Nominees for 2017 WhatsOnStage Awards revealed

Groundhog Day and Half a Sixpence lead the way in the musical theatre categories featured in the nomination list for the 17th annual WhatsOnStage Awards announced in London today (1 December).

Half a Sixpence received eight nominations, while Groundhog Day was recognised in seven categories. The play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child topped the list with 11 nominations. The news was revealed by host Steve Furst at London’s Café de Paris.

Groundhog Day and Half a Sixpence lead a tight race that also includes Funny Girl and Aladdin (each nominated in five categories) and the currently previewing Dreamgirls with four nominations.

Funny Girl, Dreamgirls, together with Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, ensured Sonia Friedman Productions topped the list with 20 nominations across just the three productions.

The announcement of the nominations marks the opening of the final voting stage (closes 31 January 2017), with the winners being announced at the annual awards concert on 19 February 2017 at the Prince of Wales Theatre.

Andy Karl is nominated for his role in Groundhog Day. Picture: Manuel Harlan

WhatsOnStage’s chief operating officer Sita McIntosh said today: “It’s fantastic to once again see the breadth and range of productions up and down the country acknowledged in this year’s nominations. I think it’s amazing that for the first time a play leads with 11 nominations; that’s unheard of and reflective of the impact Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has had on the West End.

“An Off-West End production – The Boys in the Band – playing in a 200-seat venue has secured four nominations, including one for Ian Hallard as Best Actor in a Play up against the likes of Ian McKellen, Ralph Fiennes and Kenneth Branagh. And Ragtime, playing in the 265-seat Charing Cross Theatre, is nominated for Best Musical Revival alongside Sunset Boulevard, a show that played in a venue almost ten times that size.

“In total 48 productions have been nominated and it’s heartening to have so many shows and so much talent recognised by the ticket buying public. The WhatsOnStage Awards are a true indication of what the public enjoy at the theatre.”

The full list of the 17th annual WhatsOnStage Awards nominees:

Best Actor in a Play
Ian Hallard for The Boys in the Band
Ian McKellen for No Man’s Land
Jamie Parker for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Kenneth Branagh for The Entertainer
Ralph Fiennes for Richard III

Best Actress in a Play
Billie Piper for Yerma
Helen McCrory for The Deep Blue Sea
Lily James for Romeo and Juliet
Michelle Terry for Henry V
Pixie Lott for Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Best Actor in a Musical
Andy Karl for Groundhog Day
Charlie Stemp for Half a Sixpence
Michael C Hall for Lazarus
Michael Xavier for Sunset Boulevard
Ramin Karimloo for Murder Ballad

Nominated for Best Actress in a Musical, Amber Riley for Dreamgirls. Picture: Blair Caldwell

Best Actress in a Musical
Amber Riley for Dreamgirls
Carrie Hope Fletcher for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Devon-Elise Johnson for Half a Sixpence
Glenn Close for Sunset Boulevard
Sheridan Smith for Funny Girl

Best Supporting Actor in a Play
Anthony Boyle for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Derek Jacobi for Romeo and Juliet
Freddie Fox for Travesties
Jonjo O’Neill for Unreachable
Paul Thornley for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Best Supporting Actress in a Play
Jenna Russell for Doctor Faustus
Meera Syal for Romeo and Juliet
Noma Dumezweni for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Poppy Miller for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Vanessa Redgrave for Richard III

Best Supporting Actor in a Musical
Adam J Bernard for Dreamgirls
Ian Bartholomew for Half a Sixpence
Joel Montague for Funny Girl
Trevor Dion Nicholas for Aladdin
Tyrone Huntley for Jesus Christ Superstar

Best Supporting Actress in a Musical
Amy Lennox for Lazarus
Emma Williams for Half a Sixpence
Rebecca Trehearn for Show Boat
Sophia Anne Caruso for Lazarus
Victoria Hamilton-Barritt for Murder Ballad

Best New Play
The Comedy About a Bank Robbery
The Flick
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures or iHo
The Mother

Best New Musical
Aladdin
Dreamgirls
Groundhog Day
Half a Sixpence
School of Rock

Best Play Revival
The Boys in the Band
The Deep Blue Sea
The Dresser
No Man’s Land
Travesties

Nominated for Best Actress in a Musical, Sheridan Smith for Funny Girl. Picture: Marc Brenner

Best Musical Revival
Funny Girl
Jesus Christ Superstar
Ragtime
Show Boat
Sunset Boulevard

Best Direction
Casey Nicholaw for Aladdin
John Tiffany for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Matthew Warchus for Groundhog Day
Michael Mayer for Funny Girl
Rachel Kavanaugh for Half a Sixpence

Best Choreography
Andrew Wright for Half a Sixpence
Casey Nicholaw for Aladdin
Casey Nicholaw for Dreamgirls
Drew McOnie for Jesus Christ Superstar
Peter Darling for Groundhog Day

Best Costume Design
Gregg Barnes for Aladdin
Gregg Barnes for Dreamgirls
Katrina Lindsay for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Matthew Wright for Funny Girl
Paul Brown for Half a Sixpence

Best Set Design
Bob Crowley for Aladdin
Christine Jones for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Lez Brotherston for Show Boat
Miriam Buether for Wild
Rob Howell for Groundhog Day

Best Lighting Design
Charlie Morgan Jones for Little Shop of Horrors
Hugh Vanstone for Groundhog Day
Jack Weir for The Boys in the Band
Natasha Katz for Aladdin
Neil Austin for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Best Video Design
Andrzej Goulding for Groundhog Day
Finn Ross and Ash Woodward for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Finn Ross for The Tempest
Laura Perrett for Murder Ballad
Tal Yarden for Lazarus

Jenna Russell in nominated show Grey Gardens. Picture: Roy Tan

Best Off-West End Production
The Boys in the Band (Park Theatre)
Grey Gardens (Southwark Playhouse)
The Last Five Years (St James Theatre)
Side Show (Southwark Playhouse)
Ragtime (Charing Cross Theatre)

Best Regional Production
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (national tour)
Flowers For Mrs Harris (Crucible Theatre, Sheffield)
The Girls (national tour)
The Grinning Man (Bristol Old Vic)
Rent (national tour/St James Theatre)

Best West End Show
Kinky Boots
Les Misérables
Matilda the Musical
The Phantom of the Opera
Wicked

Angela Thomas

www.whatsonstage.com