Nominations Announced for 2016 Also Recognised Awards

MyTheatreMates, founded by Mark Shenton and Terri Paddock, have announced the shortlists in the second annual Also Recognised Awards. These audience-voted industry accolades celebrate talent in fields often overlooked by other award bodies. One of the awards is the UK's first-ever prize for Best Musical Direction.

Voting is now open for all categories at www.MyTheatreMates.com.

The Also Recognised Awards were launched last year with ten categories. In addition to Best Musical Direction, these include six that had been dropped by the WhatsOnStage Awards, founded in 2001 by Paddock with the close involvement of Shenton:

- Best Ensemble Performance
- Best Solo Performance
- Best Shakespearean Production
- Best Original Music
- London Newcomer of the Year
- Theatre Event of the Year

The Also Recognised Awards also, uniquely, put the spotlight on the creativity of digital marketing and advertising disciplines in theatre with recognition for Best Show Poster, Best Show Trailer and Best Twitter Engagement.

By popular demand, a new category has been added in 2016 for Best Musical Cabaret. This field is dominated by two relatively new London venues that are fast becoming major destinations for cabaret lovers: the Studio at The St. James Theatre and Crazy Coqs at Brasserie Zedel.

Nominations for the Also Recognised Awards have been drawn up by Shenton and Paddock, with input from Andrew Keates and Mike Dixon (the industry lobbyists who have been the driving force behind establishing creative parity for Musical Direction) and other members of the My Theatre Mates collective of independent theatre bloggers and commentators. Voting for the winners continues until Friday 25th March 2016. Results will be announced in early April.

MyTheatreMates invites suggestions for other new award fields not already covered elsewhere. Recommendations with sufficient merit and industry backing will be introduced in future years. For more information, visit www.mytheatremates.com/alsorecognised.

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2016 ALSO RECOGNISED AWARD NOMINEES:

Best Musical Direction

o Kyle Riabko - Close to You, Menier Chocolate Factory & Criterion Theatre
o Matt Spencer-Smith - Beautiful, Aldwych Theatre
o Michael Bradley - Grand Hotel, Southwark Playhouse
o Nicholas Skilbeck - Gypsy, Savoy Theatre
o Nigel Lilley - Bend It Like Beckham, Phoenix Theatre
o Theo Jamieson - High Society, Old Vic Theatre

Best Original Music

o Cyndi Lauper - Kinky Boots, Adelphi Theatre
o David Yazbek - Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Playhouse Theatre
o Howard Goodall - Bend It Like Beckham, Phoenix Theatre
o Michael John LaChiusa - See What I Wanna See, Jermyn Street Theatre
o Michael Webborn & Daniel Finn - The Clockmaker's Daughter, Landor Theatre
o Ross Clark & Matthew Strachan - The White Feather, Union Theatre

Best Ensemble Performance

o Barbarians - Tooting Arts Club
o Bugsy Malone - Lyric Hammersmith
o Carmen Disruption - Almeida Theatre
o Crouch, Touch, Pause, Engage - Out of Joint, Arcola Theatre
o Grand Hotel - Southwark Playhouse
o Songs for a New World - The St. James Theatre

Best Solo Performance

o Derren Brown - Miracle, Palace Theatre
o Lucy Roslyn - The State vs John Hayes, King's Head
o Michael Urie - Buyer & Cellar, Menier Chocolate Factory
o Philip Bretherton - Tony's Last Tape, Bridgehouse
o Tanya Moodie - Joanne, Soho Theatre
o Zoe Wanamaker - All On Her Own, Branagh Theatre Company, Garrick

Best Musical Cabaret - NEW CATEGORY

o Alexandra Silber - Crazy Coqs
o Desperate Divas - St James Studio
o Frances Ruffelle - Crazy Coqs
o Miss-Leading Ladies - The St. James Theatre Studio
o Scott Alan & Cynthia Erivo - The St. James Theatre Studio
o Shoshana Bean - Hippodrome Casino

London Newcomer of the Year

o David Moorst - Violence & Son, Royal Court Upstairs
o Diana Nneka Atuona (playwright) - Liberian Girl, Royal Court Upstairs
o Jake Davies - Barbarians, Tooting Arts Club
o Kyle Riabko - Close to You, Menier Chocolate Factory & Criterion Theatre
o Lucy Penrose - Through the Mill, London Theatre Workshop
o Natale Dew - Bend It Like Beckham, Phoenix Theatre

Best Shakespearean Production

o As You Like It - National Theatre, Olivier o Henry V - RSC, Barbican Theatre
o Henry V - Lazarus, Union Theatre
o Measure for Measure - Young Vic
o The Merchant of Venice - Shakespeare's Globe
o The Winter's Tale - Branagh Theatre Company, Garrick

Best Twitter Engagement

o @BushTheatre - Bush Theatre
o @curiousonstage - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, Gielgud Theatre
o @DonmarWarehouse - Donmar Warehouse
o @MatildaMusical - Matilda The Musical, RSC, Cambridge Theatre
o @New_Adventures - New Adventures
o @PhantomOpera - The Phantom of the Opera, Her Majesty's Theatre

Best Show Poster

o Future Conditional - Old Vic
o Hapgood - Hampstead Theatre
o McQueen - St James & Theatre Royal Haymarket
o Oppenheimer - RSC, Vaudeville Theatre
o Showstopper - Apollo Theatre
o The Mother F**ker with the Hat - National Theatre, Lyttelton

Best Show Trailer

o Branagh Theatre Season - Garrick Theatre
o Carrie - Southwark Playhouse
o Golem - Trafalgar Studios
o Husbands & Sons - National Theatre, Dorfman
o Liberan Girl - Royal Court
o Peter Pan Goes Wrong - Apollo Theatre

Theatre Event of the Year

o Almeida Greeks season
o Election night broadcast of James Graham's The Vote at the Donmar Warehouse
o Frenzy around Benedict Cumberbatch's Hamlet run at the Barbican
o Large & tiny-scale Sweeney Todds running simultaneously in West End (ENO & Tooting Arts Club)
o Noma Dumezweni triumphing in Linda after 11th hour takeover at Royal Court
o Opening of Kenneth Branagh's year-long Branagh Theatre season

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Digital hub MyTheatreMates takes its name from the Ma in Mark and the Te in Terri. In addition to hosting the Also Recognised Awards, it collates the best content from the individual sites of the founders and other independent bloggers. Regular contributors to My Theatre Mates include: Libby Purves, Jonathan Baz, Johnny Fox, Thom Dibdin, Edward Seckerson, Aleks Sierz, Susan Elkin, Chris Grady, Caroline Hanks-Farmer, Katharine Kavanagh, Laura Kressly, Matt Merritt, Kristy Stott, Helen McWilliams, Andrew Wright, Iestyn Edwards, Victoria Sadler and the As Yet Unnamed London Theatre Podcast. For more information on each, visit mytheatremates.com/about- us/authors.

Mark Shenton is one of the UK's leading theatre critics and correspondents, whose regular credits include Playbill.com and The Stage, where he is associate editor and joint chief critic. He is also chair of the drama section of the Critics' Circle, and hosts the annual Critics' Circle Theatre Awards, held at the Prince of Wales Theatre in January. He blogs independently at www.shentonstage.com.

Terri Paddock founded WhatsOnStage.com and the WhatsOnStage Awards, running the company and its events from 1996 to 2013. She now acts as a digital, content strategy and event consultant for theatres, producers and other clients. In addition to running MyTheatreMates, she recently launched www.stagefaves.com, a pioneering social media directory for musical theatre. She is also the author of two novels, Come Clean and Beware the Dwarfs, and has previously written for the Evening Standard, Independent and the Times. She blogs independently at www.terripaddock.com.

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