The nominations in the 2011 Whatsonstage.com Awards, the “theatregoers’ choice”, were announced today (3 December 2010) at the West End’s Cafe de Paris. The Whatsonstage.com Awards are the only major UK theatre prize-giving event decided by the public, who vote online here at awards.whatsonstage.com.
The shortlists across 26 different award categories have been drawn up based on nominations submitted by theatregoers over the past month. More than 7,000 people took part in the initial phase of the judging campaign this year, marking another new record in the 11 years of the Awards.
This year, Kim Cattrall, Zoë Wanamaker, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tamzin Outhwaite, David Suchet, Rory Kinnear, Matthew Macfadyen, Sheridan Smith and husband and wife Lee Mead and Denise Van Outen will be among those battling it out for acting gongs.
In the battle of the big musicals, Legally Blonde, starring Sheridan Smith, leads the way with seven nominations (including a nod for Smith as Best Actress in a Musical). Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies and Sweet Charity, which transferred to the West End earlier this year, each receive six nominations with Love Never Dies and Sweet Charity leads, Sierra Boggess and Tamzin Outhwaite, pitted against Smith for Best Actress in a Musical. Waving the flag for plays is All My Sons, also with six nominations, including Best Actress and Actor in a Play for Zoe Wanamaker and David Suchet.
Suchet will face tough competition in the Best Actor in a Play category as Rory Kinnear will hope to follow his success at this year’s Evening Standard Awards for his portrayal of Hamlet. Also nominated are current Sherlock Holmes, Benedict Cumberbatch (After the Dance), Matthew Macfadyen (Private Lives), Simon Russell Beale (Deathtrap and London Assurance) and Toby Stephens (The Real Thing). In the Best Actress in a Play prize group, alongside Zoë Wanamaker, Sex and the City’s Kim Cattrall is nominated for her portrayal of Amanda in Noel Coward’s Private Lives. Also nominated are Helen McCrory (The Late Middle Classes), Jenny Jules (Ruined), Nancy Carroll (After the Dance) and Tracie Bennett (End of the Rainbow).
Stage stars and husband and wife Lee Mead and Denise Van Outen will go head to head to be win Best Takeover in a Role, for Wicked and Legally Blonde respectively. Van Outen will also be challenged by Rachel Tucker, also currently in Wicked, who took part in the BBC’s I’d Do Anything on which Denise was a panellist. Best Supporting Actress in a Musical is another family affair with sisters Scarlett and Summer Strallen battling it out with Hannah Waddingham, Jill Halfpenny, Josefina Gabrielle and Rosalie Craig for theatregoers’ votes.
Strictly dance partners Ali Bastian and Brian Fortuna will contest the Award for London Newcomer of the Year for their debut in hit dance show Burn the Floor, along with 18 year-old playwright Anya Reiss (Spur of the Moment), former Skins’ actor Daniel Kaluuya (Sucker Punch), Jacob Casselden (Tribes), Glee’s Jonathan Groff (Deathtrap) and Robyn Addison (The Rivals).
In its 25th anniversary year Les Misérables shows that its longevity is no accident, receiving 5 nominations, including Theatre Event of the Year for the O2 concert and Best West End Show, a category for longer running productions launched last year for the 10th birthday of the awards.
Voting continues until the end of January. Results are announced and awards presented in front of a live audience of theatregoer voters at our Winners’ Concert on Sunday 20 February 2011 at the West End’s Prince of Wales Theatre.
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THE FULL LIST OF 2010/11 NOMINATIONS
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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