20th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards Concert to feature performances from all five Best New Musicals
Shows performing at the 20th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards Concert on Sunday 1 March 2020 have been revealed.
All five of the nominees for Best New Musical Award – Only Fools and Horses, Dear Evan Hansen, & Juliet, Come From Away and Waitress – will perform live at the event. There will also be a performance by the cast of the Curve Leicester and Birmingham Hippodrome co-production of The Color Purple, which is nominated in the Best Regional Production category.
There are also two never-before-seen numbers that have been specially arranged for the evening – that are being kept under wraps for the time being! You can buy tickets for the Concert here.
Cast members from Only Fools and Horses: The Musical, based on the iconic sitcom of the same name, will perform "Bit of a Sort" from the show. The piece recently extended its West End run at the Theatre Royal Haymarket for the fourth time. It is nominated for two awards – on top of its Best New Musical nod, Oscar Conlon-Morrey has been shortlisted for his comedic turn as the Dating Agent.
Tony Award-winning titan Dear Evan Hansen recently landed in the West End and was nominated for three awards, with lead Sam Tutty and supporting performer Jack Loxton recognised for their roles in the show, which continues at the Noël Coward Theatre. There will be a rendition of hit number "You Will Be Found" at the concert.
Jukebox musical & Juliet picked up a record haul of 13 WhatsOnStage Awards nominations back in December, and continues its run at the Shaftesbury Theatre. Featuring hits like "It's My Life", "Domino" and "Roar", the show imagines what would happen if Juliet hadn't died at the end of Shakespeare's tragedy. There'll be a special performance featuring two numbers – "Can't Stop the Feeling!" and "Roar" – created especially for the evening.
Hit Broadway show Waitress, about a talented baker who finds herself unexpectedly pregnant, was nominated seven times back in December. Following the end of its run in the West End in July, the show will embark on a nationwide tour. The show will be providing a rendition of "She Used to be Mine".
Another Broadway hit – Come From Away – will also be entertaining punters on the night. The evening will see the new West End cast, who are just taking over at the Phoenix Theatre, present highlights from the five-time nominated musical. The cast will present "Welcome to the Rock".
On top of the West End shows, Tinuke Craig's production of The Color Purple, presented at Curve Leicester and Birmingham Hippodrome, will be performing epic showstopper "I'm Here". T'Shan Williams leads the cast in the piece, which premiered in July last year.
For the first time this year, the Awards – hosted by Jodie Prenger and Tom Read Wilson – will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 2, with Elaine Paige and Paddy O'Connell bringing listeners first interviews with winners as soon as they come off stage.
