The Donmar Warehouse has continued its domination of the theatre awards season, collecting five awards at today’s Whatsonstage Theatregoers’ Choice Awards. New musical Jersey Boys came a close second, triumphing in four categories.
The Donmar Warehouse has already collected four Critics’ Circle Awards, four Evening Standard Awards and 13 Laurence Olivier Award nominations for its past year of productions at its 250-seat home theatre, in its Donmar West End season at the Wyndham’s theatre and for its transfers. At the Theatregoers’ Choice Awards, it won the awards for Best Actor (Kenneth Branagh for Ivanov), Best Play Revival (Ivanov), Best Shakespearean Production (Othello), Best Supporting Actor (Tom Hiddleston for Ivanov and Othello) and Best Director (Donmar Warehouse Artistic Director Michael Grandage for Ivanov, The Chalk Garden and Othello).
Speaking about the triumph, Grandage said: “I am delighted that so many members of the public have voted for the Donmar’s productions. It is clearly a very positive endorsement of what we are trying to do, and it gives us a real boost as we enter a new year of work.”
Musical Jersey Boys, which tells the story of Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons and features many of their hit songs, won all four of the categories for which it received nominations. Ryan Molloy, who plays Valli, won Best Actor in a Musical, Stephen Ashfield won Best Supporting Actor in a Musical, Klara Zieglerova won Best Set Designer and the production won Best New Musical. Collecting the award for Best Musical, original Four Seasons member and Jersey Boys composer Bob Gaudio commented: “We are all very proud of Jersey Boys at the Prince Edward, and this recognition suggests that the UK audiences just might love the production as much as we do.”
The award winners were not without a touch of controversy. Best New Play winner Under The Blue Sky drew surprised gasps at the nominations announcement in late 2008, as it was first staged at the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Upstairs in 2000, before being revived at the Duke Of York’s theatre last year.
Other winners announced at tonight’s ceremony include Katy Stephens (Best Actress in a Play), Sophie Thompson (Best Supporting Actress in a Play), Sofia Escobar (Best Actress in a Musical), Tracie Bennett (Best Supporting Actress in a Musical), Eddie Izzard (Best Solo Performance), Into The Hoods (Best Ensemble Performance), Daniel Boys (Best Takeover in a Role), Fat Pig (Best New Comedy), West Side Story (Best Musical Revival) and Josh Hartnett (London Newcomer of the Year).
The Theatre Event of the Year, a category unique to the Theatregoers’ Choice Awards, was won by David Tennant’s return to the stage.
The Whatsonstage Theatregoers’ Choice Awards are the only major UK theatre awards voted for by members of the public and this year received votes from 35,000 people. The awards were presented tonight at a celebratory concert at the Prince of Wales theatre, hosted by James Corden and Sheridan Smith.
Following the announcement of the Theatregoers’ Choice Awards, all eyes move to the Laurence Olivier Awards, the culmination of the stage awards season and the most prestigious prize in London theatre. The awards will be presented at a glittering ceremony on 8 March, where Official London Theatre will be bringing you all the action via news stories, an interactive blog and, for the first time ever, video footage of every single award being announced.
Before that, the nominees, which include many of the Theatregoers’ Choice Awards winners, will gather for a celebratory lunch on Tuesday 24 February. The nominees lunch is an exclusive affair at the Haymarket hotel, but Official London Theatre will once again be there to bring you the very best coverage.
MA
Full list of nominees (winners in bold):
The SPOTLIGHT Best Actress in a Play
Deanna Dunagan (August: Osage County – National Theatre Lyttelton)
Katy Stephens (The Histories – Royal Shakespeare Company at the Roundhouse)
Lesley Sharp (Harper Regan – National Theatre Cottesloe)
Lindsay Duncan (That Face – Duke of York’s Theatre)
Margaret Tyzack (The Chalk Garden – Donmar Warehouse)
Penelope Wilton (The Chalk Garden – Donmar Warehouse)
The SPOTLIGHT Best Actor in a Play
Adam Godley (Rain Man – Apollo Theatre)
Chiwetel Ejiofor (Othello – Donmar Warehouse)
Eddie Redmayne (Now Or Later – Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Downstairs)
Ian McDiarmid (Six Characters In Search Of An Author – Gielgud Theatre)
Kenneth Branagh (Ivanov – Donmar West End at the Wyndham’s Theatre)
Kevin Spacey & Jeff Goldblum (Speed-The-Plow – Old Vic)
Best Supporting Actress in a Play
Barbara Jefford (Pygmalion – Old Vic)
Denise Gough (Six Characters In Search Of An Author – Gielgud Theatre)
Michelle Terry (The Man Who Had All The Luck – Donmar Warehouse)
Phoebe Nicholls (The Vortex – Apollo Theatre & Waste – Almeida Theatre)
Sophie Thompson (The Female Of The Species – Vaudeville Theatre)
Susan Engel (Her Naked Skin – National Theatre Olivier)
Best Supporting Actor in a Play
Douglas Henshall (The Last Days Of Judas Iscariot – Almeida Theatre)
Kevin R McNally (Ivanov – Donmar West End at the Wyndham’s Theatre)
Malcolm Sinclair (Rosmersholm – Almeida Theatre)
Paul Ready (Major Barbara – National Theatre Olivier)
Pip Carter (Gethsemane – National Theatre Cottesloe)
Tom Hiddleston (Othello – Donmar Warehouse & Ivanov – Donmar West End at the Wyndham’s Theatre)
The VIAGOGO Best Actress in a Musical
Connie Fisher (They’re Playing Our Song – Menier Chocolate Factory)
Elena Roger (Piaf – Donmar Warehouse & Vaudeville Theatre)
Leila Benn Harris (Imagine This – New London Theatre)
Lisa O’Hare (Gigi – Open Air Theatre)
Ruthie Henshall (Marguerite – Theatre Royal Haymarket)
Sofia Escobar (West Side Story – Sadler’s Wells)
The SEE TICKETS Best Actor in a Musical
Darius Danesh (Gone With The Wind – New London Theatre)
Douglas Hodge (La Cage Aux Folles – Menier Chocolate Factory & Playhouse Theatre)
Julian Ovenden (Marguerite – Theatre Royal Haymarket)
Matt Rawle (Zorro – Garrick Theatre)
Rolan Bell (The Harder They Come – Barbican Theatre & Playhouse Theatre)
Ryan Molloy (Jersey Boys – Prince Edward Theatre)
Best Supporting Actress in a Musical
Lesli Margherita (Zorro – Garrick Theatre)
Linda Thorson (Gigi – Open Air Theatre)
Lorraine Bruce (Piaf – Donmar Warehouse & Vaudeville Theatre)
Natasha Yvette Williams (Gone With The Wind – New London Theatre)
Sophia Ragavelas (Never Forget – Savoy Theatre)
Tracie Bennett (La Cage Aux Folles – Playhouse Theatre)
Best Supporting Actor in a Musical
Alexander Hanson (Marguerite – Theatre Royal Haymarket)
Jason Pennycooke (La Cage Aux Folles – Menier Chocolate Factory & Playhouse Theatre)
Luke Evans (Piaf – Donmar Warehouse & Vaudeville Theatre)
Michael Matus (Imagine This – New London Theatre)
Nick Cavaliere (Zorro – Garrick Theatre)
Stephen Ashfield (Jersey Boys – Prince Edward Theatre)
Best Solo Performance
David Bradley (The Quiz – Trafalgar Studio 2)
Derren Brown (Derren Brown Mindreader: An Evening Of Wonders – Garrick Theatre)
Eddie Izzard (Eddie Izzard: Stripped – Lyric Theatre)
Maria Friedman (Maria Friedman: Rearranged – Menier Chocolate Factory)
Nadine Marshall (Random – Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Downstairs)
Vanessa Redgrave (The Year Of Magical Thinking – National Theatre Lyttelton)
The AMBASSADOR TICKETS Best Ensemble Performance
August: Osage County – National Theatre Lyttelton
Black Watch – National Theatre of Scotland at the Barbican Theatre
Brief Encounter – Cinema, Haymarket
Into The Hoods – Novello Theatre
The Histories – Royal Shakespeare Compnay at the Roundhouse
The Norman Conquests – Old Vic
The MILK TWO SUGARS Best Takeover in a Role
Daniel Boys (Avenue Q – Noël Coward Theatre)
Denis Lawson (La Cage Aux Folles – Playhouse Theatre)
Kelly Brook (Fat Pig – Comedy Theatre)
Rachel Tucker (We Will Rock You – Dominion Theatre)
Summer Strallen (The Sound Of Music – London Palladium)
Suzanne Shaw (Chicago – Cambridge Theatre)
The NICK HERN BOOKS Best New Play
August: Osage County (by Tracy Letts – National Theatre Lyttelton)
Black Watch (by Gregory Burke – National Theatre of Scotland at the Barbican Theatre)
Now Or Later (by Christopher Shinn – Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Downstairs)
That Face (by Polly Stenham – Duke of York’s Theatre)
The Pitmen Painters (by Lee Hall – National Theatre Cottesloe)
Under The Blue Sky (by David Eldridge – Duke of York‘s Theatre)
Best New Comedy
Fat Pig (by Neil LaBute – Trafalgar Studio 1 & Comedy Theatre)
God Of Carnage (by Yasmina Reza – Gielgud Theatre)
Lifecoach (by Nick Reed – Trafalgar Studio 2)
The Female Of The Species (by Joanna Murray-Smith – Vaudeville Theatre)
The Walworth Farce (by Enda Walsh – National Theatre Cottesloe)
Well (by Lisa Kron – Trafalgar Studio 2)
The WALDORF HILTON Best New Musical
Eurobeat (by Craig Christie & Andrew Patterson – Novello Theatre)
Imagine This (by Shuki Levy, David Goldsmith & Glenn Berenbeim – New London Theatre)
Jersey Boys (by Bob Gaudio, Bob Crewe, Rick Elice & Marshall Brickman – Prince Edward Theatre)
Marguerite (by Michel Legrand, Herbert Kretzmer, Alain Boubil, Claude-Michel Schönberg & Jonathan Kent – Theatre Royal Haymarket)
Never Forget (by Guy Jones, Daniel Brocklehurst & Ed Curtis -Savoy Theatre)
Zorro (by the Gipsy Kings, John Cameron, Stephen Clark & Helen Edmundson -Garrick Theatre)
The EMG Best Play Revival
Ivanov – Donmar West End at the Wyndham’s Theatre
Six Characters In Search Of An Author – Gielgud Theatre
Speed-The-Plow – Old Vic
The Chalk Garden – Donmar Warehouse
The Norman Conquests – Old Vic
Waste – Almeida Theatre
The TICKETMASTER Best Musical Revival
Candide – London Coliseum
Gigi – Open Air Theatre
La Cage Aux Folles – Menier Chocolate Factory & Playhouse Theatre
Piaf – Donmar Warehouse & Vaudeville Theatre
They’re Playing Our Song – Menier Chocolate Factory
West Side Story – Sadler’s Wells
Best Shakespearean Production
A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Shakespeare’s Globe
Much Ado About Nothing – National Theatre Olivier
Othello – Donmar Warehouse
The Histories – Royal Shakespeare Company at the Roundhouse
The Merry Wives Of Windsor – Shakespeare’s Globe
Twelfth Night – Tricycle Theatre
The SEATCHOICE Best Director
Emma Rice (Brief Encounter – Cinema Haymarket)
Michael Grandage (Othello & The Chalk Garden – Donmar Warehouse / Ivanov, Donmar West End at the Wyndham’s Theatre)
Matthew Warchus (The Norman Conquests – Old Vic)
Michael Boyd (The Histories – Royal Shakespeare Company at the Roundhouse)
Rupert Goold (The Last Days Of Judas Iscariot – Almeida / Six Characters In Search Of An Author – Gielgud Theatre / No Man’s Land – Duke of York’s Theatre)
Samuel West (Dealer’s Choice – Trafalgar Studio 1 / Waste – Almeida Theatre)
Best Set Designer
Eugene Lee (Imagine This – New London Theatre)
Klara Zieglerova (Jersey Boys – Prince Edward Theatre)
Miriam Buether (In The Red And Brown Water – Young Vic)
Neil Murray (Brief Encounter – Cinema Haymarket)
Rob Howell (The Norman Conquests – Old Vic)
Tom Piper (The Histories – Royal Shakespeare Company at the Roundhouse)
The WHITE LIGHT Best Lighting Designer
Chahine Yavroyan (Relocated – Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Upstairs / Wig Out! -Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Downstairs)
Jeal Kalman (The Year Of Magical Thinking – National Theatre Lyttelton / In The Red And Brown Water – Young Vic)
Malcolm Rippeth (Brief Encounter – Cinema Haymarket / Six Characters In Search Of An Author – Gielgud Theatre)
Mark Henderson (Under The Blue Sky – Duke of York’s Theatre / Marguerite & The Sea – Theatre Royal Haymarket)
Neil Austin (Piaf – Donmar Warehouse & Vaudeville Theatre / No Man’s Land – Duke of York’s Theatre / Oedipus at the National Theatre Olivier)
Paule Constable (Othello & The Chalk Garden – Donmar Warehouse / Ivanov – Donmar West End at the Wyndham’s Theatre)
Best Choreographer
Akram Khan (In-I – National Theatre Lyttelton)
Karen Bruce (Never Forget – Savoy Theatre)
Kate Prince (Into The Hoods – Novello Theatre)
Lynne Page (La Cage Aux Folles – Menier Chocolate Factory & Playhouse Theatre)
Matthew Bourne (Dorian Gray – Sadler’s Wells)
Rafael Armago (Zorro – Garrick)
The DEWYNTERS London Newcomer of the Year
Ella Smith (Fat Pig – Trafalgar Studio 1 & Comedy Theatre)
George Sampson (Into The Hoods – Novello Theatre)
Joseph Mawle (The Last Days Of Judas Iscariot – Almeida Theatre)
Josh Hartnett (Rain Man – Apollo Theatre)
Ray Davies (Come Dancing – Theatre Royal Stratford East)
Tarell Alvin McCraney (In The Red And Brown Water & The Brothers Size – Young Vic / Wig Out! – Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Downstairs
The MOBIUS Best Off-West End Production
An Enemy Of The People – Arcola Theatre
Come Dancing – Theatre Royal Stratford East
Piranha Heights – Soho Theatre
Plague Over England – Finborough Theatre
The Vaclav Havel season – Orange Tree Theatre
The White Devil – Menier Chocolate Factory
The TARGET LIVE Best Regional Production
Calendar Girls – Chichester Festival Theatre & on tour
Hamlet – Royal Shakespeare Company at the Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
On The Waterfront – Nottingham Playhouse & Edinburgh Fringe
Once Upon A Time At The Adelphi – Liverpool Playhouse
The Glass Menagerie – Royal Exchange, Manchester
The Music Man – Chichester Festival Theatre
The AKA Theatre Event of the Year
David Tennant returning to the stage in Hamlet for the Royal Shakespeare Company
The launch of the Donmar West End season at the Wyndham’s Theatre
La Clique’s London debut at the Hippodrome
The in-the-round transformation of the Old Vic for The Norman Conquests
The Royal Shakespeare Company’s complete staging of The Histories at the Roundhouse
Widespread protests over arts funding cutbacks
Honourable mentions:
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 60th birthday celebration in Hyde Park
Robert Lepage’s nine-hour Lipsynch at the Barbican
Daniel Radcliffe & James Corden’s onstage kiss at the 2008 Theatregoers’ Choice Awards Concert