2015 Whats on Stage Awards Launch Party
Hi Rebecca, come and have some wine at our launch party! Oh, yeah, okay…SOLD. Yep it’s that time of year again; What’s On Stage have announced their 2015 Awards nominees!
Aside from a plethora of vino and canapes (hello, mini hotdog you honey!) guests were treated to performances from The Play That Goes Wrong (mega lolz) and Madalena Alberto. at the party, held at Café du Paris!
It is the 15th annual WhatsOnStage Awards, with the final bonanza/ WhatsOnStage Awards Concert being held on 15th February at the Prince of Wales Theatre. Voting is open from today and closes on 31st January. The WhatsOnStage Awards are the only prizes to be solely decided by theatregoers in an open poll – so the winners will be the nation’s true favourite!
Clearly you don’t all want to read how much wine we drank in the middle of the day, so let me cut to the chase with who is nominated for what.
The musicals to scoop the most nominations were Miss Saigon with a whopping 12 entries, Memphis the Musical with 10 and Urinetown the Musical with 7. Coriolanus and The Crucible have 6 nominations each in the play categories.
Perhaps the most hotly anticipated category was Best West End Show, where the nominees were Les Miserables, Matilda the Musical, Memphis the Musical, Miss Saigon and Wicked. The Best New Musical category nominees are Here Lies Love, Made in Dagenham, Memphis the Musical, Sunny Afternoon and Urinetown the Musical. Best New Play nominations are for Great Britain, Charles III, The Nether, Shakespeare in Love and Wolf Hall.
In the Best Actor in a Musical category we have Alistair Brammer and Jon Jon Briones from Miss Saigon, Killian Donnelly for his performance in Memphis the Musical, Marti Pellow in Evita, and Robert Lindsay in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. The nominees for Best Actress in a Musical are Beverley Knight from Memphis the Musical, Eva Noblezada in Miss Saigon, Gemma Arterton in Made in Dagenham, Jenna Russell in Urinetown, and Madalena Alberto in Evita.
The nominees for Best Actor in a Play are David Tennant for his performance in Richard II, Mark Strong in A View From The Bridge, Richard Armitage in The Crucible, Tom Bateman in Shakespeare in Love, and Tom Hiddleston in Coriolanus. The Best Actress in a Play nominations are for Billie Piper in political satire Great Britain, Gillian Anderson in A Streetcar Named Desire, Helen McCrory in Medea, Imedla Staunton in Good People and Lucy Briggs-Owen in Shakespeare in Love.
Best Supporting Actor in a Musical nominations go to Ben Forster for his role in Evita, George Maguire in Sunny Afternoon, Hugh Maynard and Kwang-Ho Hong for their performances in Miss Saigon and Rolan Bell for Memphis the Musical. Best Supporting Actress in a Musical entries are Claire Machine in Memphis the Musical, Karis Jack in Urinetown the Musical, Katherine Kingsley in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Rachelle Ann Go in Miss Saigon and Samantha Bond in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
Nominees for Best Supporting Actor in a Play are for Adrian Schiller in The Crucible, David Oakes in Shakespeare in Love, Hadley Fraser and Mark Gatiss in Coriolanus and Nathaniel Parker in Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies. Best Supporting Actress in a Play nominations are for Anna Madeley in The Crucile, Deborah Findlay in Coriolanus, Nicola Walker in A View From the Bridge, Samantha Colley in The Crucible and Vanessa Kirby in A Streetcar Named Desire.
Best Takeover in a Role nominations are for Craige Els in Matilda the Musical, David Hunter in Once, Jennifer DiNoia and Kerry Ellis in Wicked, and Michael Watson in Jersey Boys.
For Best Musical Revival the nominations are Miss Saigon, The Pajama Game, Porgy and Bess and Sweeney Todd. Nominations for Best Play Revival are Blithe Spirit, Coriolanus, The Crucible, Richard II and A Streetcar Named Desire.
Other Award categories and their nominations include:
Best Direction sponsored by Managed Networks:
• Christopher Ashley, Memphis the Musical
• Gregory Doran, Richard II
• Jamie Lloyd, Urinetown the Musical
• Laurence Connor, Miss Saigon
• Yaël Farber, The Crucible
Best Choreography sponsored by Capezio:
• Ann Yee, Urinetown the Musical
• Bob Avian & Geoffrey Garratt, Miss Saigon
• Drew McOnie, In the Heights
• Jerry Mitchell, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
• Sergio Trujillo, Memphis the Musical
Best Set Design sponsored by Feast Creative:
• Bunny Christie, Made in Dagenham
• David Gallo, Memphis the Musical
• Nick Ormerod, Shakespeare in Love
• Soutra Gilmour, Urinetown the Musical
• Totie Driver & Matt Kinley, Miss Saigon
Best Lighting Design sponsored by White Light:
• Adam Silverman, Urinetown the Musical
• Bruno Poet, Miss Saigon
• Howell Binkley, Memphis the Musical
• Jon Clark, Made in Dagenham
• Mark Henderson, Coriolanus
Best Off-West End Production:
• Dogfight, Southwark Playhouse
• Forbidden Broadway, Menier Chocolate Factory
• In the Heights, Southwark Playhouse
• Oh, the Humanity and Other Good Intentions, Tabard Theatre
• Sweeney Todd, Twickenham Theatre
Best Regional Production sponsored by Travelzoo:
• Guys and Dolls, Chichester Festival Theatre
• Gypsy, Chichester Festival Theatre
• The Kite Runner, Nottingham Playhouse
• Oliver!, Sheffield Crucible
• Water Babies, Curve Leicester
BOOM. I have cast my votes already and will spend the next two months picking out a fabulous gown for the official ceremony!