Gabrielle Brooks and James Graham today announced the nominations for the 22nd 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 21 January 2022), with winners announced at the annual Awards Ceremony held on 27 February 2022 at the Prince of Wales Theatre.
Leading the nominations this year is the new musical Frozen – currently running at Theatre Royal Drury Lane – with 13 nominations across acting and creative categories including nominations for Best New Musical, for both Samantha Barks and Stephanie McKeon in the Best Performer in a Female Identifying Role in a Musical category, with Oliver Ormson and Obioma Ugoala both nominated for Best Supporting Performer in a Male Identifying Role in a Musical. In addition, the production also receives nominations for Best Direction for Michael Grandage, and nominations for Best Set Design, Best Costume Design, Best Choreography, Best Musical Direction, Best Lighting, Best Video Design and Best Graphic Design.
In the musical categories, Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical receives 10 nominations, with Back to the Future the Musical revving up closely behind with 9 nominations. Even though still in previews, Cabaret makes its mark with 7 nominations, mirrored by Moulin Rouge! and Cinderella.
In Best Performer in a Female Identifying Role in a Musical, Barks and McKeon face stiff competition from Cabaret’s Jessie Buckley, Aimie Atkinson for Pretty Woman, Beverley Knight for The Drifters Girl and previous WhatsOnStage Award winner Carrie Hope Fletcher for Cinderella. For Best Performer in a Male Identifying Role in a Musical, Back to the Future’s Roger Bart and Olly Dobson go head to head against Ivano Turco for Cinderella, Arinzé Kene for Get Up, Stand Up!, Eddie Redmayne for Cabaret, and Julian Ovenden in South Pacific.
In the musical supporting categories, Ormson and Ugoala face Hugh Coles and Cedric Neal both from Back to the Future the Musical, Blake Patrick Anderson from Be More Chill and Robert Lindsay from Anything Goes; and in the Best Supporting Performer in a Female Identifying Role, Cinderella’s Victoria Hamilton-Barritt and Rebecca Trehearn are both nominated, alongside Gabrielle Brooks for Get Up, Stand Up!, Joanna Ampil for South Pacific and Millie O’Connell for Rent.
Leading the straight plays categories is Yaël Farber’s production of The Tragedy of Macbeth, which recently completed its run at the Almeida Theatre, receiving 5 nominations for Saoirse Ronan for Best Performer in a Female Identifying Role in a Play, Akiya Henry for Best Supporting Performer in a Female Identifying Role in a Play, Richard Rankin for Best Supporting Male Identifying Role in a Play, Best Direction and Best Play Revival.
Also performing well in the straight play categories are The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Magic Goes Wrong, 2:22 A Ghost Story and Cyrano de Bergerac with 4 nominations each.
For her stage debut in Anna X as part of Sonia Friedman’s RE:EMERGE season, Emma Corrin receives their first WhatsOnStage nomination for Best Performer in a Female Identifying Role in a Play, nominated alongside Gemma Arterton for Walden in the same season, Lily Allen for 2:22 A Ghost Story, Patsy Ferran for Camp Siegfried, Sheila Atim for Constellations, alongside Saoirse Ronan. Best Performer in a Male Identifying Role in a Play nominees are Henry Lewis for Magic Goes Wrong, Ben Daniels for The Normal Heart, Hadley Fraser for 2:22 A Ghost Story, Richard Armitage for Uncle Vanya and James McAvoy for Cyrano de Bergerac.
For Best Supporting Performer in a Female Identifying Role in a Play, the nominees are Nancy Zamit for Magic Goes Wrong, Michelle Fox for Shining City, Penny Layden for The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Isobel McArthur for Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of), Akiya Henry for The Tragedy of Macbeth and Aimee Lou Wood for Uncle Vanya. Best Supporting Performer in a Male Identifying Role in a Play nominees include Jake Wood for 2:22 A Ghost Story, Richard Rankin for The Tragedy of Macbeth and Jonathan Sayer for Magic Goes Wrong – all 3 plays receiving 3 acting nominations each, alongside Stephen K Amos for My Night with Reg, Nathaniel Parker for The Mirror and the Light, and Dino Fetscher for The Normal Heart.
In the fiercely fought Best New Musical category, Frozen faces competition from Cinderella, Back to the Future the Musical, Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical, Pretty Woman the Musical and Moulin Rouge!; and in Best New Play, the nominees are Magic Goes Wrong, 2:22 A Ghost Story, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of), J’Ouvert and this year’s Olivier Award winner Leopoldstadt.
Best Play Revival nominees are The Normal Heart, Constellations, The Tragedy of Macbeth, Uncle Vanya, My Night with Reg and Cyrano de Bergerac; and Best Musical Revival sees the recently opened Cabaret face off against Anything Goes, Rent, South Pacific, Carousel and West Side Story.
Best Direction sees a split between musical theatre with Frozen’s Michael Grandage nominated alongside Clint Dyer for Get Up, Stand Up!, and Rebecca Frecknall for Cabaret, and straight plays with The Tragedy of Macbeth’s Yaël Farber, Katy Rudd for The Ocean at the End of the Lane and Jamie Lloyd for Cyrano de Bergerac completing the category.
South Pacific receives 6 nominations in total, having opened at Chichester Festival Theatre and been streamed, including Best Regional Production, where it faces competition from Rent – with 5 nominations, What’s New Pussycat?, West Side Story, Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Bloody Elle; and for Best Off-West End Production, the nominees are My Son’s a Queer (but What Can You Do?), The Last Five Years, Pippin, Saving Britney, Old Bridge and Anything is Possible If You Think About It Hard Enough.
Mischief Theatre receives 5 nominations in total – 4 for Magic Goes Wrong, and also for The Play That Goes Wrong in the popular Best West End Show category. Other nominees in the Best West End Show category are Six the Musical, Wicked, Les Misérables, Come From Away and Hamilton.
Now in their 22nd year, the WhatsOnStage Awards are the only major theatre awards decided entirely by the theatregoers themselves. Voting opens today, closing on 21 January 2022, ahead of the winners being announced at the Awards concert on 27 February 2022 at Prince of Wales Theatre.
THE NOMINEES IN FULL:
BEST PERFORMER IN A MALE IDENTIFYING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Roger Bart – Back to the Future the Musical, Manchester Opera House & Adelphi Theatre
Olly Dobson – Back to the Future the Musical, Manchester Opera House & Adelphi Theatre
Arinzé Kene – Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical, Lyric Theatre
Julian Ovenden – South Pacific, Chichester Festival Theatre
Eddie Redmayne – Cabaret, Playhouse Theatre – Kit Kat Club
Ivano Turco – Cinderella, Gillian Lynne Theatre
BEST PERFORMER IN A FEMALE IDENTIFYING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Aimie Atkinson – Pretty Woman, Piccadilly Theatre & Savoy Theatre
Samantha Barks – Frozen, Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Jessie Buckley – Cabaret, Playhouse Theatre – Kit Kat Club
Carrie Hope Fletcher – Cinderella, Gillian Lynne Theatre
Beverley Knight – The Drifters Girl, Garrick Theatre
Stephanie McKeon, Frozen, Theatre Royal Drury Lane
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMER IN A MALE IDENTIFYING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Blake Patrick Anderson – Be More Chill, The Other Palace & Shaftesbury Theatre
Hugh Coles – Back to the Future the Musical, Manchester Opera House & Adelphi Theatre
Robert Lindsay – Anything Goes, Barbican Centre
Cedric Neal – Back to the Future the Musical – Manchester Opera House & Adelphi Theatre
Oliver Ormson – Frozen, Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Obioma Ugoala – Frozen, Theatre Royal Drury Lane
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMER IN A FEMALE IDENTIFYING ROLE IN A MUSICAL – Sponsored by Newman Displays
Joanna Ampil – South Pacific, Chichester Festival Theatre
Gabrielle Brooks – Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical, Lyric Theatre
Victoria Hamilton-Barritt – Cinderella, Gillian Lynne Theatre
Carly Mercedes Dyer – Anything Goes, Barbican Centre
Millie O’Connell – Rent, Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester
Rebecca Trehearn – Cinderella, Gillian Lynne Theatre
BEST PERFORMER IN A MALE IDENTIFYING ROLE IN A PLAY
Richard Armitage – Uncle Vanya, Harold Pinter Theatre
Ben Daniels – The Normal Heart, National Theatre
Omari Douglas – Constellations, Vaudeville Theatre
Hadley Fraser – 2:22 A Ghost Story, Noël Coward Theatre
Henry Lewis – Magic Goes Wrong, Vaudeville Theatre & Apollo Theatre
James McAvoy – Cyrano de Bergerac, Playhouse Theatre
BEST PERFORMER IN A FEMALE IDENTIFYING ROLE IN A PLAY
Lily Allen – 2:22 A Ghost Story, Noël Coward Theatre
Gemma Arterton – Walden, Harold Pinter Theatre
Sheila Atim – Constellations, Vaudeville Theatre
Emma Corrin – Anna X, Harold Pinter Theatre, The Lowry, Salford
Patsy Ferran – Camp Siegfried, The Old Vic
Saoirse Ronan – The Tragedy of Macbeth, Almeida Theatre
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMER IN A MALE IDENTIFYING ROLE IN A PLAY
Stephen K Amos – My Night with Reg, The Turbine Theatre
Dino Fetscher – The Normal Heart, National Theatre
Nathaniel Parker – The Mirror and the Light, Gielgud Theatre
Richard Rankin – The Tragedy of Macbeth, Almeida Theatre
Jonathan Sayer – Magic Goes Wrong, Vaudeville Theatre & Apollo Theatre
Jake Wood – 2:22 A Ghost Story, Noël Coward Theatre
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMER IN A FEMALE IDENTIFYING ROLE IN A PLAY
Michelle Fox – Shining City, Theatre Royal Stratford East
Akiya Henry – The Tragedy of Macbeth, Almeida Theatre
Penny Layden – The Ocean at the End of the Lane, National Theatre & Duke of York’s Theatre
Isobel McArthur – Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of), Criterion Theatre
Aimee Lou Wood – Uncle Vanya, Harold Pinter Theatre
Nancy Zamit – Magic Goes Wrong, Vaudeville Theatre & Apollo Theatre
BEST NEW MUSICAL – Sponsored by Travelzoo
Back to the Future the Musical – Adelphi Theatre
Cinderella – Gillian Lynne Theatre
Frozen – Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical – Lyric Theatre
Pretty Woman the Musical – Piccadilly Theatre & Savoy Theatre
Moulin Rouge! – Piccadilly Theatre
BEST MUSICAL REVIVAL – Sponsored by Concord Theatricals
Anything Goes – Barbican Centre
Cabaret – Kit Kat Club at the Playhouse Theatre
Carousel – Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Rent – Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester
South Pacific – Chichester Festival Theatre
West Side Story – Curve, Leicester
BEST NEW PLAY – Sponsored by Ticketmaster
2:22 A Ghost Story – Noël Coward Theatre
J’ Ouvert – Harold Pinter Theatre, Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Leopoldstadt – Wyndham’s Theatre
Magic Goes Wrong – Vaudeville Theatre & Apollo Theatre
Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of) – Criterion Theatre
The Ocean at the End of the Lane – National Theatre & Duke of York’s Theatre
BEST PLAY REVIVAL
Constellations – Vaudeville Theatre
Cyrano de Bergerac – Playhouse Theatre
My Night with Reg – The Turbine Theatre
The Normal Heart – National Theatre
The Tragedy of Macbeth – Almeida Theatre
Uncle Vanya – Harold Pinter Theatre
BEST OFF-WEST END PRODUCTION – Sponsored by Les Misérables
Anything is Possible if You Think About it Hard Enough – Southwark Playhouse
My Son’s A Queer (But What Can You Do?) – The Turbine Theatre
Old Bridge – Bush Theatre
Pippin – Charing Cross Theatre
Saving Britney – Old Red Lion Theatre
The Last Five Years – Southwark Playhouse
BEST REGIONAL THEATRE PRODUCTION
Bedknobs and Broomsticks the Musical – UK tour
Bloody Elle – A Gig Musical – Manchester Royal Exchange
Rent – Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester
South Pacific – Chichester Festival Theatre
West Side Story – Curve, Leicester
What’s New Pussycat? – Birmingham Repertory Theatre
BEST WEST END SHOW – Sponsored by Dewynters
Come From Away – Phoenix Theatre
Hamilton – Victoria Palace Theatre
Les Misérables – Sondheim Theatre
Six the Musical – Vaudeville Theatre
The Play That Goes Wrong – Duchess Theatre
Wicked – Apollo Victoria Theatre
BEST DIRECTION – Sponsored by LOVEtheatre
Clint Dyer – Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical, Lyric Theatre
Yaël Farber – The Tragedy of Macbeth, Almeida Theatre
Rebecca Frecknall – Cabaret, Kit Kat Club at the Playhouse Theatre
Michael Grandage – Frozen, Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Jamie Lloyd – Cyrano de Bergerac, Playhouse Theatre
Katy Rudd – The Ocean at the End of the Lane, National Theatre & Duke of York’s Theatre
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
Rob Ashford – Frozen, Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Drew McOnie – Carousel, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Kathleen Marshall – Anything Goes, Barbican Centre
Shelley Maxwell – Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical, Lyric Theatre
Sonya Tayeh – Moulin Rouge!, Piccadilly Theatre
Ann Yee – South Pacific, Chichester Festival Theatre
BEST SET DESIGN
Fly Davis – The Ocean at the End of the Lane, National Theatre & Duke of York’s Theatre
Jamie Harrison – Bedknobs and Broomsticks the Musical, UK tour
Tim Hatley – Back to the Future the Musical, Manchester Opera House & Adelphi Theatre
Derek McLane – Moulin Rouge!, Piccadilly Theatre
Christopher Oram – Frozen, Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Tom Scutt – Cabaret, Kit Kat Club at the Playhouse Theatre
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Lisa Duncan – Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical, Lyric Theatre
Christopher Oram – Frozen, Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Tom Scutt – Cabaret, Kit Kat Club at the Playhouse Theatre
Gabriella Slade – Bedknobs and Broomsticks the Musical, UK tour
Gabriela Tylesova – Cinderella, Gillian Lynne Theatre
Catherine Zuber – Moulin Rouge!, Piccadilly Theatre
BEST LIGHTING DESIGN – Sponsored by White Light
Neil Austin – Frozen, Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Charles Balfour – Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical, Lyric Theatre
Isabella Byrd – Cabaret, Playhouse Theatre, Kit Kat Club
Tim Lutkin – Back to the Future the Musical, Adelphi Theatre
Bruno Poet – Cinderella, Gillian Lynne Theatre
Justin Townsend – Moulin Rouge!, Piccadilly Theatre
BEST MUSICAL DIRECTION – Sponsored by AKA
Leo Munby – The Last Five Years, Vaudeville Theatre
Tom Deering – Carousel, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Sean Green – Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical, Lyric Theatre
Justin Levine – Moulin Rouge!, Piccadilly Theatre
Stephen Oremus – Frozen – Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Katy Richardson – Rent, Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester
BEST SOUND DESIGN – Sponsored by Stage & Sound Services
Adam Cork – Leopoldstadt, Wyndham’s Theatre
Adam Fisher – The Last Five Years, Southwark Playhouse & Vaudeville Theatre
Paul Groothuis – South Pacific, Chichester Festival Theatre
Peter Hylenski – Moulin Rouge!, Piccadilly Theatre
Gareth Owen – Back to the Future the Musical, Manchester Opera House & Adelphi Theatre
Ben and Max Ringham – Cyrano de Bergerac, Playhouse Theatre
BEST VIDEO DESIGN
Nina Dunn – The Shark is Broken, Ambassadors Theatre
Akhila Krishnan – What’s New Pussycat?, Birmingham Repertory Theatre
Mikaela Liakata and Tal Yarden – Anna X, Harold Pinter Theatre & The Lowry, Salford
Finn Ross – Back to the Future the Musical, Manchester Opera House & Adelphi Theatre
Finn Ross – Frozen, Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Tal Yarden – Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical, Lyric Theatre
BEST GRAPHIC DESIGN – Sponsored by Hexagon Print
Christopher D Clegg – The Wiz, Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester
Feast Creative – Romeo and Juliet, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Feast Creative – Rent, Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester
Bob King Creative – Frozen, Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Muse Creative Communications – RE:EMERGE Season, Harold Pinter Theatre
Michael Nash Associates- Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical, Lyric Theatre
