New British musicals Charlie And The Chocolate Factory and The Light Princess lead the way in this year’s WhatsOnStage Awards, with six nominations each.
In what has been a bumper year for musical theatre, they are closely followed by the London productions of two Broadway hits, The Book Of Mormon and Once, which collect five nominations each.
Previous London Palladium hit A Chorus Line, Tim Rice’s latest project From Here To Eternity and the Young Vic production of The Scottsboro Boys also hit the heights with four apiece.
The roll call of honour highlights what a boon period it has been for musicals in London, with each musical theatre category packed with talent, from previous Olivier Award winners such as Douglas Hodge and Leigh Zimmerman to emerging stars like Cynthia Erivo and Robert Lonsdale.
Competition proves similarly tough in the play categories, where the Trafalgar Transformed season’s Macbeth, the National Theatre’s Othello, Mojo and The Audience stand ahead of the pack with four nominations each.
Dame Helen Mirren once again receives a Best Actress in a Play nomination for her Olivier-winning portrayal of the Queen in The Audience, alongside Hayley Atwell (The Pride), Suranne Jones (Beautiful Thing), Tanya Moodie (Fences) and Anne-Marie Duff (Strange Interlude).
Duff’s husband, James McAvoy, also receives a nomination, earning a place in the Best Actor in a Play category for his performance in the Jamie Lloyd-directed Macbeth. He faces off against Ben Whishaw (Peter And Alice, Mojo), Lenny Henry (Fences), Rory Kinnear (Othello) and Daniel Radcliffe (The Cripple Of Inishmaan).
Radcliffe’s long-time Harry Potter co-star Rupert Grint picks up his first theatre award nomination, sitting alongside Kyle Scatliffe (The Scottsboro Boys), Jack Huston (Strangers On A Train), Olivia Vinall (Othello) and Tori Amos (The Light Princess) in the London Newcomer of the Year category.
In a category unique to the WhatsOnStage Awards, the Theatre Event of the Year category features Punchdrunk’s London return with The Drowned Man, the Lyric Hammersmith’s Secret Theatre season, the Michael Grandage season, the National Theatre’s 50th anniversary gala and the opening of the National Theatre’s temporary space The Shed.
The nominees were announced at a packed Café De Paris today. Voting is now open on the WhatsOnStage website and will run until midnight of 31 January 2014. The winners will be revealed at a concert on 23 February hosted by Rufus Hound and Mel Giedroyc.
Full list of nominees:
Best Actress in a Play
Anne-Marie Duff, Strange Interlude (National Theatre Lyttelton)
Hayley Atwell, The Pride (Trafalgar Studios)
Helen Mirren, The Audience (Gielgud)
Suranne Jones, Beautiful Thing (Arts)
Tanya Moodie, Fences (Duchess)
Best Actor in a Play
Ben Whishaw, Peter And Alice (Noël Coward) and Mojo (Harold Pinter)
Daniel Radcliffe, The Cripple Of Inishmaan (Noël Coward)
James McAvoy, Macbeth (Trafalgar Studios)
Lenny Henry, Fences (Duchess)
Rory Kinnear, Othello (National Theatre Olivier)
The POSTCARDS FROM PETE Best Supporting Actress in a Play
Claudie Blakley, Chimerica (Almeida and Harold Pinter)
Cecilia Noble, The Amen Corner (National Theatre Olivier)
Haydn Gwynne, The Audience (Gielgud)
Gillian Hanna and Ingrid Craigie, The Cripple Of Inishmaan (Noël Coward)
Naomi Frederick, The Winslow Boy (Old Vic)
Best Supporting Actor in a Play
Charles Edwards, Strange Interlude (National Theatre Lyttelton)
Daniel Mays, Trelawny Of The Wells (Donmar Warehouse) and Mojo (Harold Pinter)
David Walliams, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Noël Coward)
Kyle Soller, Edward II (National Theatre Olivier)
Richard McCabe, The Audience (Gielgud)
The STAR Best Actress in a Musical
Charlotte Wakefield, The Sound Of Music (Regent’s Park Open Air)
Cynthia Erivo, The Color Purple (Menier Chocolate Factory)
Rosalie Craig, The Light Princess (National Theatre Lyttelton)
Scarlett Strallen, A Chorus Line (London Palladium) and Candide (Menier Chocolate Factory)
Zrinka Cvitišić, Once (Phoenix)
The RADISSON BLU Best Actor in a Musical
Douglas Hodge, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory (Theatre Royal Drury Lane)
Robert Lonsdale, From Here To Eternity (Shaftesbury)
Declan Bennett, Once (Phoenix)
Gavin Creel, The Book Of Mormon (Prince Of Wales)
Killian Donnelly, The Commitments (Palace)
Best Supporting Actress in a Musical
Alexia Khadime, The Book Of Mormon (Prince Of Wales)
Amy Booth-Steel, The Light Princess (National Theatre Lyttelton)
Iris Roberts, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory (Theatre Royal Drury Lane)
Leigh Zimmerman, A Chorus Line (London Palladium)
Sophia Nomvete, The Color Purple (Menier Chocolate Factory)
Best Supporting Actor in a Musical
Colman Domingo, The Scottsboro Boys (Young Vic)
James Dreyfus, Candide (Menier Chocolate Factory)
Nigel Planer, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory (Theatre Royal Drury Lane)
Ryan Sampson, From Here To Eternity (Shaftesbury)
Stephen Ashfield, The Book Of Mormon (Prince Of Wales)
Best Solo Performance
Barry Humphries, Eat Pray Laugh! Barry Humphries’ Farewell Tour (London Palladium)
Alex Jennings, Hymn (National Theatre Lyttelton and Duchess)
Cush Jumbo, Josephine And I (Bush)
Rob Crouch, Oliver Reed: Wild Thing (St James)
Leanne Best, The Match Box (Tricycle)
The LES MISÉRABLES Best Ensemble Performance
A Chorus Line (London Palladium)
Handbagged (Tricycle)
The Drowned Man (Temple Studios)
The Weir (Donmar Warehouse)
Titanic (Southwark Playhouse)
Best Takeover in a Role
Beverley Knight, The Bodyguard (Adelphi)
Carrie Hope Fletcher, Les Misérables (Queen’s)
Geronimo Rauch, The Phantom Of The Opera (Her Majesty’s)
Mike Noble, The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time (Apollo)
Willemijn Verkaik, Wicked (Apollo Victoria)
PRODUCTION CATEGORIES
Best New Play
The Events, David Greig (Young Vic)
Peter And Alice, John Logan (Noël Coward)
Chimerica, Lucy Kirkwood (Almeida and Harold Pinter)
The Audience, Peter Morgan (Gielgud)
The Herd, Rory Kinnear (Bush)
The TICKETMASTER Best New Comedy
Barking In Essex, Clive Exton (Wyndham’s)
Handbagged, Moira Buffini (Tricycle)
Jeeves And Wooster in Perfect Nonsense, adapted by the Goodale Brothers (Duke of York’s)
The Lyons, Nicky Silver (Menier Chocolate Factory)
The Play That Goes Wrong, Henry Shields, Henry Lewis and Jonathan Sayer (Old Red Lion and Trafalgar Studios)
Best New Musical
Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman and David Greig (Theatre Royal Drury Lane)
From Here To Eternity, Stuart Brayson, Tim Rice and Bill Oakes (Shaftesbury)
Once, Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová (Phoenix)
The Book Of Mormon, Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Robert Lopez (Prince Of Wales)
The Light Princess, Tori Amos and Samuel Adamson (National Theatre Lyttelton)
The SAMUEL FRENCH Best Play Revival
Mojo (Harold Pinter)
Private Lives (Gielgud)
The Pride (Trafalgar Studios)
The Weir (Donmar Warehouse)
To Kill A Mockingbird (Regent’s Park Open Air)
THE TICKET FACTORY Best Musical Revival
A Chorus Line (London Palladium)
Candide (Menier Chocolate Factory)
Chess (Union)
Merrily We Roll Along (Harold Pinter)
The Sound Of Music (Regent’s Park Open Air)
Best Shakespearean Production
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Noël Coward)
Julius Caesar (Donmar Warehouse)
Macbeth (Trafalgar Studios)
Othello (National Theatre Olivier)
The Tempest (Shakespeare’s Globe)
The MANAGED NETWORKS Best Director
Jamie Lloyd, Macbeth, The Hothouse and The Pride (Trafalgar Studios)
John Tiffany, Once (Phoenix)
Maria Friedman, Merrily We Roll Along (Harold Pinter)
Michael Grandage, the Michael Grandage Season (Noël Coward)
Nicholas Hytner, Othello (National Theatre Olivier)
The FEAST Best Set Designer
Es Devlin, Chimerica (Almeida and Harold Pinter)
Felix Barrett, Livi Vaughan and Beatrice Minns, The Drowned Man (Temple Studios)
Mark Thompson, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory (Theatre Royal Drury Lane)
Rae Smith, The Light Princess (National Theatre Lyttelton)
Tim Goodchild, Strangers On A Train (Gielgud)
The WHITE LIGHT Best Lighting Designer
Peter Mumford, Ghosts (Almeida)
Philip Gladwell, Limbo (London Wonderground)
Adam Silverman, Macbeth (Trafalgar Studios)
Paule Constable, The Michael Grandage Season (Noël Coward)
Tim Lutkin, Strangers On A Train (Gielgud)
The CAPEZIO Best Choreographer
Casey Nicholaw, The Book Of Mormon (Prince Of Wales)
Javier de Frutos, From Here To Eternity (Shaftesbury)
Peter Darling, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory (Theatre Royal Drury Lane)
Steven Hoggett, The Light Princess (National Theatre Lyttelton)
Susan Stroman, The Scottsboro Boys (Young Vic)
The AUTOGRAPH Award for Best Original Music
Craig Adams, LIFT (Soho)
Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, Once (Phoenix)
Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray, The Color Purple (Menier Chocolate Factory)
Matthew Herbert, The Hush (National Theatre Shed)
John Kander, The Scottsboro Boys (Young Vic)
The DEWYNTERS London Newcomer of the Year
Jack Huston, Strangers On A Train (Gielgud)
Kyle Scatliffe, The Scottsboro Boys (Young Vic)
Olivia Vinall, Othello (National Theatre Olivier)
Rupert Grint, Mojo (Harold Pinter)
Tori Amos (composer), The Light Princess (National Theatre Lyttelton)
SPECIAL CATEGORIES
Best Off-West End Production
#aiww: The Arrest Of Ai Weiwei (Hampstead)
A Thousand Miles Of History (Bussey Building)
Adult Supervision (Park)
Scenes From A Marriage (St James)
Titanic (Southwark Playhouse)
The TICKETS.COM Best Regional Production
Macbeth (Manchester International Festival)
My Fair Lady (Sheffield Crucible)
Richard II (RSC at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon)
The Prodigals (Belgrade, Coventry)
To Sir, With Love (Royal & Derngate, Northampton and on tour)
The EQUITY Best West End Show
Les Misérables (Queen’s)
Matilda The Musical (RSC at the Cambridge)
The Phantom Of The Opera (Her Majesty’s)
War Horse (New London)
Wicked (Apollo Victoria)
The ARTS ALLIANCE MEDIA Theatre Event of the Year
Punchdrunk’s return to London with The Drowned Man
The Lyric Hammersmith’s Secret Theatre company season
The Michael Grandage season, with its seven headline stars
The National Theatre’s 50th anniversary gala, broadcast live on the BBC
The opening of the National’s Shed as a temporary performance space
Honourable Mentions:
Helen Mirren’s rant at street drummers during a performance of The Audience
The Open Court festival, launching Vicky Featherstone’s tenure at the Royal Court
The National Youth Theatre’s West End rep season at the Ambassadors