What's On Stage Theatregoers' Choice Awards


Last Update: 01 December 2002

Source: What's On Stage
29 November 2002

The full list of nominations for our 2003 Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers' Choice Awards were announced today, 29 November 2002, at a star-studded celebratory event held at The Venue (home of Taboo), Leicester Square, and attended by a mix of industry figures, performers (see below) and theatregoers.

More than 1,100 real theatregoers took part in determining the shortlisted contenders across 20 awards categories including Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best New Musical, Best New Play and the newly established Planet Hollywood Theatre Event of the Year.

Amongst the tight races now shaping up:

The National Theatre and Donmar Warehouse - with 21 and 14 nominations respectively - lead the tallies in the swansong months of outgoing artistic directors Trevor Nunn and Sam Mendes. Nunn's production of Tom Stoppard's trilogy, The Coast of Utopia, and Mendes' final double bill of Uncle Vanya & Twelfth Night, in particular, score big.
Despite a savaging by the critics when it opened in May, the Queen-Ben Elton musical We Will Rock You proves it has legions of fans who've propelled it into contention for five awards including Best New Musical, where it faces tough competition from five other extremely popular shows: Bombay Dreams, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Our House, The Full Monty and Taboo.

It's a remarkable year for the Bard with Shakespeare productions producing three of the six contenders for Best Actor (Mark Rylance, Samuel West and Simon Russell Beale) and three Best Directors (Edward Hall, Sam Mendes and Steven Pimlott). In the dedicated Best Shakespearean Production category, meanwhile, a major battle is shaping up between two Twelfth Night's - at Shakespeare's Globe and the Donmar Warehouse - competing against two RSC productions (Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing), King Lear (Jonathan Kent's final production for the Almeida) and Sean Bean's Macbeth.

And in the Best Actress category, imported Hollywood stars Gwyneth Paltrow (Proof) and Gillian Anderson (What the Night Is For) square up against the best of British in the form of Clare Higgins (Vincent in Brixton), Helen McCrory (Uncle Vanya, Twelfth Night), Samantha Bond (Macbeth) and, nominated collectively for The Breath of Life two-hander, Dames Judi Dench and Maggie Smith.

The Planet Hollywood Theatre Event of the Year category demonstrates what a momentous year it's been in London theatre with historic 'firsts' (the onstage pairing of Dench and Smith, international superstar Madonna's West End debut, the world premiere of Tom Stoppard's epic Coast of Utopia) up against equally historic 'lasts' (Sam Mendes' Donmar finale, the closure of Andrew Lloyd Webber's record-breaking Cats and a sweeping restructuring of the Royal Shakespeare Company, culminating with the resignation of artistic director Adrian Noble).

Voting for the final winners of the Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers' Choice Awards commences from Monday 2 December 2002 and continues through December and January with winners announced in February 2003. Each week over the next two months, a different awards field will be highlighted on the site.

Amongst those actors who attended the first-ever Whatsonstage.com Awards launch party were: Alison Pargeter, Barnaby Kay, Brenda Blethyn, Catherine Walsh, Charlotte Randle, Clive Rowe, Craig Purnell, David Tennan, Don Wycherley, Euan Morton, Guy Henry, Hannah Jane Fox, Harriet Walter, Jacqueline King, Joanna Riding, Julian Clary, Kerry Ellis, Leigh Zimmerman, Michael Praed, Narinder Kaur, Nick Moran, Oliver Tobias, Owen Teale, Paul Baker, Peter Blythe, Philip Quast, Raj Ghatak, Rebecca Hall, Sharon D Clarke, The League of Gentlmen and Wayne Sleep.

THE FULL LIST OF 2003 NOMINATIONS

BEST ACTRESS:
Clare Higgins - Vincent in Brixton at the NT Cottesloe & Wyndhams
Gillian Anderson - What the Night Is For at the Comedy
Gwyneth Paltrow - Proof at the Donmar Warehouse
Helen McCrory - Uncle Vanya & Twelfth Night at the Donmar Warehouse
Judi Dench & Maggie Smith - The Breath of Life at the Theatre Royal Haymarket
Samantha Bond - Macbeth at the Albery

BEST ACTOR:
Daniel Craig - A Number at the Royal Court
Mark Rylance - Twelfth Night at Shakespeare's Globe
Samuel West - Hamlet, RSC at the Barbican
Simon Russell Beale - Uncle Vanya & Twelfth Night at the Donmar Warehouse
Tom Georgeson - Frozen at the NT Cottesloe
Woody Harrelson - On an Average Day at the Comedy

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Charlotte Randle - Lobby Hero at the Donmar Warehouse, part of the American Imports season, & at the New Ambassadors
Essie Davis - A Streetcar Named Desire at the NT Lyttelton
Eve Best - The Coast of Utopia at the NT Olivier
Jacqueline King - Damsels in Distress at the Duchess
Jessica Stevenson - The Night Heron at the Royal Court
Sian Thomas - Up for Grabs at Wyndhams & The Price at the Tricycle

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
David Bradley - Twelfth Night at the Donmar Warehouse
Mark Bazeley - Homebody/Kabul at the Young Vic & Macbeth at the Albery
Mark Strong - Uncle Vanya at the Donmar Warehouse
Richard Coyle - Proof at the Donmar Warehouse & The York Realist at the Royal Court & Strand
Richard McCabe - Dr Faustus at the Young Vic
Will Keen - The Coast of Utopia at the NT Olivier

BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL:
Emma Williams - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the London Palladium
Hannah Jane Fox - We Will Rock You at the Dominion
Kathryn Evans - Follies at the Royal Festival Hall
Lauren Kennedy - South Pacific at the NT Olivier
Linzi Hateley - Love Songs at the Bridewell
Preeya Kalidas - Bombay Dreams at the Apollo Victoria
(Special mention from an existing production: Joanna Riding - My Fair Lady at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane)

BEST ACTOR IN A MUSICAL:
Euan Morton - Taboo at the Venue
Jarrod Emick - The Full Monty at the Prince of Wales
Michael Ball - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the London Palladium
Michael Jibson - Our House at the Cambridge
Philip Quast - South Pacific at the NT Olivier
Tony Vincent - We Will Rock You at the Dominion
(Special mention from an existing production: Marti Pellow - Chicago at the Adelphi)

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE IN A MUSICAL:
Andrea Francis & Tameka Empson - Our House at the Cambridge
Jenny Galloway - My One & Only at the Piccadilly
Nichola McAuliffe - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the London Palladium Paul Baker - Taboo at the Venue
Raj Ghatak - Bombay Dreams at the Apollo Victoria
Sharon D Clarke - We Will Rock You at the Dominion

BEST SOLO PERFORMANCE:
Don Wycherley - Eden at the Arts
Elaine Stritch - Elaine Stritch at Liberty at the Old Vic
Jackie Clune - Julie Burchill Is Away at Soho Theatre
Kika Markham - Homebody/Kabul at the Young Vic
Pete Postlethwaite - Scaramouche Jones at Riverside Studios
Philip Quast - Divas at the Donmar at the Donmar Warehouse

BEST ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE:
Contact - at the Queen's
Play Without Words - at the NT Lyttelton, part of the Transformation season
Rose Rage - at the Theatre Royal Haymarket
Take Me Out - at the Donmar Warehouse, part of the American Imports season
The Distance from Here - at the Almeida at King's Cross
The Mysteries - at the Queen's & Wilton's Music Hall

BEST DIRECTOR:
Christopher Renshaw - Taboo at the Venue & We Will Rock You at the Dominion
Edward Hall - Rose Rage at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, The Constant Wife at the Apollo & Lyric & Macbeth at the Albery
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Jesus Hopped the A Train at the Donmar Warehouse, part of the American Imports season, & at the Arts
Sam Mendes - Uncle Vanya & Twelfth Night at the Donmar Warehouse
Steven Pimlott - Hamlet, RSC at the Barbican & Bombay Dreams at the Apollo Victoria
Trevor Nunn - The Coast of Utopia at the NT Olivier

BEST SET DESIGNER:
Anthony Ward - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the London Palladium
Bunny Christie - A Streetcar Named Desire at the NT Lyttelton
Paul Brown - King Lear at the Almeida at King's Cross
Rob Howell - Our House at the Cambridge
Vicki Mortimer - Ivanov at the NT Cottesloe
William Dudley - The Coast of Utopia at the NT Olivier

BEST CHOREOGRAPHER:
Anthony van Laast & Farah Khan - Bombay Dreams at the Apollo Victoria
Craig Revel Horwood - My One & Only at the Piccadilly
Jerry Mitchell - The Full Monty at the Prince of Wales
Matthew Bourne - Play Without Words at the NT Lyttelton, part of the Transformation season
Peter Darling - Our House at the Cambridge
Susan Stroman - Contact at the Queen's

BEST SHAKESPEAREAN PRODUCTION:
Hamlet - RSC at the Barbican
King Lear - at the Almeida at King's Cross
Macbeth - at the Albery
Much Ado About Nothing - RSC at the Theatre Royal Haymarket
Twelfth Night - at Shakespeare's Globe
Twelfth Night - at the Donmar Warehouse

BEST PLAY REVIVAL:
A Streetcar Named Desire - at the NT Lyttelton
Abigail's Party - at the Hampstead & New Ambassadors
Ivanov - at the NT Cottesloe
Mrs Warren's Profession - at the Strand
The Constant Wife - at the Lyric & Apollo
The Daughter in Law - at the Young Vic

BEST MUSICAL REVIVAL:
Follies - at the Royal Festival Hall
Oh What a Lovely War! - at the Open Air Theatre
Privates on Parade - at the Donmar Warehouse
South Pacific - at the NT Olivier
Sweeney Todd - Opera North at Sadler's Wells
The Beggar's Opera Ibali IooTsotsi - at Wilton's Music Hall

BEST NEW PLAY:
A Number by Caryl Churchill - at the Royal Court
Frozen by Bryony Lavery - at the NT Cottesloe
Jesus Hopped the A Train by Stephen Adly Guirgis - at the Donmar Warehouse, part of the American Imports season, & at the Arts
The Breath of Life by David Hare - at the Theatre Royal Haymarket
The York Realist by Peter Gill - at the Royal Court & Strand
Vincent in Brixton by Nicholas Wright - at the NT Cottesloe & Wyndham's

BEST NEW COMEDY:
Damsels in Distress by Alan Ayckbourn - at the Duchess
Dinner by Moira Buffini - at the NT Lyttelton Loft
The Lieutenant of Inishmore by Martin McDonagh - RSC at the Barbican & Garrick
The People Are Friendly by Michael Wynne - at the Royal Court
The Wonder of Sex by Patrick Barlow for the National Theatre of Brent - at the NT Lyttelton
This Is Our Youth by Kenneth Lonergan - at the Garrick

BEST NEW MUSICAL:
Bombay Dreams by AR Rahman, Don Black & Meera Syal - at the Apollo Victoria
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by the Sherman Brothers & Jeremy Sams - at the London Palladium
Our House by Madness & Tim Firth - at the Cambridge
Taboo by Boy George & Mark Davies - at the Venue
The Full Monty by David Yazbek & Terrence McNally - at the Prince of Wales
We Will Rock You by Queen & Ben Elton - at the Dominion

LONDON NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR:
Alison Pargeter (actor) - Damsels in Distress at the Duchess
Charlotte Eilenberg (playwright) - The Lucky Ones at Hampstead Theatre
Domhnall Gleeson (actor) - The Lieutenant of Inishmore, RSC at the Barbican & Garrick
Jake Gyllenhaal (actor) - This Is Our Youth at the Garrick
Jochum ten Haaf (actor) - Vincent in Brixton at the NT Cottesloe & Wyndham's
Rebecca Hall (actor) - Mrs Warren's Profession at the Strand

THE PLANET HOLLYWOOD THEATRE EVENT OF THE YEAR:
Dames Maggie Smith & Judi Dench on stage together for the first time in over 40 years in The Breath of Life at the Theatre Royal Haymarket
Madonna's West End debut in Up for Grabs at the Wyndham's Theatre
Tom Stoppard's epic all-day trilogy The Coast of Utopia at the NT Olivier
Sam Mendes' final tenth-anniversary season for the Donmar Warehouse, Uncle Vanya & Twelfth Night
The closure of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats after 21 record-breaking years at the New London Theatre
Adrian Noble's plans for restructuring the Royal Shakespeare Company - including withdrawing from its London residency at the Barbican Centre - followed by his resignation
Special mentions:
The Donmar Warehouse's American Imports season of UK premieres
The National's Transformation season of new work in the reconfigured Lyttelton & Lyttelton Loft
The opening of Bombay Dreams, bringing Asian theatre into the heart of the West End

Click here to visit the 2003 What's on Stage Theatregoers' Choice Awards website.


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