nikolai Foster, Billy Elliot, Curve Leicester
Rupert Goold, Spring Awakening, Almeida Theatre
Phelim McDermott, My Neighbour Totoro, Barbican Theatre
Indhu Rubasingham, The Father and the Assassin, National Theatre
BEST MUSICAL DIRECTION/SUPERVISION
Daniel Kluger, Nathan Koci and Tom Brady, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!, Young Vic
Nigel Lilley and Tarek Merchant, The Band’s Visit, Donmar Warehouse
Stuart Morley, Georgie Francis and Elliot Mackenzie, Whistle Down the Wind, Watermill Theatre
Bruce O’Neil and Matt Smith, My Neighbour Totoro, Barbican Theatre
Ted Sperling and Gareth Valentine, My Fair Lady, London Coliseum and tour
Sarah Travis, Steve Sidwell and the company, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, UK tour
BEST CASTING DIRECTION
Pippa Ailion and Natalie Gallacher, Spring Awakening, Almeida Theatre
Stuart Burt, The Seagull, Harold Pinter Theatre
Anji Carroll, Marvellous, New Vic Theatre, @sohoplace
Natalie Gallacher for Poppa Ailion Casting, Legally Blonde, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Jacob Sparrow, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!, Young Vic
Anne Vosser and Jo Hawes, Identical, Nottingham Playhouse and The Lowry, Salford
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
Fabian Aloise, Bring It On: The Musical, Southbank Centre
Maxine Doyle, The Burnt City, Woolwich Works
Ellen Kane, A Chorus Line, Curve Leicester
Lynne Page, Spring Awakening, Almeida Theatre
Susan Stroman, Crazy for You, Chichester Festival Theatre
Arlene Phillips, Grease, Dominion Theatre
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Evie Gurney and Richard Mawbey, The 47th, The Old Vic
William Ivey Long, Crazy for You , Chichester Festival Theatre
Katrina Lindsay, Tammy Faye, Almeida Theatre
Melissa Simon-Hartman, Much Ado About Nothing, Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Gabriella Slade, The Cher Show, UK tour
Catherine Zuber, My Fair Lady, London Coliseum and UK tour
BEST LIGHTING DESIGN sponsored by WHITE LIGHT
Neil Austin, Tammy Faye, Almeida Theatre
Nic Farman, The Book Thief, Octagon Theatre, Bolton
Jessica Hung Han Yun, My Neighbour Totoro, Barbican Theatre
Jack Knowles, Spring Awakening, Almeida Theatre
Tim Lutkin, The Crucible, National Theatre
Scott Zielinski, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!, Young Vic
BEST SET DESIGN sponsored by PREEVUE
Jon Bausor, Into the Woods, Theatre Royal Bath
Es Devlin, The Crucible, National Theatre
Robert Jones, Murder on the Orient Express, Chichester Festival Theatre
Morgan Large, Sister Act, Eventim Apollo Hammersmith and tour
Tom Pye and Basil Twist, My Neighbour Totoro, Barbican Theatre
Ben Stones, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Leeds Playhouse and HOME Manchester
BEST SOUND DESIGN sponsored by STAGE SOUND SERVICES
Lee Affen, Blood Harmony, The Lowry, Salford, The Dukes, Lancaster, Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield and Traverse Theatre
Annie May Fletcher, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Leeds Playhouse and HOME Manchester
Tony Gayle, My Neighbour Totoro, Barbican Theatre
Paul Groothuis, Into the Woods, Theatre Royal Bath
Paul Groothuis, The Band’s Visit, Donmar Warehouse
Drew Levy, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!, Young Vic
BEST VIDEO DESIGN
Luke Halls and Zakk Hein, The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage, Bridge Theatre
Douglas O’Connell, Identical, Nottingham Playhouse and The Lowry, Salford
Finn Ross, Spring Awakening, Almeida Theatre
Andrea Scott, My Neighbour Totoro, Barbican Theatre
Joshua Thorson, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!, Young Vic
Max Spielbichler, Best of Enemies, Young Vic and Noël Coward Theatre
BEST GRAPHIC DESIGN sponsored by HEXAGON PRINT
AKA, Tammy Faye, Almeida Theatre
Bob King Creative, My Fair Lady, London Coliseum and tour
Felicity McCabe, The Crucible, National Theatre
Muse Creative Communications, The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage, Bridge Theatre
Studio Doug, Prima Facie, Harold Pinter Theatre
Toshio Suzuki and Dewynters, My Neighbour Totoro, Barbican Theatre
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