Ivano Turco at the 21st Annual WhatsOnStage Awards. Pictures: Danny Kaan
Details of the star-studded line-up for this year’s special WhatsOnStage Awards ceremony have been unveiled.
Reflecting current times as the industry awaits the return to live theatre following the Covid crisis, the event will feature performances from shows that were cut short in 2020 and selections from productions planned for 2021.
Jodie Prenger and Tom Read Wilson will host the ceremony which will be streamed live from the Turbine Theatre on 14 March at 7pm. Co-produced by Paul Taylor-Mills and presented in partnership with stream.theatre, the event will also feature Amy Hart and Oscar Conlon-Morrey who will highlight some of the work of the theatre community both on and off-stage.
The line-up of performances:
- Cedric Neal will perform ‘Gotta Start Somewhere’ from Back to the Future the Musical, which is gearing up for an eagerly-anticipated West End opening at the Adelphi Theatre after its Manchester run was disrupted by the pandemic
- Lizzie Bea, set to star in the delayed West End revival of Hairspray later this year at the London Coliseum, will perform ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ from Carousel
- Ivano Turco will perform ‘Only You, Lonely You’ from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new West End musical Cinderella opening at the Gillian Lynne Theatre soon
- Blake Anderson, Cleve September, Danielle Fiamanya, Frances Mayli, Grace Mouat, Jodie Steele, Jordan Luke Gage, Layton Williams, Matt Croke, Millie O’Connell and Sophie Isaacs will perform ‘Let The Sunshine In’ from Hair. The outdoor revival of the show played on a jetty outside the Turbine Theatre last year and will be returning for performances at the London Palladium and on tour later this year
- Siubhan Harrison will perform ‘Head Over Feet’ from Jagged Little Pill, which was nominated for 15 Tony Awards last year
- Emma Kingston will perform ‘I Can Do Better Than That’ from The Last Five Years after appearing in last year’s socially distanced outdoor revival of Jason Robert Brown’s musical at the Minack Theatre in Cornwall
- Danielle Fiamanya and Matt Croke will perform ‘Crazy Rolling’ from Moulin Rouge! Fiamanya recently appeared in Curve’s The Color Purple virtual production, while Croke performed another number from Moulin Rouge! on The Voice UK earlier this year
- Alexia Khadime and Christine Allado will perform ‘When You Believe’ from The Prince of Egypt, which had its West End production at the Dominion Theatre temporarily halted by the pandemic last year
- Dom Hartley-Harris and Alex Thomas-Smith will perform ‘I’ll Cover You’ from Rent. The pair played the roles of Collins and Angel in the hit production at the Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester which was cut short by the pandemic
- Jamie Muscato will perform ‘Something’s Coming’ from West Side Story, after starring in the show at Curve Leicester in winter 2019
Commenting on the special 21st birthday ceremony, WhatsOnStage’s chief operating officer Sita McIntosh said: “With no live performances at the moment, we like every awards show, have had to rethink how best to celebrate our industry and the amazing people who work in it. We are delighted to be able to bring together this stellar line-up of musical theatre talent, showcasing some of the amazing shows that were cut short by Covid-19 and highlighting those that audiences can look forward to. We are hugely grateful to everyone contributing their time and their talent. We can’t wait to ‘raise the curtain’ on 14 March at 7pm.”
In recognition of the WOS Awards’ status as the only major theatre awards to be voted for entirely by the theatregoing public, theatre fans have been asked to nominate Angels – someone in their lives who has been a source of love, kindness and support during the pandemic. Twenty-one Angels will be selected with their names announced on the night and each will be rewarded with a night at the theatre when live performances return.
Explaining the scheme, McIntosh said: “In theatre, Angels are traditionally people who invest in new shows enabling productions to get off the ground, so it seems a fitting term for people that go that extra mile to help others… This is our way of recognising the heroes in our community as well as doing our bit to support shows, and encourage audiences back into theatres.”
Angela Thomas
The cast of Hair at the 21st Annual WhatsOnStage Awards
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