Nominations announced for 18th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards

December 1, 2017

At a ceremony held today at London’s Café de Paris, Aladdin’s Trevor Dion Nicholas announced the nominees for the 18^th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards, the only major theatre awards decided entirely by the theatregoers themselves. The announcement of the nominations marks the opening of the final voting stage which closes 31 January, with the winners announced at the annual Awards ceremony held on 25 February 2018 at the Prince of Wales Theatre.

WhatsOnStage’s Chief Operating Officer, Sita McIntosh, said today “How wonderful to see such a range of shows in this year’s nominations, shows which have inspired and continue to inspire audiences up and down the country. It’s truly fantastic that in this robust year for superb musical revivals and exciting new British musicals, productions such as Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Bat Out of Hell, 42nd Street and Follies all have such strong standing on the nominations list.

And to have British plays such as Jez Butterworth’s astounding The Ferryman and James Graham’s two excellent new works alongside American stars such as Oslo and Gloria is delightful. Isn’t it also fabulous to see work originating outside London getting a strong place on the list too – The Band, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Cilla the Musical, Young Frankenstein, are just some of the shows recognised which began outside the capital.

We had a huge number of submissions for the nominations this year and I’m heartened to witness just how engaged our audiences are and how much love they have for the shows they have seen over the last year. It’s a demonstration of the fact that the UK theatre landscape is speaking to more and more people, just as it should be. The WhatsOnStage Awards are a true indication of what the public enjoy at the theatre. ”

This year is a stand-out year for musicals with 42^nd Street and Bat Out of Hell securing eight nominations each, leading the Best Musical Revival category and Best New Musical respectively. It is also a strong year for the National Theatre securing 19 nominations with Angels in America and Follies both scooping up seven, including Best Direction, where they will face The Ferryman, Bat Out of Hell and Hamlet.

Sherlock co-stars go head to head for Best Actor in a Play with Andrew Scott (Hamlet) taking on Martin Freeman (Labour of Love), also in the running are Andrew Garfield (Angels in America), Bryan Cranston (Network) and David Tennant (Don Juan in Soho).

The musical categories are all to play for this year. Bat Out of Hell dominates with eight nominations including Best New Musical where they will compete with new British musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie who have obtained four nominations.

Competition is rife between comrades across the Best Supporting Actor category with Nathan Lane and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett going head to head for their roles in Angels in America amongst Adrian Scarborough (Don Juan in Soho), Peter Polycarpou (Oslo), and Fra Fee (The Ferryman). Jessica Brown Findlay and Juliet Stevenson vie for the Best Supporting Actress award for their roles inHamlet against Denise Gough (Angels in America), Imogen Poots (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) and Sheila Atim (Girl from the North Country).

James Graham leads the Best New Play category with two nominations for critically acclaimed Labour of Love and Ink alongside Gloria, Oslo and The Ferryman. For Best Play Revival Angels in America will take on Witness for the Prosecution, Don Juan in Soho, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Hamlet. Fighting for top honours in Best West End Show are Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Kinky Boots, Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera and Wicked.

Hair also makes the shortlist for Best Off-West End Production, up against La Ronde, The Wild Party, Working the Musical and Yank the Musical; The Band hopes to ‘Take That’ prize for Best Regional Production up against Our House, Sunset Boulevard, The Hypocrite and The Addams Family.

Two new categories have been introduced this year – Best Original Cast Recording will see Hamilton pitted against long running fan favourite Les Miserables and newcomer to the West End stage Dreamgirls as well as Dear Evan Hansen and Girl from the North Country. Reflecting the often unsung work that goes into creating a successful brand for a production, Best Show Poster sees last year’s heavyweight Harry Potter and the Cursed Child return to take on iconic productions including Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, Wicked and Hamilton.

Performances at the event included The Feeling’s front man Dan Gillespie Sells performing the title song from Everybody’s Talking About Jamie which is currently running at the Apollo Theatre until April 2018.

The WhatsOnStage Awards are proud to support Mousetrap Theatre Projects, a charity which takes children and young people who are disadvantaged or have special needs to see London’s outstanding theatre. https://www.mousetrap.org.uk/www.whatsonstage.com

THE 18^TH ANNUAL WHATSONSTAGE AWARDS NOMINEES IN FULL:

BEST ACTOR IN A PLAY SPONSORED BY RADISSON BLU EDWARDIAN