Nominations announced for the 22nd Annual WHATSONSTAGE AWARDS
Photo credit: Stephen Wright
The nominations for the 22nd Annual WhatsOnStage Awards have been announced today, marking the opening of the final voting stage (until 21 January 2022), with winners announced at the annual Awards Ceremony on 27 February 2022 at the Prince of Wales Theatre.
Frozen leads the musical nominations, appearing in 13 categories across acting and creative categories, with 10 nominations for Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical and 9 nominations each for Back to the Future the Musical, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, Moulin Rouge! The Musical and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella.
The musical category nominees are as follows:
Best Performer in a Female Identifying Role in a Musical: Aimie Atkinson (Pretty Woman), Samantha Barks (Frozen), Jessie Buckley (Cabaret), Carrie Hope Fletcher (Cinderella), Beverley Knight (The Drifters Girl) and Stephanie McKeon (Frozen).
Best Performer in a Male Identifying Role in a Musical: Roger Bart (Back to the Future the Musical), Olly Dobson (Back to the Future the Musical), Arinze Kene (Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical), Julian Ovenden (South Pacific), Eddie Redmayne (Cabaret), and Ivano Turco (Cinderella)
Best Supporting Performer in a Male Identifying Role in a Musical: Blake Patrick Anderson (Be More Chill), Hugh Coles (Back to the Future the Musical), Robert Lindsay (Anything Goes), Cedric Neal (Back to the Future the Musical), Oliver Ormson (Frozen) and Obioma Ugoala (Frozen).
Best Supporting Performer in a Female Identifying Role in a Musical: Joanna Ampil (South Pacific) Gabrielle Brooks (Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical), Carly Mercedes Dyer (Anything Goes), Victoria Hamilton-Barritt (Cinderella), Millie O’Connell (Rent) and Rebecca Trehearn (Cinderella).
Best New Musical: Back to the Future the Musical, Cinderella, Frozen, Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, and Pretty Woman the Musical.
Best Musical Revival: Anything Goes, Cabaret, Carousel, Rent, South Pacific, and West Side Story.
Leading the straight plays categories is Yaël Farber’s production of The Tragedy of Macbeth, which recently completed its run at the Almeida Theatre, receiving 5 nominations, with The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Magic Goes Wrong, 2:22 A Ghost Story and Cyrano de Bergerac having 4 nominations each.
The play category nominations are:
Best Performer in a Female Identifying Role in a Play: Lily Allen (2:22 A Ghost Story), Gemma Arterton (Walden), Sheila Atim (Constellations), Emma Corrin (Anna X), Patsy Ferran (Camp Siegfried) and Saoirse Ronan (The Tragedy of Macbeth).
Best Performer in a Male Identifying Role in a Play: Richard Armitage (Uncle Vanya), Ben Daniels (The Normal Heart), Hadley Fraser (2:22 A Ghost Story), Henry Lewis (Magic Goes Wrong) and James McAvoy (Cyrano de Bergerac).
Best Supporting Performer in a Female Identifying Role in a Play: Michelle Fox (Shining City), Akiya Henry (The Tragedy of Macbeth), Penny Layden (The Ocean at the End of the Lane), Isobel McArthur (Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of)), Aimee Loud Wood (Uncle Vanya) and Nancy Zamit (Magic Goes Wrong).
Best Supporting Performer in a Male Identifying Role in a Play: Stephen K Amos (My Night With Reg), Dino Fetscher (The Normal Heart), Nathaniel Parker (The Mirror and the Light), Richard Rankin (The Tragedy of Macbeth), Jonathan Sayer (Magic Goes Wrong), and Jake Wood (2:22 A Ghost Story)
Best New Play: 2:22 A Ghost Story, J’Ouvert, Leopoldstadt, Magic Goes Wrong, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, and Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of).
Best Play Revival: Constellations, Cyrano de Bergerac, My Night with Reg, The Normal Heart, The Tragedy of Macbeth, and Uncle Vanya
Other categories include:
Best Regional Production: Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Bloody Elle, Rent, South Pacific, West Side Story, and What’s New Pussycat?
Best West End Show: Come From Away, Hamilton, Les Miserables, The Play That Goes Wrong, Six the Musical, and Wicked.
Best Off-West End Production: Anything is Possible If You Think About It Hard Enough, The Last Five Years, My Son’s a Queer (But What Can You Do?), Old Bridge, Pippin, and Saving Britney.
Best Direction: Clint Dyer (Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical),Yaël Farber (The Tragedy of Macbeth), Rebecca Frecknall (Cabaret), Michael Grandage (Frozen), Jamie Lloyd (Cyrano de Bergerac) and Katy Rudd (The Ocean at the End of the Lane).
Best Choreography: Rob Ashford (Frozen), Drew McOnie (Carousel), Kathleen Marshall (Anything Goes), Shelley Maxwell (Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical), Sonya Tayeh (Moulin Rouge!), and Ann Yee (South Pacific).
Best Set Design: Fly Davis (The Ocean at the End of the Lane), Jamie Harrison (Bedknobs and Broomsticks), Tim Hatley (Back to the Future the Musical), Derek McLane (Moulin Rouge!), Christopher Oram (Frozen), and Tom Scutt (Cabaret).
Best Costume Design: Lisa Duncan (Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical), Christopher Oram (Frozen), Tom Scutt (Cabaret), Gabriella Slade (Bedknobs and Broomsticks), Gabriela Tylesova (Cinderella) and Catherine Zuber (Moulin Rouge!)
Best Lighting Design: Neil Austin (Frozen), Charles Balfour (Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical), Isabella Byrd (Cabaret), Tim Lutkin (Back to the Future the Musical), Bruno Poet (Cinderella) and Justin Townsend (Moulin Rouge!).
Best Musical Direction: Leo Munby (The Last Five Years), Tom Deering (Carousel), Sean Green (Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical), Justin Levine (Moulin Rouge!), Stephen Oremus (Frozen) and Katy Richardson (Rent).
Best Sound Design: Adam Cork (Leopoldstadt), Adam Fisher (The Last Five Years), Paul Groothuis (South Pacific), Peter Hylenski (Moulin Rouge!), Gareth Owen (Back to the Future the Musical) and Ben and Max Ringham (Cyrano de Bergerac)
Best Video Design: Nina Dunn (The Shark is Broken), Akhila Krishnan (What’s New Pussycat?), Mikaela Liakata and Tal Yarden (Anna X), Finn Ross (Back to the Future the Musical), Finn Ross (Frozen) and Tal Yarden (Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical)
WhatsOnStage's Sarah Coleman said: “Given the events of the past 21 months, it’s truly wonderful to be able to celebrate the return of theatre and the vast array of excellence on our stages across the UK – and we look forward to coming together in February to present the WhatsOnStage Awards back at the Prince of Wales Theatre, with an evening showcasing incredible talent. These awards also celebrate the audiences who vote for them, whose support of our industry has been vital to getting us through this time and to reopening our stages. It’s truly heartening – and a positive to come out of this period - to see the emergence of productions outside of London featuring across a variety of categories due to the advances in streaming theatre, enabling shows with shorter runs greater impact, and the capacity to reach audiences globally.”
You can vote and buy tickets for the awards here.
