WhatsOnStage Awards 2018 – 42nd Street and Everybody’s Talking About Jamie come out on top

42nd Street took home four awards. Picture: Roy Tan

Leading the pack at the 18th annual WhatsOnStage Awards was 42nd Street, currently running at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, which took home four prizes for Best Musical Revival, Best Choreography, Best Set Design and Best Costume Design – from a total of eight nominations.

At a ceremony hosted at the Prince of Wales Theatre by Trevor Dion Nicholas and Vikki Stone, the only major theatre awards decided entirely by the theatregoers themselves were revealed.

Closely behind 42nd Street with three wins was Everybody’s Talking About Jamie – Dan Gillespie Sells and Tom MacRae’s homegrown British hit which began its life at Sheffield Theatres, before a much-deserved West End transfer.

It received Best New Musical, Best Actor in a Musical for John McCrea, and Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for Lucie Shorthouse. In the musical categories, out of eight nominations, Bat Out of Hell landed one win for Best Lighting Design.

Best Actress in a Musical was won by Carrie Hope Fletcher for her performance in the touring production of The Addams Family; with Ross Noble winning Best Supporting Actor in a Musical for Young Frankenstein.

Musicals also triumphed in the Best Off-West End category with Hair; the touring production of Sunset Boulevard winning Best Regional Production; and Les Misérables winning Best Original Cast Recording.

Matching Jamie’s three wins, and leading in the play categories, was The Ferryman – Jez Butterworth’s critically acclaimed play which opened at the Royal Court before running at the Gielgud Theatre, ahead of a recently announced Broadway run.

Butterworth wons the Award for Best New Play, with Sam Mendes taking Best Direction, and Fra Fee winning Best Supporting Actor in a Play.

In the acting categories, Broadchurch co-stars Olivia Colman and David Tennant triumphed as Best Actress in a Play and Best Actor in a Play for their respective roles in Mosquitoes at the National Theatre, and Don Juan in Soho at the Wyndham’s Theatre.

Nica Burns, Dan Gillespie Sells, John McCrea and Jonathan Butterell celebrate Everybody’s Talking About Jamie’s success at the 2018 WhatsOnStage Awards. Picture: Dan Wooller

The Almeida Theatre’s production of Hamlet led by Andrew Scott won Best Play Revival, with Juliet Stevenson winning Best Supporting Actress in a Play for her performance as Gertrude.

Sonia Friedman won the Equity Award for Services to Theatre, with SFP Productions taking eight wins across the evening in another successful year for the company. As well as awards for The Ferryman, Don Juan in Soho and Hamlet, they were also represented by the West End phenomenon Harry Potter and the Cursed Child which won Best Show Poster and Best West End Show.

Performances at the event included the title track from The Greatest Showman featuring the hosts Trevor Dion Nicholas and Vikki Stone, with Jonny Labey, Matthew Croke, Christine Allado, and Melanie La Barrie; Janie Dee singing ‘Could I Leave You?’ from Follies; ‘A Very Good Day’ from Working performed by Liam Tamne and Siubhan Harrison; the cast of Hair with ‘Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In’; the company of Bat Out of Hell singing a medley from the production; Tyrone Huntley, Alice Fearn and Hannah-Jane Fox performing a selection of songs from current Broadway shows; ‘Get Into Your Dance’ from Clare Halse and the cast of 42nd Street; and the company of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie performing the title song.

The WhatsOnStage Awards are the only major theatre awards decided entirely by the theatregoers themselves.

THE 18^TH ANNUAL WHATSONSTAGE AWARDS:

BEST ACTOR IN A MUSICAL

John McCrea, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie 

Carrie Hope Fletcher

BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL

Carrie Hope Fletcher, The Addams Family

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MUSICAL

Ross Noble, Young Frankenstein

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL

Lucie Shorthouse, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie

BEST NEW MUSICAL

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie

BEST MUSICAL REVIVAL

42nd Street

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY

Randy Skinner, 42nd Street

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Roger Kirk, 42nd Street

BEST SET DESIGN

Douglas W. Schmidt, 42nd Street

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN

Patrick Woodroffe, Bat Out of Hell

BEST VIDEO DESIGN

59 Productions, An American in Paris

Picture: Roy Tan

BEST OFF-WEST END PRODUCTION

Hair

BEST REGIONAL PRODUCTION

Sunset Boulevard

BEST ORIGINAL CAST RECORDING

Les Misérables

BEST ACTOR IN A PLAY

David Tennant, Don Juan in Soho

BEST ACTRESS IN A PLAY

Olivia Colman, Mosquitoes

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A PLAY
Fra Fee, The Ferryman

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A PLAY

Juliet Stevenson, Hamlet

BEST NEW PLAY

The Ferryman

BEST PLAY REVIVAL

Hamlet

BEST DIRECTION

Sam Mendes, The Ferryman 

BEST SHOW POSTER

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

BEST WEST END SHOW

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

EQUITY AWARD FOR SERVICES TO THEATRE

Sonia Friedman