Theatre News

Full List: 2011 Whatsonstage.com Award Winners

The UK’s leading theatre website today reveals the winners for 2011 Whatsonstage.com Awards, the only prize-giving event for the theatre industry voted for purely by the ticket-buying public.
At a star-studded awards concert held this evening (20 February) at the West End’s Prince of Wales Theatre, Legally Blonde led the way with four awards, including Best New Musical.

Awards co-host Sheridan Smith won Best Actress in a Musical for her performance as Elle Woods while the Phantom himself from Love Never Dies, Ramin Karimloo, scooped Best Actor in a Musical and his co-star Joseph Millson, who plays his love rival Raoul, secured Best Supporting Actor in a Musical.

Other big winners included Les Misérables. Its epic 25th anniversary concert at The O2, which brought together over 500 past and present cast members, took home Theatre Event of the Year and Best Ensemble Performance, whilst the 25th anniversary production at the Barbican, also won Best Musical Revival.

The awards – hosted by Sheridan Smith, Christopher Biggins and Miranda Hart – were staged in aid of this year’s adopted charity The Theatrical Guild.


THE FULL LIST OF 2010/11 WINNERS (winners denoted in bold)
The SPOTLIGHT Best Actress in a Play

  • Helen McCrory – The Late Middle Classes at the Donmar Warehouse
  • Jenny Jules – Ruined at the Almeida
  • Kim Cattrall – Private Lives at the Vaudeville
  • Nancy Carroll – After the Dance at the National, Lyttelton
  • Tracie Bennett – End of the Rainbow at Trafalgar Studios
  • Zoë Wanamaker – All My Sons at the Apollo

    The SPOTLIGHT Best Actor in a Play

  • Benedict Cumberbatch – After the Dance at the National, Lyttelton
  • David Suchet – All My Sons at the Apollo
  • Matthew Macfadyen – Private Lives at the Vaudeville
  • Rory Kinnear – Hamlet at the National, Olivier & Measure for Measure at the Almeida
  • Simon Russell Beale – Deathtrap at the Noel Coward & London Assurance at the National, Olivier
  • Toby Stephens – The Real Thing at the Old Vic

    Best Supporting Actress in a Play

  • Clare Higgins – Hamlet at the National, Olivier
  • Emma Cunniffe – The Crucible at the Open Air Theatre
  • Fiona Shaw – London Assurance at the National, Olivier
  • Harriet Walter – Women Beware Women at the National, Olivier
  • Jemima Rooper – All My Sons at the Apollo
  • Tamsin Greig – The Little Dog Laughed at the Garrick

    Best Supporting Actor in a Play

  • Adam James – Blood & Gifts at the National, Lyttelton
  • Adrian Scarborough – After the Dance at the National, Lyttelton
  • Eddie Redmayne – Red at the Donmar Warehouse
  • Lee Ross – Birdsong at the Comedy
  • Nigel Lindsay – Broken Glass at the Tricycle
  • Stephen Campbell Moore – All My Sons at the Apollo

    The BABY GRAND Best Actress in a Musical

  • Anna-Jane Casey – Bells Are Ringing at the Union
  • Elena Roger – Passion at the Donmar Warehouse
  • Sheridan Smith – Legally Blonde at the Savoy
  • Sierra Boggess – Love Never Dies at the Adelphi
  • Tamzin Outhwaite – Sweet Charity at the Menier Chocolate Factory & Haymarket
  • Victoria Hamilton-Barritt – Flashdance at the Shaftesbury

    The EMG Best Actor in a Musical

  • Alex Gaumond – Legally Blonde at the Savoy
  • John Owen-Jones – Les Misérables 25th anniversary production at the Barbican
  • Mark Umbers – Sweet Charity at the Menier Chocolate Factory & Haymarket
  • Michael Arden – Aspects of Love at the Menier Chocolate Factory
  • Ramin Karimloo – Love Never Dies at the Adelphi
  • Sahr Ngaujah – Fela! at the National, Olivier

    The NURSING STANDARD Best Supporting Actress in a Musical

  • Hannah Waddingham – Into the Woods at the Open Air
  • Jill Halfpenny – Legally Blonde at the Savoy
  • Josefina Gabrielle – Sweet Charity at the Menier Chocolate Factory & Haymarket
  • Rosalie Craig – Aspects of Love at the Menier Chocolate Factory
  • Scarlett Strallen – Passion at the Donmar Warehouse
  • Summer Strallen – Love Never Dies at the Adelphi

    Best Supporting Actor in a Musical

  • Chris Ellis-Stanton – Legally Blonde at the Savoy
  • Dave Willetts – Aspects of Love at the Menier Chocolate Factory
  • Joseph Millson – Love Never Dies at the Adelphi
  • Michael Xavier – Into the Woods at the Open Air
  • Paul J Medford – Sweet Charity at the Menier Chocolate Factory & Haymarket
  • Tim Newman – All the Fun of the Fair at the Garrick

    Best Ensemble Performance

  • Hair – at the Gielgud
  • Les Misérables 25th anniversary concert – the company of companies – at The O2
  • Men Should Weep – at the National, Lyttelton
  • Posh – at the Royal Court Downstairs
  • When We Are Married – at the Garrick
  • Women, Power & Politics – at the Tricycle

    The CAPITAL BREAKS Best Solo Performance

  • Bob Golding – Morecambe at the Duchess
  • Caroline O’Connor – The Showgirl Within at the Garrick
  • Hugh Hughes – The Wonderful World of Hugh Hughes at the Barbican Pit
  • Meera Syal – Shirley Valentine at the Menier Chocolate Factory & Trafalgar Studios 1
  • Michael Gambon – Krapp’s Last Tape at the Duchess
  • Simon Callow – Shakespeare – The Man from Stratford, Dr Marigold & Mr Chops at Riverside Studios

    The TAKE ONE MEDIA Best Takeover in a Role

  • Ben Richards – Priscilla, Queen of the Desert at the Palace
  • Denise Van Outen – Legally Blonde at the Savoy
  • Griff Rhys-Jones – Oliver! at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane
  • Kerry Ellis – Oliver! at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane
  • Lee Mead – Wicked at the Apollo Victoria
  • Rachel Tucker – Wicked at the Apollo Victoria

    The OBERON BOOKS Best New Play

  • Anne Boleyn by Howard Brenton – at Shakespeare’s Globe
  • Blood & Gifts by JT Rogers – at the National, Lyttelton
  • Posh by Laura Wade – at the Royal Court Downstairs
  • Red by John Logan – at the Donmar Warehouse
  • Ruined by Lynn Nottage – at the Almeida
  • Tribes by Nina Raine – at the Royal Court Downstairs

    Best New Comedy

  • Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris – at the Royal Court Downstairs
  • Midsummer by David Greig – at Soho
  • Morecambe by Tim Whitnall – at the Duchess
  • Really Old, Like Forty-Five by Tamsin Oglesby – at the National, Cottesloe
  • The Little Dog Laughed by Douglas Carter Beane – at the Garrick
  • Yes, Prime Minister by Antony Jay & Jonathan Lynn – at the Gielgud

    The SEE TICKETS Best New Musical

  • All the Fun of the Fair by David Essex & Jon Conway – at the Garrick
  • Departure Lounge by Dougal Irvine – at Waterloo East
  • Fela! by Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Bill T Jones & Jim Lewis – at the National, Olivier
  • Flashdance by Robbie Roth, Robert Cary & Tom Hadley – at the Shaftesbury
  • Legally Blonde by Nell Benjamin, Laurence O’Keefe & Heather Hach – at the Savoy
  • Love Never Dies by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Glenn Slater & Ben Elton – at the Adelphi

    The RADISSON EDWARDIAN Best Play Revival

  • After the Dance – at the National, Lyttelton
  • All My Sons – at the Apollo
  • Cat on a Hot Tin Roof – at the Novello
  • Deathtrap – at the Noel Coward
  • Design for Living – at the Old Vic
  • The Real Thing – at the Old Vic

    The AMBASSADOR THEATRE GROUP Best Musical Revival

  • Bells Are Ringing – at the Union
  • Hair – at the Gielgud
  • Into the Woods – at the Open Air
  • Les Misérables 25th anniversary production – at the Barbican
  • Passion – at the Donmar Warehouse
  • Sweet Charity – at the Menier Chocolate Factory & Theatre Royal Haymarket

    The SHAKESPEARE 4 KIDZ Best Shakespearean Production

  • As You Like It – at the Old Vic
  • Hamlet – at the National, Olivier
  • Henry IV, Parts 1 & 2 – at Shakespeare’s Globe
  • Macbeth – at Shakespeare’s Globe
  • Measure for Measure – at the Almeida
  • The Comedy of Errors – at the Open Air

    The LAST SECOND TICKETS Best Director

  • Howard Davies – All My Sons at the Apollo, The White Guard & Blood & Gifts at the National, Lyttelton
  • Nicholas Hytner – Hamlet & London Assurance at the National, Olivier
  • Roger Michell – Rope at the Almeida & Tribes at the Royal Court Downstairs
  • Rupert Goold – Earthquakes in London at the National, Cottesloe
  • Thea Sharrock – After the Dance at the National, Lyttelton
  • Timothy Sheader – Into the Woods & The Crucible at the Open Air

    Best Set Designer

  • Bunny Christie – Men Should Weep at the National, Lyttelton
  • Joanna Scotcher – The Railway Children at Waterloo Station
  • Miriam Buether – Sucker Punch at the Royal Court Downstairs & Earthquakes in London at the National, Cottesloe
  • Morgan Large – Flashdance at the Shaftesbury
  • Soutra Gilmour – Into the Woods at the Open Air
  • Stephen Brimson-Lewis – An Ideal Husband at the Vaudeville

    The WHITE LIGHT Best Lighting Designer

  • James Farncombe – Ghost Stories at the Lyric Hammersmith & Duke of York’s
  • Neil Austin – The Prince of Homburg at the Donmar Warehouse & Women Beware Women at the National, Olivier
  • Paul Keogan – Novecento, Donmar at Trafalgar Studios 2
  • Paule Constable – Blasted at the Lyric Hammersmith, Posh at the Royal Court Downstairs & Love Never Dies at the Adelphi
  • Peter Mumford – Sucker Punch at the Royal Court Downstairs
  • Rick Fisher – Tribes at the Royal Court Downstairs

    Best Choreographer

  • Arlene Phillips – Flashdance at the Shaftesbury
  • Bill T Jones – Fela! at the National, Olivier
  • Jason Gilkison – Burn the Floor at the Shaftesbury
  • Jerry Mitchell – Legally Blonde at the Savoy
  • Karole Armitage – Hair at the Gielgud
  • Stephen Mear – Shoes at Sadler’s Wells & Sweet Charity at the Menier Chocolate Factory & Theatre Royal Haymarket

    The DEWYNTERS London Newcomer of the Year

  • Ali Bastian & Brian Fortuna – Burn the Floor at the Shaftesbury
  • Anya Reiss (playwright) – Spur of the Moment at the Royal Court Upstairs
  • Daniel Kaluuya – Sucker Punch at the Royal Court Downstairs
  • Jacob Casselden – Tribes at the Royal Court Downstairs
  • Jonathan Groff – Deathtrap at the Noel Coward
  • Robyn Addison – The Rivals at the Theatre Royal Haymarket

    The LEICESTER SQUARE THEATRE Best Off-West End Production

  • A Number – at the Menier Chocolate Factory
  • Bells Are Ringing – at the Union
  • La Bohème – at the Cock Tavern, Kilburn & Soho
  • The Beauty Queen of Leenane – at the Young Vic
  • The Drowsy Chaperone – at Upstairs at the Gatehouse
  • The Wages of Thin – at the Old Red Lion

    Best Regional Production

  • Hamlet – at Sheffield Crucible
  • Chess – on tour
  • Antony & Cleopatra – at the Liverpool Playhouse
  • 42nd Street – at the Chichester Festival Theatre
  • Lend Me a Tenor – at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth
  • A Raisin in the Sun – at the Royal Exchange, Manchester

    The EQUITY Best West End Show

  • Jersey Boys – at the Prince Edward
  • Les Misérables – at the Queen’s
  • Priscilla, Queen of the Desert – at the Palace
  • The Phantom of the Opera – at Her Majesty’s
  • War Horse – at the New London
  • Wicked – at the Apollo Victoria

    The AKA Theatre Event of the Year

  • Jellyfish, the UK’s first recycled theatre, built on a playground in Southwark
  • Judi Dench returning to the role of Titania after 40 years for Sir Peter Hall in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Rose, Kingston
  • Les Misérables’ 25th anniversary concert at The 02 & screened to cinemas worldwide
  • The Donmar Warehouse’s “Sondheim at 80” concerts
  • The relaunch of the King’s Head as London’s first new opera house in 40 years
  • The transformation of the Eurostar terminal at Waterloo for The Railway Children

    Special mentions

  • The launch of the Young Vic’s 40th anniversary season
  • You Me Bum Bum Train at the Barbican

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