WhatsOnStage Awards winners

Published: 6 March 2022
Reporter: Sandra Giorgetti

Samantha Barks (Elsa) and Frozen's Stephanie McKeon (Anna) Credit: Johan Persson
Olly Dobson in Back to the Future Credit: Sean Ebsworth Barnes

The 22nd annual WhatsOnStage Awards revealed its winners on 27 February.

Disney musical Frozen will need the most space on the mantlepiece to house its seven awards (from 13 nominations) whilst 2:22 A Ghost Story takes home three and Ian McKellen moves along his many gongs to make space for an Award For Services To Theatre.

The Annual WhatsOnStage Awards are the only theatre awards of this scale chosen by the public; their choice is (winners in bold):

Best Performer In A Male Identifying Role In A Musical

  • Eddie Redmayne – Cabaret, Playhouse Theatre - Kit Kat Club
  • Roger Bart — Back to the Future the Musical, Manchester Opera House & Adelphi Theatre
  • Olly Dobson — Back to the Future the Musical, Manchester Opera House & Adelphi Theatre
  • Arinzé Kene — Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical, Lyric Theatre
  • Julian Ovenden — South Pacific, Chichester Festival Theatre
  • Ivano Turco — Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella, Gillian Lynne Theatre

Best Performer In A Female Identifying Role In A Musical

  • Carrie Hope Fletcher — Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella, Gillian Lynne Theatre
  • Aimie Atkinson — Pretty Woman, Piccadilly Theatre & Savoy Theatre
  • Samantha Barks — Frozen, Theatre Royal Drury Lane
  • Jessie Buckley — Cabaret, Playhouse Theatre — Kit Kat Club
  • Beverley Knight — The Drifters Girl, Garrick Theatre
  • Stephanie McKeon, Frozen, Theatre Royal Drury Lane

Best Supporting Performer In A Male Identifying Role In A Musical

  • Hugh Coles — Back to the Future the Musical, Manchester Opera House & Adelphi Theatre
  • Blake Patrick Anderson — Be More Chill, The Other Palace & Shaftesbury Theatre
  • Robert Lindsay — Anything Goes, Barbican Centre
  • Cedric Neal — Back to the Future the Musical — Manchester Opera House & Adelphi Theatre
  • Oliver Ormson — Frozen, Theatre Royal Drury Lane
  • Obioma Ugoala — Frozen, Theatre Royal Drury Lane

Best Supporting Performer In A Female Identifying Role In A Musical

  • Carly Mercedes Dyer — Anything Goes, Barbican Centre
  • Joanna Ampil — South Pacific, Chichester Festival Theatre
  • Gabrielle Brooks — Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical, Lyric Theatre
  • Victoria Hamilton-Barritt — Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella, Gillian Lynne Theatre
  • Millie O'Connell — Rent, Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester
  • Rebecca Trehearn — Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella, Gillian Lynne Theatre

Best Performer In A Male Identifying Role In A Play

  • James McAvoy — Cyrano de Bergerac, Playhouse Theatre
  • Richard Armitage — Uncle Vanya, Harold Pinter Theatre
  • Ben Daniels — The Normal Heart, National Theatre
  • Omari Douglas — Constellations, Vaudeville Theatre
  • Hadley Fraser — 2:22 A Ghost Story, Noël Coward Theatre
  • Henry Lewis — Magic Goes Wrong, Vaudeville Theatre & Apollo Theatre

Best Performer In A Female Identifying Role In A Play

  • Lily Allen — 2:22 A Ghost Story, Noël Coward Theatre
  • Gemma Arterton — Walden, Harold Pinter Theatre
  • Sheila Atim — Constellations, Vaudeville Theatre
  • Emma Corrin — Anna X, Harold Pinter Theatre, The Lowry, Salford
  • Patsy Ferran — Camp Siegfried, The Old Vic
  • Saoirse Ronan — The Tragedy of Macbeth, Almeida Theatre

Best Supporting Performer In A Male Identifying Role In A Play

  • Jake Wood — 2:22 A Ghost Story, Noël Coward Theatre
  • Stephen K Amos — My Night with Reg, The Turbine Theatre
  • Dino Fetscher — The Normal Heart, National Theatre
  • Nathaniel Parker — The Mirror and the Light, Gielgud Theatre
  • Richard Rankin — The Tragedy of Macbeth, Almeida Theatre
  • Jonathan Sayer — Magic Goes Wrong, Vaudeville Theatre & Apollo Theatre

Best Supporting Performer In A Female Identifying Role In A Play

  • Akiya Henry — The Tragedy of Macbeth, Almeida Theatre
  • Michelle Fox — Shining City, Theatre Royal Stratford East
  • Penny Layden — The Ocean at the End of the Lane, National Theatre & Duke of York's Theatre
  • Isobel McArthur — Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of), Criterion Theatre
  • Aimee Lou Wood — Uncle Vanya, Harold Pinter Theatre
  • Nancy Zamit — Magic Goes Wrong, Vaudeville Theatre & Apollo Theatre

Best New Musical

  • Back to the Future the Musical — Adelphi Theatre
  • Cinderella — Gillian Lynne Theatre
  • Frozen — Theatre Royal Drury Lane
  • Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical — Lyric Theatre
  • Pretty Woman the Musical — Piccadilly Theatre & Savoy Theatre
  • Moulin Rouge! — Piccadilly Theatre

Best Musical Revival

  • Anything Goes — Barbican Centre
  • Cabaret — Kit Kat Club at the Playhouse Theatre
  • Carousel — Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
  • Rent — Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester
  • South Pacific — Chichester Festival Theatre
  • West Side Story — Curve, Leicester

Best New Play

  • 2:22 A Ghost Story — Noël Coward Theatre
  • J' Ouvert — Harold Pinter Theatre, Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
  • Leopoldstadt — Wyndham’s Theatre
  • Magic Goes Wrong — Vaudeville Theatre & Apollo Theatre
  • Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of) — Criterion Theatre
  • The Ocean at the End of the Lane — National Theatre & Duke of York's Theatre

Best Play Revival

  • Cyrano de Bergerac — Playhouse Theatre
  • Constellations — Vaudeville Theatre
  • My Night with Reg — The Turbine Theatre
  • The Normal Heart — National Theatre
  • The Tragedy of Macbeth — Almeida Theatre
  • Uncle Vanya — Harold Pinter Theatre

Best Off-West End Production

  • My Son's A Queer but What Can You Do? — The Turbine Theatre
  • Anything is Possible if You Think About it Hard Enough — Southwark Playhouse
  • Old Bridge — Bush Theatre
  • Pippin — Charing Cross Theatre
  • Saving Britney — Old Red Lion Theatre
  • The Last Five Years — Southwark Playhouse

Best Regional Theatre Production

  • Rent — Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester
  • Bedknobs and Broomsticks the Musical — UK tour
  • Bloody Elle — A Gig Musical — Manchester Royal Exchange
  • South Pacific — Chichester Festival Theatre
  • West Side Story — Curve, Leicester
  • What's New Pussycat? — Birmingham Repertory Theatre

Best West End Show

  • Six the Musical — Vaudeville Theatre
  • Come From Away — Phoenix Theatre
  • Hamilton — Victoria Palace Theatre
  • Les Misérables — Sondheim Theatre
  • The Play That Goes Wrong — Duchess Theatre
  • Wicked — Apollo Victoria Theatre

Best Direction

  • Michael Grandage — Frozen, Theatre Royal Drury Lane
  • Clint Dyer — Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical, Lyric Theatre
  • Yaël Farber — The Tragedy of Macbeth, Almeida Theatre
  • Rebecca Frecknall — Cabaret, Kit Kat Club at the Playhouse Theatre
  • Jamie Lloyd — Cyrano de Bergerac, Playhouse Theatre
  • Katy Rudd — The Ocean at the End of the Lane, National Theatre & Duke of York's Theatre

Best Choreography

  • Rob Ashford — Frozen, Theatre Royal Drury Lane
  • Drew McOnie — Carousel, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
  • Kathleen Marshall — Anything Goes, Barbican Centre
  • Shelley Maxwell — Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical, Lyric Theatre
  • Sonya Tayeh — Moulin Rouge!, Piccadilly Theatre
  • Ann Yee — South Pacific, Chichester Festival Theatre

Best Set Design

  • Christopher Oram — Frozen, Theatre Royal Drury Lane
  • Fly Davis — The Ocean at the End of the Lane, National Theatre & Duke of York's Theatre
  • Jamie Harrison — Bedknobs and Broomsticks the Musical, UK tour
  • Tim Hatley — Back to the Future the Musical, Manchester Opera House & Adelphi Theatre
  • Derek McLane — Moulin Rouge!, Piccadilly Theatre
  • Tom Scutt — Cabaret, Kit Kat Club at the Playhouse Theatre

Best Costume Design

  • Christopher Oram — Frozen, Theatre Royal Drury Lane
  • Lisa Duncan — Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical, Lyric Theatre
  • Tom Scutt — Cabaret, Kit Kat Club at the Playhouse Theatre
  • Gabriella Slade — Bedknobs And Broomsticks The Musical, UK tour
  • Gabriela Tylesova — Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella, Gillian Lynne Theatre
  • Catherine Zuber — Moulin Rouge!, Piccadilly Theatre

Best Lighting Design

  • Tim Lutkin — Back to the Future the Musical, Adelphi Theatre
  • Neil Austin — Frozen, Theatre Royal Drury Lane
  • Charles Balfour — Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical, Lyric Theatre
  • Isabella Byrd — Cabaret, Playhouse Theatre, Kit Kat Club
  • Bruno Poet — Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella, Gillian Lynne Theatre
  • Justin Townsend — Moulin Rouge!, Piccadilly Theatre

Best Musical Direction Or Supervision

  • Stephen Oremus — Frozen — Theatre Royal Drury Lane
  • Leo Munby — The Last Five Years, Vaudeville Theatre
  • Tom Deering — Carousel, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
  • Sean Green — Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical, Lyric Theatre
  • Justin Levine — Moulin Rouge!, Piccadilly Theatre
  • Katy Richardson — Rent, Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester

Best Sound Design

  • Gareth Owen — Back to the Future the Musical, Manchester Opera House & Adelphi Theatre
  • Adam Cork — Leopoldstadt, Wyndham's Theatre
  • Adam Fisher — The Last Five Years, Southwark Playhouse & Vaudeville Theatre
  • Paul Groothuis — South Pacific, Chichester Festival Theatre
  • Peter Hylenski — Moulin Rouge!, Piccadilly Theatre
  • Ben and Max Ringham — Cyrano de Bergerac, Playhouse Theatre

Best Video Design

  • Finn Ross — Frozen, Theatre Royal Drury Lane
  • Nina Dunn — The Shark is Broken, Ambassadors Theatre
  • Akhila Krishnan — What’s New Pussycat?, Birmingham Repertory Theatre
  • Mikaela Liakata and Tal Yarden — Anna X, Harold Pinter Theatre & The Lowry, Salford
  • Finn Ross — Back to the Future the Musical, Manchester Opera House & Adelphi Theatre
  • Tal Yarden — Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical, Lyric Theatre

Best Graphic Design

  • Bob King Creative — Frozen, Theatre Royal Drury Lane
  • Christopher D Clegg — The Wiz, Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester
  • Feast Creative — Romeo and Juliet, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
  • Feast Creative — Rent, Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester
  • Muse Creative Communications — Re:Emerge Season, Harold Pinter Theatre
  • Michael Nash Associates — Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical, Lyric Theatre

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