Starlight Express, Imelda Staunton, David Tennant and more win big at 25th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards

The winners of the 25th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards have now been crowned as the curtain falls on our silver anniversary ceremony at The London Palladium.

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s acclaimed revival of Starlight Express, which opened at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre last summer, scooped an impressive total of seven awards, becoming the big winner of the night. Coincidentally, it equals the tally of another Lloyd Webber revival as Sunset Boulevard (now playing on Broadway) also took home seven trophies at last year’s ceremony. Alongside the Best Musical Revival nod, Starlight triumphed in the categories of Best Professional Debut (for Jeevan Braich), Best Set Design (for Tim Hatley), Best Costume Design (for Gabriella Slade), Best Lighting Design (for Howard Hudson), Best Video Design (for Andrzej Goulding) and finally, for the newly introduced category of Best Wigs, Hair and Make-up Design (for Jackie Saundercock and Campbell Young Associates).

Another show which received multiple wins is the Donmar Warehouse production of Macbeth, not only being named Best Play Revival but also picking up awards for Best Sound Design (for Gareth Fry) and Best Performer in a Play (for David Tennant). You can read more about Tennant’s record-breaking win here.

Imelda Staunton added another WhatsOnStage Award to her mantlepiece, taking home Best Performer in a Musical for Hello, Dolly!, following her wins for Sweeney Todd in 2013 and Gypsy in 2016, while other wins in the performance categories went to Freema Agyeman (Best Supporting Performer in a Play for Romeo and Juliet), Layton Williams (for Best Takeover Performance for Cabaret) and last year’s co-host Melanie La Barrie (Best Supporting Performer in a Musical for Hadestown, which also won Best Musical Direction/Supervision for Liam Robinson and Tarek Merchant).

The coveted Best New Musical and Best New Play awards saw two West End premiere film-to-stage adaptations come out on top, with Mean Girls and Spirited Away victorious in their respective categories, while Oliver! (now playing at the West End’s Gielgud Theatre) didn’t leave empty-handed – taking Best Regional Production thanks to its Chichester Festival Theatre run.

Other big winners on the night included Emma Rice (Best Direction for The Buddha of Suburbia) and Christopher Wheeldon (Best Choreography for MJ the Musical), and the recipient of the 2025 Services to UK Theatre Award went to esteemed lighting designer Paule Constable (find out more here), as she enters her retirement year.

Best Concert Event went to Something Rotten! in Concert, the newly revised category of Best Studio Production was won by Diary of a Gay Disaster and Best Casting Direction went to Harry Blumenau and Sarah-Jane Price (for Why Am I So Single?), while Six was crowned Best West End Show for an impressive fourth year.

You can find the full list of 2025 winners here.