With both hosts at the 2019 Whatsonstage Awards, Vicky Vox and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, nominated for awards themselves, the winners of their respective categories were – quite cleverly, I thought – not printed on either of their cue cards. Vox’s style of presenting drew different reactions from this year’s attendees, not least when she called out a member of the audience for mobile telephone usage, tearing into the phone user for not being “in the moment”.
The ‘Wossies’ once more included something in their musical offerings that wasn’t, strictly speaking, live theatre: a montage from A Star is Born, a 1930s motion picture which has undergone yet another remake in 2018. Other musical offerings ranged from the sublime to the (almost) ridiculous – a range of songs by Stephen Sondheim opened proceedings, while the first half ended with a number from Spring Awakening, a production of which ran at the Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester last year (lyrics included “Blah blah blah blah blah blah…”).
Thirty years on from the release of the satirical movie Heathers, the phrase “f—k me gently with a chainsaw” from that film made it into the stage musical adaptation, and therefore into Carrie Hope Fletcher’s acceptance speech. The Urban Dictionary, my go-to point of reference for words and phrases I don’t fully grasp the meaning of, defines it as a “response to a request one deems impossible or absurd… It’s basically a way of showing someone how ridiculous what they’ve just asked sounds.”
Vox, too, couldn’t quite believe she was sharing the same room with the winners and nominees. “I’m a professional cross-dresser. Why am I here? I’ll tell you. I played a plant from outer space. And that makes no sense.” Adrian Scarborough, picking up Best Supporting Actor in a Play, thanked those in the online ballot who “mistook me for Aidan Turner”, a compliment returned by Turner when he took to the stage to collect the Best Actor in a Play award.
Vanessa Redgrave gave a very gracious (and politics-free) speech, while Hamilton (having missed the cut-off for the 2018 awards) didn’t quite manage a clean sweep of all the categories it had nominations in. Regional theatres were repeatedly praised for this tireless work, with justification: few West End shows begin life in the capital. A considerable percentage of the audience rose to their feet for Patti LuPone, winning Best Supporting Actress in a Musical. A 13-strong orchestra under the baton of Alex Parker rose to the challenge of playing a varied selection of musical numbers superbly.
As ever, the salient point of these awards is that the judging panel is comprised of the theatregoing public. The full list of nominees and winners is as follows.
BEST ACTOR IN A PLAY sponsored by Radisson Blu Edwardian
Aidan Turner, The Lieutenant of Inishmore
Arinzé Kene, Misty
Colin Morgan, Translations
Kyle Soller, The Inheritance
Mark Gatiss, The Madness of George III
BEST ACTRESS IN A PLAY
Carey Mulligan, Girls & Boys
Charlie Murphy, The Lieutenant of Inishmore
Katherine Parkinson, Home, I’m Darling
Patsy Ferran, Summer and Smoke
Sophie Okonedo, Antony and Cleopatra
BEST ACTOR IN A MUSICAL sponsored by The Umbrella Rooms
Giles Terera, Hamilton
Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Tina – The Tina Turner Musical
Jamael Westman, Hamilton
Jamie Muscato, Heathers the Musical
Rob Houchen, Eugenius!
BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL sponsored by Café de Paris
Adrienne Warren, Tina – The Tina Turner Musical
Carrie Hope Fletcher, Heathers the Musical
Laura Baldwin, Eugenius!
Rachelle Ann Go, Hamilton
Rosalie Craig, Company
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A PLAY
Adetomiwa Edun, Translations
Adrian Scarborough, The Madness of George III
Andrew Burnap, The Inheritance
Chris Walley, The Lieutenant of Inishmore
Paul Hilton, The Inheritance
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A PLAY sponsored by Tonic Theatre
Debra Gillett, The Madness of George III
Michelle Fairley, Julius Caesar
Michelle Fox, Translations
Siân Thomas, Home, I’m Darling
Vanessa Redgrave, The Inheritance
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Cleve September, Hamilton
Daniel Buckley, Eugenius!
Jason Pennycooke, Hamilton
Jonathan Bailey, Company
Richard Fleeshman, Company
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL sponsored by Newman Displays
Christine Allado, Hamilton
Jodie Steele, Heathers the Musical
Patti LuPone, Company
Rachel John, Hamilton
Vicky Vox, Little Shop of Horrors
BEST NEW PLAY sponsored by JHI Marketing
Dust
Girls & Boys
The Inheritance
The Jungle
Misty
BEST NEW MUSICAL sponsored by h Club London
Eugenius!
Heathers the Musical
Hamilton
Tina – The Tina Turner Musical
Six the Musical
BEST PLAY REVIVAL
Summer and Smoke
The Lieutenant of Inishmore
The Madness of George III
Translations
The York Realist
BEST MUSICAL REVIVAL sponsored by R&H Theatricals
Chess
Company
The King & I
Little Shop of Horrors
Me and My Girl
BEST DIRECTION
Andy Fickman, Heathers the Musical
Marianne Elliott, Company
Michael Grandage, The Lieutenant of Inishmore
Stephen Daldry, The Inheritance
Thomas Kail, Hamilton
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
Andy Blankenbuehler, Hamilton
Carrie-Anne Ingrouille, Six the Musical
Drew McOnie, Strictly Ballroom
Liam Steel, Company
Lizzi Gee, Little Shop of Horrors
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Catherine Martin, Strictly Ballroom
Catherine Zuber, The King & I
Gabriella Slade, Six the Musical
Paul Tazewell, Hamilton
Tom Scutt, Little Shop of Horrors
BEST SET DESIGN
Bunny Christie, Company
Es Devlin, Girls & Boys
Miriam Buether, The Jungle
Rae Smith, Translations
Tom Scutt, Little Shop of Horrors
BEST LIGHTING DESIGN sponsored by White Light
Ben Cracknell, Heathers the Musical
Howard Hudson, Little Shop of Horrors
Howell Binkley, Hamilton
Neil Austin, Company
Tim Deiling, Six the Musical
BEST VIDEO DESIGN sponsored by PRG
Daniel Denton, Misty
Dick Straker, A Monster Calls
Luke Halls, The Lehman Trilogy
Nina Dunn, The Assassination of Katie Hopkins
Terry Scruby, Chess
BEST OFF-WEST END PRODUCTION sponsored by Les Misérables
Dust
Eugenius!
Misty
The Rink
Six the Musical
BEST REGIONAL PRODUCTION sponsored by MTI Europe
Death of a Salesman
The Madness of George III
Memoirs of an Asian Football Casual
Romeo and Juliet
Spring Awakening
BEST ORIGINAL CAST RECORDING
Bat Out of Hell
Come From Away
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie
The Grinning Man
Six the Musical
BEST SHOW POSTER
The Inheritance
The Jungle
The Lieutenant of Inishmore
Little Shop of Horrors
Tina – The Tina Turner Musical
BEST WEST END SHOW sponsored by Joe Allen
Bat Out of Hell
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie
Kinky Boots
Les Misérables
Wicked
THE EQUITY AWARD FOR SERVICES TO THEATRE
Michael Grandage