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            Starlight Express Races to Victory and Doctor Who Stars Reunite at the 25th WhatsOnStage Awards!

            Published on 10 February 2025

            The 25th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards rolled into the London Palladium yesterday (9th February 2025), celebrating a quarter-century of theatrical excellence. Leading the charge was Andrew Lloyd Webber's Starlight Express, which steamed ahead with seven awards, including Best Musical Revival and Best Professional Debut for Jeevan Braich. This impressive haul mirrors last year's success of another Lloyd Webber classic, Sunset Boulevard, which also basked in the glow of seven awards. Clearly, the maestro has a knack for hitting the right notes with theatregoers year after year.

            In a twist that seems plucked from a sci-fi script, former Doctor Who co-stars David Tennant and Freema Agyeman both clinched acting accolades for their roles in Shakespearean revivals. Tennant, best known for his time-traveling exploits as the Tenth Doctor, won Best Performer in a Play for his portrayal of Macbeth. Meanwhile, Agyeman, who journeyed alongside him as companion Martha Jones, secured Best Supporting Performer in a Play for her role as the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet. It's almost as if their stellar performances were written in the stars—or perhaps in the time vortex.

            The evening also saw Imelda Staunton take home the award for Best Performer in a Musical for her dazzling turn in Hello, Dolly! The West End will be saying "hello" to her again soon, as she's set to star alongside her real-life daughter, Bessie Carter, in mother-and-daughter drama Mrs. Warren's Profession. Talk about method acting!

            Layton Williams, who is currently making waves as the Iceberg in Titanique, was honored with Best Takeover Performance as the Emcee in Cabaret. 

             

            Full list of WhatsOnStage Award winners

            Best New Musical – sponsored by Travelzoo

             Best New Play – sponsored by Go Live Theatre

            • Giant, Mark Rosenblatt
            • Kyoto, Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson
            • Princess Essex, Anne Odeke
            • Punch, James Graham
            • Slave Play, Jeremy O’Harris
            • Spirited Away, adapted by John Caird and co-adapted by Maoko Imai (Winner)

             Best Musical Revival – sponsored by Concord Theatricals

             Best Play Revival – sponsored by Edwardian Hotels London – Official Hotel Partner

             Best West End Show – sponsored by Dewynters

            Best Performer in a Musical – sponsored by Ticketmaster

             Best Supporting Performer in a Musical – sponsored by Newman Displays

             Best Performer in a Play – sponsored by Sine Digital

            • Emma D’Arcy, The Other Place
            • Tom Holland, Romeo and Juliet
            • Cush Jumbo, Macbeth
            • Anne Odeke, Princess Essex
            • Michael Sheen, Nye
            • David Tennant, Macbeth (Winner)

            Best Supporting Performer in a Play

            • Freema Agyeman, Romeo and Juliet (Winner)
            • Romola Garai, Giant
            • Julie Hesmondhalgh, Punch
            • Teddy Hinde, The History Boys
            • Atsuki Mashiko, Spirited Away
            • Sharon Small, Nye

            Best Takeover Performance – supported by Hurtwood House, the School for Theatre 

             Best Professional Debut Performance – sponsored by AKA

             Best Regional Production – sponsored by Music Theatre International

            • 42 Balloons, The Lowry, Salford
            • The Artist, Theatre Royal Plymouth
            • Becoming Nancy, Birmingham Repertory Theatre
            • Brassed Off, Theatre by the Lake, Stephen Joseph Theatre and Octagon Theatre Bolton
            • Dear Evan Hansen, Nottingham Playhouse and UK tour
            • Oliver!, Chichester Festival Theatre (Winner)

             Best Off-West End Production – sponsored by Theatrical Rights Worldwide

            • Brace Brace, Royal Court
            • Dear Young Monster, Bristol Old Vic
            • Diary of a Gay Disaster, Underbelly Cowgate and Arcola Theatre (Winner)
            • Kenrex, Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse, Sheffield
            • Mulatto Boy, Omnibus Theatre
            • Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em, Barn Theatre, Cirencester

             Best Direction – sponsored by LOVEtheatre

            • Eline Arbo, The Years
            • Robert Icke, Oedipus
            • Anthony Lau, The Crucible
            • James Macdonald, Waiting for Godot
            • Drew McOnie, The Artist
            • Emma Rice, The Buddha of Suburbia (Winner)

             Best Concert Event

             Best Musical Direction/Supervision – sponsored by Disney’s Hercules

             Best Choreography – sponsored by LaDuca Shoes

            Best Costume Design

            Best Lighting Design – sponsored by White Light

            • Paule Constable and Ben Jacobs, Oliver!
            • Howard Hudson, Starlight Express (Winner)
            • Jessica Hung Han Yun, Minority Report
            • Tim Lutkin, Coriolanus
            • Bruno Poet, Waiting for Godot
            • Zoe Spurr, The Artist

             Best Set Design – sponsored by Preevue

             Best Sound Design – sponsored by HERE @ Outernet

            • Paul Arditti, Brace Brace
            • Susan Bear, Maggie and Me
            • Nicola T Chang, Minority Report
            • Gareth Fry, Macbeth (Winner)
            • Gareth Fry, Viola’s Room
            • Gareth Owen, Starlight Express

             Best Video Design – sponsored by TikTok 

            • Grant Gee and Ellie Thompson, Bluets
            • David Bergman, The Picture of Dorian Gray
            • Andrzej Goulding, Starlight Express (Winner)
            • Tal Rosner, Minority Report
            • Ash J Woodward, The Artist
            • Ash J Woodward, Fangirls

             Best Wigs, Hair and Make Up Design, supported by BBC Three’s Glow Up 

            • Campbell Young Associates, The Devil Wears Prada
            • Jackie Saundercock and Campbell Young Associates, Starlight Express (Winner)
            • Marg Horwell, The Picture of Dorian Gray
            • Betty Marini, The Cabinet Minister
            • Hiroaki Miyauchi, Spirited Away
            • Georgia Nosal, The Artist

            Best Casting Direction

            • Amy Ball, The Years
            • Harry Blumenau and Sarah-Jane Price, Why Am I So Single? (Winner)
            • Stuart Burt, Fiddler on the Roof
            • Alastair Coomer and Chloe Blake, Till the Stars Come Down
            • Anna Cooper, MacbethLotte Hines, A Raisin in the Sun
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            Sian McBride

            By Sian McBride

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