Tyrone Huntley today announced the nominations for the 20th annual WhatsOnStage Awards via WhatsOnStage’s social channels, 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 27 January), with winners announced at the annual Awards Concert held on 1 March 2020 at the Prince of Wales Theatre.
WhatsOnStage’s Chief Operating Officer Sita McIntosh said today, “As we enter our 20th year, we’re thrilled to announce the nominations for the WhatsOnStage Awards. 2019 has proved a strong year for musicals with & Juliet dominating the field with 13 nominations – more than either Hamilton or Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in previous years. There’s also been a strong showing for work outside the capital with venues including Hope Mill Theatre, Curve Leicester and Sheffield Theatres receiving multiple nominations. This is the particular joy of the WhatsOnStage Awards, that work from across the breadth of the UK is represented and championed.”
Leading this year is the new musical & Juliet – currently running at the Shaftesbury Theatre, with 13 nominations across acting and creative categories including nominations for leading actors Miriam-Teak Lee and Oliver Tompsett who play Juliet and Shakespeare respectively, supporting actor nominations for Jordan Luke Gage, Cassidy Janson and Melanie La Barrie, Best New Musical, Best Choreography, Best Costume Design, Best Graphic Design, Best Lighting Design, Best Set Design, Best Sound Design and Best Video Design.
In the musical categories, Evita follows with 8 nominations and Mame with 7 nominations, ahead of Waitress with 6 nominations, and Come from Away and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with 5 nominations each.
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For Best Actress in a Musical Miriam-Teak Lee faces competition from Tracie Bennett for Mame, Katharine McPhee and Lucie Jones – both for Waitress, and Zizi Strallen for Mary Poppins; and in the Best Actor in a Musical category Oliver Tompsett is nominated alongside David Hunter for Waitress, Charlie Stemp for Mary Poppins, Sam Tutty for Dear Evan Hansen, and Jac Yarrow for Joseph.
Best Supporting Actress in a Musical sees the stars of Waitress face off again with nominations for both Laura Baldwin and Marisha Wallace; who in turn are up against Cassidy Janson and Melanie La Barrie, both for & Juliet, and Rachel Tucker from Come From Away; and Best Supporting Actor nominees are & Juliet’s Romeo Jordan Luke Gage, Joe Sugg from Waitress, Jack Loxton from Dear Evan Hansen, Oscar Conlon-Morrey for Only Fools and Horses The Musical, and Joseph’s Jason Donovan.
Best New Musical will see a closely fought battle between & Juliet, Waitress, Dear Evan Hansen, Come From Away and Only Fools and Horses; Best Musical Revival nominees are Mary Poppins, Evita, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Mame, and 9 to 5 The Musical.
In the straight play categories, Best New Play is a contest between The Doctor, The Son, My Beautiful Laundrette, Life of Pi and Appropriate; and Best Play Revival nominees are Betrayal, Death of a Salesman, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Lungs and Present Laughter. The latter of these leads the play categories with 8 nominations; including Best Actor in a Play for Andrew Scott, Best Supporting Actress in a Play nominations for Sophie Thompson and Indira Varma and Best Direction for Matthew Warchus.
In a heavily nominated year for The Old Vic, Warchus receives a double nomination in the Best Direction category – for Lungs, as well as Present Laughter. His rivals are Marianne Elliott and Miranda Cromwell for Death of a Salesman, Robert Icke for The Doctor and Jamie Lloyd for Evita.
Andrew Scott faces Tom Hiddleston for Betrayal, Matt Smith for Lungs, Wendell Pierce for Death of a Salesman, and Laurie Kynaston for The Son for the Best Actor in a Play Award – both Scott and Kynaston were recently honoured for their respective roles at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards. For Best Actress in a Play, the nominations are Claire Foy for Lungs, Zawe Ashton for Betrayal, Hayley Atwell for Rosmersholm, Sharon D. Clarke for Death of a Salesman, and Juliet Stevenson for The Doctor.
For Best Supporting Actor in a Play, nominated are Alexander Vlahos for Peter Pan, Charlie Cox for Betrayal, Hareet Deol for My Beautiful Laundrette, Hammed Animashaun for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Giles Terera for Rosmersholm; and for Best Supporting Actress in a Play, Thompson and Varma are up against Ria Zmitrowicz for The Doctor, Monica Dolan for All About Eve, and Isabella Pappas for Appropriate.
Best Off-West End production nominees are The View UpStairs (Soho Theatre), Falsettos (The Other Palace), High Fidelity (The Turbine Theatre), Preludes and Fiver – both at Southwark Playhouse; and the Best Regional Production are Mame (Hope Mill Theatre), Life of Pi (Sheffield Theatres), West Side Story (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester), My Beautiful Laundrette (Curve, Leicester, Belgrade Theatre Coventry, Everyman Theatre Cheltenham and Leeds Playhouse co-production), and The Color Purple (Curve, Leicester and Birmingham Hippodrome co-production).
Voting for the 20th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards is open now here.
The 20th Annual WhatsOnStage Award Nominations:
BEST ACTOR IN A PLAY SPONSORED BY EDWARDIAN HOTELS
Tom Hiddleston – Betrayal
Andrew Scott – Present Laughter
Matt Smith – Lungs
Wendell Pierce – Death of a Salesman
Laurie Kynaston – The Son
BEST ACTRESS IN A PLAY SPONSORED BY TONIC THEATRE
Claire Foy – Lungs
Zawe Ashton – Betrayal
Hayley Atwell – Rosmersholm
Sharon D. Clarke – Death of a Salesman
Juliet Stevenson – The Doctor
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A PLAY
Alexander Vlahos – Peter Pan
Charlie Cox – Betrayal
Hareet Deol – My Beautiful Laundrette
Hammed Animashaun – A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Giles Terera – Rosmersholm
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A PLAY
Ria Zmitrowicz – The Doctor
Isabella Pappas – Appropriate
Monica Dolan – All About Eve
Sophie Thompson – Present Laughter
Indira Varma – Present Laughter
BEST ACTOR IN A MUSICAL SPONSORED BY DEWYNTERS
David Hunter – Waitress
Sam Tutty – Dear Evan Hansen
Jac Yarrow – Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Oliver Tompsett – & Juliet
Charlie Stemp – Mary Poppins
BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL SPONSORED BY CAFÉ DE PARIS
Lucie Jones – Waitress
Katharine McPhee – Waitress
Miriam-Teak Lee – & Juliet
Tracie Bennett – Mame
Zizi Strallen – Mary Poppins
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MUSICAL SPONSORED BY THE UMBRELLA ROOMS
Joe Sugg – Waitress
Jack Loxton – Dear Evan Hansen
Jordan Luke Gage – & Juliet
Oscar Conlon-Morrey – Only Fools and Horses
Jason Donovan – Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL SPONSORED BY NEWMAN DISPLAYS
Laura Baldwin – Waitress
Marisha Wallace – Waitress
Cassidy Janson – & Juliet
Melanie La Barrie – & Juliet
Rachel Tucker – Come From Away
BEST NEW PLAY SPONSORED BY TICKETMASTER
The Doctor
The Son
My Beautiful Laundrette
Life of Pi
Appropriate
BEST PLAY REVIVAL SPONSORED BY JHI MARKETING
Betrayal
Death of a Salesman
Present Laughter
A Midsummer Night’s Dream [Bridge Theatre]
Lungs
BEST NEW MUSICAL SPONSORED BY h CLUB LONDON
Waitress
& Juliet
Dear Evan Hansen
Come From Away
Only Fools and Horses
BEST MUSICAL REVIVAL SPONSORED BY CONCORD THEATRICALS
Mary Poppins
Evita
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Mame
9 to 5 The Musical
BEST OFF-WEST END PRODUCTION SPONSORED BY LES MISERABLES
Fiver
The View UpStairs
High Fidelity
Preludes
Falsettos
BEST REGIONAL PRODUCTION SPONSORED BY MTI EUROPE
Mame
The Color Purple
Life of Pi
My Beautiful Laundrette
West Side Story [Royal Exchange Manchester]
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
Fabian Aloise – Evita
Matthew Bourne – Romeo & Juliet
Kelly Devine – Come From Away
Jennifer Weber – & Juliet
Nick Winston – Mame
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Lez Brotherston – Romeo & Juliet
Katrina Lindsay – Small Island
Rob Howell – Present Laughter
Philip Witcomb – Mame
Paloma Young – & Juliet
BEST DIRECTION SPONSORED BY LOVETHEATRE
Marianne Elliott & Miranda Cromwell – Death of a Salesman
Robert Icke – The Doctor
Jamie Lloyd – Evita
Matthew Warchus – Lungs
Matthew Warchus – Present Laughter
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
Ben Cracknell – Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Howard Hudson – & Juliet
Jessica Hung Han Yun – Equus
Tim Lutkin & Hugh Vanstone – Present Laughter
BEST MUSICAL DIRECTION
Ian Eisendrath, Alan Berry & Team – Come From Away
Kimberly Grigsby – The Light in the Piazza
Alex Parker – Mame
John Rigby – Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Alan Williams – Evita
BEST SET DESIGN SPONSORED BY SINE DIGITAL
Soutra Gilmour – & Juliet
Soutra Gilmour – Evita
Rob Howell – Present Laughter
Robert Jones – The Light in the Piazza
Rae Smith – The Night of the Iguana
BEST SOUND DESIGN SPONSORED BY STAGE SOUND SERVICES
Ben Harrison – Mame
Nick Lidster – Evita
Gareth Owen – & Juliet
Gareth Owen – Come From Away
Mick Potter – The Light in the Piazza
BEST VIDEO DESIGN SPONSORED BY PRG
Jon Driscoll – Small Island
Will Duke – Grief is the Thing With Feathers
Andrzej Goulding – & Juliet
P J McEvoy – Falsettos
Ewan Jones Morris – A Very Expensive Poison
