Smith Performs at WOS Awards, Equity Backs
Two-time Whatsonstage.com Awards Concert co-host Sheridan Smith will help kick things off with aplomb in this year’s “theatregoers’ choice” campaign by performing at the Launch Party for the 2011 Whatsonstage.com Awards on Friday 3 December 2010 at Cafe de Paris.
The Legally Blonde star’s legions of fans have been logging on in their thousands this month in an attempt to put Smith in the running for this year’s Best Actress in a Musical prize. That and all other 25+ Whatsonstage.com Awards categories will be announced at the lunchtime launch event, after which the race will be on to decide the eventual winners, with voting continuing throughout December and January and final results announced, and trophies presented, at the 2011 Whatsonstage.com Awards Concert on Sunday 20 February at the West End’s Prince of Wales Theatre.
Top (l-r): Sheridan Smith, Malcolm Sinclair, Simon Russell Beale.
Bottom: Anna Francolini, Flashdance divas, Maureen Lipman & Roy Hudd.
A fellow soloist at the Launch Party, Anna Francolini, who is currently starring as Maria Callas in Onassis and has just reprised her performances in Merrily We Roll Along and Company for the Donmar Warehouse’s “Sondheim at 80” concerts at the Queen’s Theatre, will belt out “Broadway Baby” in one of London’s final tributes to Stephen Sondheim in his 80th birthday year.
There will also be a live performance by Flashdance’s rock ‘n’ roll-loving divas Charlotte Harwood, Hannah Levane and Twinnielee Moore, while our guest presenters will include When We Are Married stars Maureen Lipman and Roy Hudd and, speaking – and judging a Theatreland Christmas Tree competition! – on behalf of this year’s adopted charity The Theatrical Guild, Deathtrap and London Assurance star Simon Russell Beale.
We’ll also be joined by Malcolm Sinclair, currently on tour in Alan Bennett’s The Habit of Art, the recently elected president of Equity. The actors’ union has come on board this year to sponsor our special category for long-running productions, Best West End Show. In addition to helping read the shortlists, Sinclair will issue a rallying call for both artists and audiences to work together to see theatre through the funding challenges ahead.
BEFORE THE END OF NOVEMBER!
Get involved, get invited
The Launch Party is an industry-only, by-invitation event. However, a limited number of members of the public can attend by becoming Theatregoer Sponsors. Private sponsorship packages – priced at £500 + VAT – include two invites to the star-studded launch party at Café de Paris as well as VIP tickets and post-show party passes to the Winners’ Concert at the Prince of Wales Theatre next February.
** FOR MORE INFO & TO BECOME A THEATREGOER SPONSOR, CLICK HERE! **
Our corporate sponsors for the 2011 Awards include: AKA, the Ambassador Theatre Group, Baby Grand, Dewynters, EMG, Encore Tickets, Leicester Square Theatre, Les Miserables, Nursing Standard, Oberon Books, See Tickets, Shakespeare4Kidz, Spotlight, Take One Media and Whitelight. We thank each of them for their generous support. To find out more about our sponsors, click here.
