The 12th Whatsonstage.com Awards winners have been announced, with winners including Matilda, The Wizard of Oz, Kerry Ellis and Alfie Boe.
The awards – hosted by comedians Alan Davies, Jenny Eclair and nominee Sheridan Smith – were announced at a star-studded concert ceremony held this evening at the West End’s Prince of Wales Theatre, in association with Time Out London and in aid of Stage One, a charity dedicated to developing up-and-coming producers in order to sustain quality theatre in the UK.
The Royal Shakespeare Company’s adaptation of Roald Dahl’s much-loved children’s book, Matilda the Musical, capitalised on its success at the Evening Standard and Critics’ Circle Awards to become the night’s big winner with four awards, including Best New Musical, Best Choreographer for Peter Darling and Best Set Designer for Rob Howell (also recognised for his work on Ghost the Musical). With 35% of the votes in his category, Australian comedian Tim Minchin, making his musical debut providing the show’s music and lyrics, was a commanding winner for London Newcomer of the Year.
One Man, Two Guvnors led the play pack with three prizes. Richard Bean’s 1960s Brighton-set version of Goldoni’s The Servant of Two Masters – now in its final week at the West End’s Adelphi Theatre with the original cast before they head for Broadway – won Best New Comedy hands down (with 55% of the vote).
Its two male stars also triumphed: James Corden, who co-hosted the Whatsonstage.com Awards in 2008 and 2009, returned this year to collect the gong for Best Actor in a Play while Oliver Chris took home Best Supporting Actor. The Best Actor field was one of this year’s most hotly contested categories, with Corden eventually triumphing over other 2012 favourites Benedict Cumberbatch and David Tennant, as well as previous Whatsonstage.com Award winners Jude Law and Kevin Spacey.
Vanessa Redgrave, meanwhile, beat off stiff competition from Eve Best, Kristin Scott Thomas, Ruth Wilson, Samantha Spiro and Tamsin Greig to win Best Actress in a Play for Driving Miss Daisy. The Broadway transfer co-starring James Earl Jones, for which Redgrave was Tony Award nominated last year, also won Best Play Revival in the Whatsonstage.com Awards.
The four closely-fought musical performance categories were divvied up between the year’s three big screen-to-stage hits: Shrek the Musical earned Amanda Holden and Nigel Harman Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor in a Musical respectively; Richard Fleeshman, now preparing to reprise his role as Sam (made famous on screen by Patrick Swayze) in the Broadway premiere of Ghost the Musical, won Best Actor in a Musical; and Hannah Waddingham, a previous three-time Whatsonstage.com nominee, scooped Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for her Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz, which – with its new songs by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice – also collected Best Musical Revival.
One of the year’s most controversial and critically acclaimed musicals, London Road, the documentary-style piece based on interviews with residents of the Ipswich street where five prostitutes were murdered in 2006, gained another performance prize – Best Ensemble Performance – for its entire 11-strong cast, who play 52 roles between them.
Full list of winners
Best Actress in a Play
· Vanessa Redgrave – Driving Miss Daisy
Best Actor in a Play
· James Corden – One Man, Two Guvnors
Best Supporting Actress in a Play
· Catherine Tate – Season’s Greetings
Best Supporting Actor in a Play
· Oliver Chris – One Man, Two Guvnors
The BABY GRAND Best Actress in a Musical
· Amanda Holden – Shrek the Musical
The THEATRE TOKENS Best Actor in a Musical
· Richard Fleeshman – Ghost the Musical
Best Supporting Actress in a Musical
· Hannah Waddingham – The Wizard of Oz
Best Supporting Actor in a Musical
· Nigel Harman – Shrek the Musical
The LES MISERABLES Best Ensemble Performance
· London Road
The JO HUTCHINSON INTERNATIONAL Best Solo Performance
· Kerry Ellis – Anthems: The Concert
The SEATLIVE Best Takeover in a Role
· Alfie Boe – Les Miserables
The NICK HERN BOOKS Best New Play
· Three Days in May – by Ben Brown
The EMG Best New Comedy
· One Man, Two Guvnors
The SEE TICKETS Best New Musical
· Matilda the Musical – by Tim Minchin (music and lyrics) and Dennis Kelly (book)
The SAMUEL FRENCH Best Play Revival
· Driving Miss Daisy
The RADISSON EDWARDIAN Best Musical Revival
· The Wizard of Oz
The Best Shakespearean Production
· Much Ado About Nothing (Wyndham’s)
The OAKLEY CAPITAL Best Director
· Danny Boyle – Frankenstein
Best Set Designer
· Rob Howell – Ghost the Musical
The WHITE LIGHT Best Lighting Designer
· Hugh Vanstone – Ghost the Musical
Best Choreographer
· Peter Darling – Matilda the Musical
The DEWYNTERS London Newcomer of the Year
· Tim Minchin – Matilda the Musical
The TIME OUT Best Off-West End Production
· The Riots (Tricycle Theatre)
The LUCKINGS Best Regional Production
· Sweeney Todd (Chichester Festival Theatre)
The EQUITY Best West End Show
· War Horse
The AKA Theatre Event of the Year
· David Tennant and Catherine Tate reuniting on stage in Much Ado About Nothing
