Big Night for & Juliet at The WhatsOnStage Awards

At a ceremony tonight at the Prince of Wales Theatre hosted by Jodie Prenger and Tom Read Wilson, the winners of the 20^th 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.

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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.