Cyndi Lauper, Zoe Wanamaker and More Among 2016 Also Recognised Award Winners

Several shows that were winners or nominees at the 40th anniversary Olivier Awards on Sunday are also recognised this week in the second-annual Also Recognised Awards, in a range of notably different categories.

The full list of winners is announced today in this audience-voted, industry accolade set up by theatre commentators Mark Shenton and Terri Paddock to celebrate lesser- known but equally worthy talent in fields overlooked by other awards bodies.

Cyndi Lauper - who wrote the music for Kinky Boots, which won Best New Musical at the Oliviers, where Lauper was also individually nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Music - wins the Also Recognised Award for Best Original Music.

Chichester Festival Theatre's revival of Gypsy at the Savoy Theatre was the most successful production on Sunday night with four Olivier wins. In the Also Recognised Awards, Nicholas Skilbeck wins the prize for Best Musical Direction for his work on the show. At their inauguration in 2015, the Also Recognised became the first UK awards to include Best Musical Direction, launched with the backing of industry lobbyists, director Andrew Keates and musical director Mike Dixon.

Bugsy Malone, which lost out to Gypsy for Best Musical Revival at the Oliviers, here wins Best Ensemble Performance. The production, which returns to Lyric Hammersmith in June after its extended, sell-out 2015 run, is performed by three casts aged 9 to 19.

Kenneth Branagh's production of The Winter's Tale at the Garrick Theatre, for which he was Olivier nominated for both Best Actor and Best Director, receives the Also Recognised Award for Best Shakespearean Production. And another Branagh Theatre production, All On Her Own, sees Zoe- Wanamaker Also Recognised for Best Solo Performance.

Natalie Dew, nominated for Best Actress in a Musical at the Oliviers, takes the Also Recognised Award for London Newcomer of the Year for her critically-acclaimed musical debut in the leading role of Bend It Like Beckham.

The Phantom of the Opera, which won the Olivier Audience Award for long-running West End show, and Mischief Comedy's Peter Pan Goes Wrong, which was nominated for Best New Comedy at the Oliviers are singled out for marketing creativity in the Also Recognised Awards. The Phantom of the Opera (@PhantomOpera) wins Best Twitter Engagement and Peter Pan Goes Wrong wins Best Show Trailer.

Elsewhere in the 2016 Also Recognised Awards, the Donmar Warehouse wins Theatre Event of the Year for its live election night broadcast of James Graham's play The Vote. The Vote has also recently been nominated for a BAFTA. The National Theatre wins Best Show Poster for the colourful imagery used to advertise Stephen Adly Guirgis' play The Motherf**ker With the Hat.

This year's new Also Recognised category, Best Musical Cabaret, is awarded to Scott Alan and Cynthia Erivo for their intimate cabaret evening at the St. James Studio. Erivo is currently wowing audiences on Broadway, starring opposite Jennifer Hudson in The Color Purple.

Full voting results, acceptance remarks and winners' 'certificate selfies' are published on www.mytheatremates.com from Thursday 7th April 2016.

The Also Recognised Awards were launched in 2015 with ten categories. Voting for the 2016 Also Recognised Awards ran from 23rd February to 28th March. MyTheatreMates welcomes 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, visit www.mytheatremates.com/alsorecognised.

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The full list of winners:

- Best Musical Direction - Nicholas Skilbeck for Gypsy at the Savoy Theatre

- Best Original Music - Cyndi Lauper for Kinky Boots at the Adelphi Theatre

- Best Ensemble Performance - Bugsy Malone at the Lyric Hammersmith

- Best Solo Performance - Zoe Wanamaker for All On Her Own at the Garrick Theatre

- Best Musical Cabaret - Scott Alan & Cynthia Erivo at St James Studio

- London Newcomer of the Year - Natalie Dew for Bend It Like Beckham at the Phoenix Theatre

- Best Shakespearean Production - The Winter's Tale at the Garrick Theatre

- Best Twitter Engagement - The Phantom of the Opera (@PhantonOpera) at Her Majesty's Theatre

- Best Show Poster - The Motherf**ker with the Hat at the National Theatre, Lyttelton

- Best Show Trailer - Peter Pan Goes Wrong at the Apollo Theatre

- Theatre Event of the Year - Election night broadcast of James Graham's The Vote at the Donmar Warehouse

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