The Color Purple – At Home, The Last Five Years and West End Musical Celebration are in the running for the Best Musical Production Award at the 2021 Black British Theatre Awards (BBTAs) next month.
Following on from last year’s special socially distanced event at London’s Young Vic Theatre which was broadcast on Sky Arts, the winners of the third BBTAs will be announced on 21 November 2021 during a ceremony at the Old Finsbury Town Hall on the site of the inaugural BBTAs in 2029.
Recognising some of the finest work by black performers and creatives in UK Theatre, the musical theatre categories also include four performance awards.
Cinderella’s Ivano Turco will go up against Liam Tamne (The Prince of Egypt) and Tyrone Huntley (Jesus Christ Superstar) in the Best Male Actor In A Musical category.
The Phantom of the Opera’s Lucy St. Louis, Marisha Wallace (Hairspray) and Shanay Holmes (Disenchanted) are all in the running for the Best Female Actor In A Musical Award.
Ashley Samuels (Hairspray), Caleb Roberts (Cinderella) and John Pfumojena (Carousel) are the nominees for Best Supporting Male Actor In A Musical while the Best Supporting Female Actor Award will go to either Gloria Onitiri (Cinderella), Natasha May-Thomas (Carousel) or Tanisha Spring (The Prince of Egypt).
Announcing this year’s nominees, BBTA co-directors Solange Urdang and Omar F Okai said: “We are already so overwhelmed by the response and support this year in particular as online viewing has given access to new audiences who are really engaged and now looking forward to supporting live theatre. A younger and more diverse audience is the future and this year has certainly seen positive change for black theatre audiences.”
Commenting on the importance of the awards, the winner of the Disability Champion Award 2020, Rachel Nwokoro: “Receiving the first ever Disability Champion award last year felt like the sweetest recognition of an essential yet often stigmatised part of my identity.
“Thank you eternally to the BBTAs for lovingly hosting such a sacred ceremony of Black celebration and joy. I felt an awakening of our shared ancestors, the ones whose names donned the empty seats, and I heard their roar around our own. It is a memory I hold deep in my heart and I will for years to come. I left the night with a clear and celestial truth: We are here, we are abundant and we are unstoppable. They can’t stop us.”
The full list of nominees:
CREATIVES GROUP
BEST DIRECTOR AWARD FOR A PLAY OR MUSICAL
Anthony Simpson-Pike, Lava, Bush Theatre; Miranda Cromwell, and breathe…, Almeida Theatre; Tinuke Craig, The Color Purple – at Home, Curve, in association with Birmingham Hippodrome
BEST MUSICAL DIRECTOR
Femi Temowo, and breathe…, Almeida Theatre; Ian Oakley, From Here, Chiswick Playhouse; Nadine Lee, Bagdad Cafe, The Old Vic
BEST PRODUCER AWARD
Almeida Theatre, and breathe…; Chris Steward and Shanay Holmes, West End Musical Celebration at Palace Theatre; Tanisha Spring, A Killer Party
BEST CHOREOGRAPHER AWARD
Dannielle ‘Rhimes’ Lecointe, The Sun, The Moon and The Stars, Theatre Royal Stratford East; Ingrid Mackinnon, Romeo and Juliet, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre; Sarah Golding, Cruise, Duchess Theatre
BEST DANCE PERFORMANCE IN A DANCE PRODUCTION AWARD
Joseph Sissens, The Statement, The Royal Ballet
BEST DANCE PRODUCTION AWARD
‘And Still We Dance!’, Afro Dance Xplosion; ‘Far From the Norm’, BLKDOG; ‘Like Water’, Ballet Black
BEST USE OF INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
Chris Steward and Shanay Holmes, West End Musical Celebration at Palace Theatre; Ryan Carter, The Secret Society of Leading Ladies, Barn Theatre
RECOGNITION GROUP (BODY OF WORK)
LIGHT AND SOUND RECOGNITION AWARD Tony Gayle
COSTUME DESIGN RECOGNITION AWARD Jodie-Simone Howe
BOOK AND LYRICS RECOGNITION AWARD Annabel Mutale Reed, Benedict Lombe, Yomi Sode
MUSICAL DIRECTOR RECOGNITION AWARD Ian Oakley, Sean Green
CASTING DIRECTOR RECOGNITION AWARD Chandra Ruegg, Isabella Odoffin
ACHIEVEMENTS GROUP
LGBTQ+ CHAMPION AWARD Alex Thomas-Smith, Jay Perry, Nicole Raquel Dennis
BEST TEACHER OF PERFORMING ARTS AS A SUBJECT AWARD
Ashley Campbell, British Theatre Academy; Hakeem Onibudo, Impact Dance; Kamara Gray, Artistry Youth Dance
BEST RECENT GRADUATE AWARD
Georgina Onuorah, Arts Educational Schools; Kayla Carter, Royal Academy of Music; Natasha May-Thomas, Urdang Academy
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Derek Griffiths MBE
PLAYS GROUP
BEST MALE ACTOR IN A PLAY
David Jonsson, and breathe…, Almeida Theatre; Michael Balogun, Death of England, National Theatre; Omari Douglas, Constellations, Vaudeville Theatre
BEST FEMALE ACTOR IN A PLAY
Isabel Adomakoh Young, Romeo and Juliet, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre; Ronkẹ Adékoluẹjo, Lava, Bush Theatre; Tia Bannon, seven methods of killing kylie jenner, Royal Court Theatre
BEST SUPPORTING MALE ACTOR IN A PLAY
Andrew French, Romeo and Juliet, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre; Ola Ayofe, After Life, National Theatre; Stephen K Amos, My Night With Reg, Turbine Theatre
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE ACTOR IN A PLAY
Anoushka Lucas, After Life, National Theatre; Aretha Ayeh, Romeo and Juliet, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre; Rosalind Eleazar, Uncle Vanya, Harold Pinter Theatre
BEST PRODUCTION PLAY
and breathe…, Almeida Theatre; J’Ouvert, Harold Pinter Theatre; Lava, Bush Theatre
MUSICALS GROUP
BEST MALE ACTOR IN A MUSICAL AWARD
Ivano Turco, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella, Gillian Lynne Theatre; Liam Tamne, The Prince Of Egypt, Dominion Theatre; Tyrone Huntley, Jesus Christ Superstar, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
BEST FEMALE ACTOR IN A MUSICAL AWARD
Lucy St. Louis, The Phantom of the Opera, Her Majesty’s Theatre; Marisha Wallace, Hairspray, London Coliseum; Shanay Holmes, Disenchanted
BEST SUPPORTING MALE ACTOR IN A MUSICAL AWARD
Ashley Samuels, Hairspray, London Coliseum; Caleb Roberts, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella, Gillian Lynne Theatre; John Pfumojena, Carousel, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE ACTOR IN A MUSICAL AWARD
Gloria Onitiri, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella, Gillian Lynne Theatre; Natasha May-Thomas, Carousel, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre; Tanisha Spring, The Prince Of Egypt, Dominion Theatre
BEST MUSICAL PRODUCTION AWARD
The Color Purple – at Home, Curve, in association with Birmingham Hippodrome; The Last Five Years, Minack Theatre; West End Musical Celebration, Palace Theatre
Angela Thomas
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