At tonight’s WhatsOnStage Award Concert at the Prince of Wales Theatre which was hosted by Vicky Vox and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, the winners of the 19th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards were announced. The awards are the only major theatre awards decided entirely by the theatregoers themselves via an online vote.
WhatsOnStage’s Chief Operating Officer Sita McIntosh said today, “The calibre of theatre across 2018 has been extraordinary – from musicals to plays, from new productions to revivals – which is reflected in this year’s WhatsOnStage Awards winners list. It’s brilliant to see some behemoth shows alongside smaller offerings and it’s notable this year that regional theatre has featured in several categories, not just under Best Regional Production. It goes to show how dynamic and exciting the theatre scene is up and down the UK at the moment. The WhatsOnStage Awards tell us about audiences and what they have loved and want to see and this list demonstrates there is an appetite for everything from small to big, subsidised to commercial in London and beyond. Congratulations to all the winners.”
Hamilton managed to secure 5 wins from its 12 nominations – Best Actor in a Musical for Jamael Westman, Best Supporting Actor in a Musical for Jason Pennycooke, as well as Best Choreography, Best Costume Design and Best Lighting Design. However, it was pipped to the post by Heathers the Musical for Best New Musical, which also won Best Actress in a Musical for Carrie Hope Fletcher.
Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre’s Little Shop of Horrors, picked up the awards for Best Musical Revival, Best Set Design for Tom Scutt and Best Poster Design. The gender reversed Company, won 2 awards – Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for Patti LuPone, and Best Director for Marianne Elliott.
The Inheritance and The Madness of George III took home two awards each – Best New Play and Best Play Revival respectively. They also both win in the Best Supporting performance categories, with Vanessa Redgrave winning for The Inheritance, and Adrian Scarborough for The Madness of George III.
Sophie Okonedo won Best Actress in a Play for Antony and Cleopatra at the National Theatre, and Aidan Turner won Best Actor in a Play for his return to the stage in Michael Grandage’s production of The Lieutenant of Inishmore. Michael Grandage received The Equity Award For Services To Theatre, the only award not voted by the public, not only for his work on stage, but also his commitment to accessible ticket prices, and MGCfutures which supports emerging theatre makers.
Best Off-West End Production goes to the musical phenomenon Six the Musical currently enjoying a sell-out run at the Arts Theatre, with the cast performing the finale of the concert. Best Regional Production was awarded to Spring Awakening at the Hope Mill Theatre. Everybody’s Talking About Jamie picked up Best Cast Recording; and Best West End Show went to Les Misérables.
Performances across the evening included a tribute to Stephen Sondheim featuring an all-star ensemble; Carrie Hope Fletcher, Jodie Steele, T’Shan Williams and Sophie Isaacs performing “I Say No” and “Candy Store” from Heathers the Musical; the cast of Spring Awakening performing “Totally F*cked”; Rachel Tucker performing “Me and the Sky” from Come From Away; members of the cast of The Lion King performing “One by One”; A Star Is Born montage, and the cast of Six the Musical performing “Six”.
The 19th Annual WhatsOnStage Nominees and Winners in full:
Best Actor in a Play sponsored by Radisson Blu Edwardian
Aidan Turner, The Lieutenant of Inishmore (Winner)
Arinzé Kene, Misty
Colin Morgan, Translations
Kyle Soller, The Inheritance
Mark Gatiss, The Madness of George III
Best Actress in a Play
Sophie Okonedo, Antony and Cleopatra (Winner)
Carey Mulligan, Girls & Boys
Charlie Murphy, The Lieutenant of Inishmore
Katherine Parkinson, Home, I’m Darling
Patsy Ferran, Summer and Smoke
Best Actor in a Musical sponsored by The Umbrella Rooms
Jamael Westman, Hamilton (Winner)
Giles Terera, Hamilton
Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Tina – The Tina Turner Musical
Jamie Muscato, Heathers the Musical
Rob Houchen, Eugenius!
Best Actress in a Musical sponsored by Café de Paris
Carrie Hope Fletcher, Heathers the Musical (Winner)
Adrienne Warren, Tina – The Tina Turner Musical
Laura Baldwin, Eugenius!
Rachelle Ann Go, Hamilton
Rosalie Craig, Company
Best Supporting Actor in a Play
Adrian Scarborough, The Madness of George III (Winner)
Adetomiwa Edun, Translations
Andrew Burnap, The Inheritance
Chris Walley, The Lieutenant of Inishmore
Paul Hilton, The Inheritance
Best Supporting Actress in a Play sponsored by Tonic Theatre
Vanessa Redgrave, The Inheritance (Winner)
Debra Gillett, The Madness of George III
Michelle Fairley, Julius Caesar
Michelle Fox, Translations
Sian Thomas, Home, I’m Darling
Best Supporting Actor in a Musical
Jason Pennycooke, Hamilton (Winner)
Cleve September, Hamilton
Daniel Buckley, Eugenius!
Jonathan Bailey, Company
Richard Fleeshman, Company
Best Supporting Actress in a Musical sponsored by
Newman Displays
Patti LuPone, Company (Winner)
Christine Allado, Hamilton
Jodie Steele, Heathers the Musical
Rachel John, Hamilton
Vicky Vox, Little Shop of Horrors
Best New Play sponsored by JHI Marketing
The Inheritance (Winner)
Dust
Girls & Boys
The Jungle
Misty
Best New Musical sponsored by h Club London
Heathers the Musical (Winner)
Eugenius!
Hamilton
Tina – The Tina Turner Musical
Six the Musical
Best Play Revival
The Madness of George III (Winner)
Summer and Smoke
The Lieutenant of Inishmore
Translations
The York Realist
Best Musical Revival sponsored by R&H Theatricals
Little Shop of Horrors (Winner)
Chess
Company
The King & I
Me and My Girl
Best Direction
Marianne Elliott, Company (Winner)
Andy Fickman, Heathers the Musical
Michael Grandage, The Lieutenant of Inishmore
Stephen Daldry, The Inheritance
Thomas Kail, Hamilton
Best Choreography
Andy Blankenbuehler, Hamilton (Winner)
Carrie-Anne Ingrouille, Six the Musical
Drew McOnie, Strictly Ballroom
Liam Steel, Company
Lizzi Gee, Little Shop of Horrors
Best Costume Design
Paul Tazewell, Hamilton (Winner)
Catherine Martin, Strictly Ballroom
Catherine Zuber, The King & I
Gabriella Slade, Six the Musical
Tom Scutt, Little Shop of Horrors
Best Set Design
Tom Scutt, Little Shop of Horrors (Winner)
Bunny Christie, Company
Es Devlin, Girls & Boys
Miriam Buether, The Jungle
Rae Smith, Translations
Best Lighting Design sponsored by White Light
Howell Binkley, Hamilton (Winner)
Ben Cracknell, Heathers the Musical
Howard Hudson, Little Shop of Horrors
Neil Austin, Company
Tim Deiling, Six the Musical
Best Video Design sponsored by PRG
Terry Scruby, Chess (Winner)
Daniel Denton, Misty
Dick Straker, A Monster Calls
Luke Halls, The Lehman Trilogy
Nina Dunn, The Assassination of Katie Hopkins
Best Off-West End Production sponsored by Les Misérables
Six the Musical (Winner)
Dust
Eugenius!
Misty
The Rink
Best Regional Production sponsored by MTI Europe
Spring Awakening (Winner)
Death of a Salesman
The Madness of George III
Memoirs of an Asian Football Casual
Romeo and Juliet
Best Original Cast Recording
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie (Winner)
Bat Out of Hell
Come From Away
The Grinning Man
Six the Musical
Best Show Poster
Little Shop of Horrors (Winner)
The Inheritance
The Jungle
The Lieutenant of Inishmore
Tina – The Tina Turner Musical
Best West End Show sponsored by Joe Allen
Les Misérables (Winner)
Bat Out of Hell
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie
Kinky Boots
Wicked
The Equity Award For Services To Theatre
Michael Grandage
