Anthony Head

Guys and Billy get the public vote

Guys And Dolls and Billy Elliot are once again the frontrunners in the latest awards to be announced. Both musicals picked up four accolades in the Theatregoers’ Choice Awards, revealed online today.

Unlike the Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards, also announced this afternoon, these are voted for by the general public, 12,000 of whom voted this year.

While Billy Elliot beat Mary Poppins to the Best New Musical award, Guys And Dolls took the Best Musical Revival gong, and the Best Actress and Actor in a Musical awards went to original Guys And Dolls cast members Jane Krakowski and Ewan McGregor. It was one a-piece in the Best Supporting Actor/Actress awards in a Musical - Martyn Ellis for Guys And Dolls and Ann Emery for Billy Elliot. The latter musical’s choreographer Peter Darling, already a recipient of a Critics’ Circle Dance Award, picked up Best Choreographer, while the three original young stars who shared the role of Billy - George Maguire, James Lomas and Liam Mower - jointly took the Newcomer of the Year award. The other big new musical of last year, Mary Poppins, only took one award from nine nominations: Best Set Designer for Bob Crowley.

Richard II at the Old Vic was also recognised by the public - the Trevor Nunn-directed production scooped the Best Shakespearian Production award and Best Actor in a Play for Kevin Spacey’s performance in the title role. The Best Actress equivalent went to Kristin Scott Thomas for her role opposite Bob Hoskins in As You Desire Me at the Playhouse, which finished in late January.

Another big winner was the Royal Court’s My Name Is Rachel Corrie, which bagged three awards: Best New Play, Best Director for Alan Rickman, and Best Solo Performance for Megan Dodds, who played the eponymous heroine.

The Best Supporting Actor/Actress in a Play awards went to Anthony Head, who played Richard E Grant’s uncouth, drunken pal in Otherwise Engaged at the Criterion, and Suranne Jones for her role in the stage version of A Few Good Men at the Haymarket.

A full list of the award nominees and winners (in bold) is below. Also announced today are the Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards - click here for our report. The next, and most anticipated, awards announcement is the Laurence Olivier Awards on 26 February, where Billy Elliot, Guys And Dolls and many other nominees will be fighting it out once more.


Best Actress (in a Play)
Clare Higgins - Death of a Salesman at the Lyric
Helen McCrory - As You Like It at the Wyndham’s
Harriet Walter - Mary Stuart at the Donmar Warehouse/Apollo
Janet McTeer - Mary Stuart at the Donmar Warehouse/ Apollo
Kristin Scott Thomas - As You Desire Me at the Playhouse
Sheila Hancock - The Anniversary at the Garrick

Best Actor (in a Play)
Brian Dennehy - Death of a Salesman at the Lyric
Con O’Neill - Telstar at the New Ambassadors
Derek Jacobi - Don Carlos at the Gielgud
Kevin Spacey - Richard II at the Old Vic
Rob Lowe - A Few Good Men at the Theatre Royal Haymarket
Simon Russell Beale - The Philanthropist at the Donmar Warehouse

Best Supporting Actress (in a Play)
Anne Reid - Epitaph for George Dillon at the Comedy
Claire Price - Don Carlos at the Gielgud
Deborah Findlay - The House of Bernarda Alba at the National Lyttelton
Eileen Atkins - Birthday Party at the Duchess
Lesley Manville - Some Girls at the Gielgud/ Pillars of the Community at the NT Lyttelton
Suranne Jones - A Few Good Men at the Theatre Royal Haymarket

Best Supporting Actor (in a Play)
Andrew Scott - Aristocrats at the National Lyttelton
Anthony Head - Otherwise Engaged at the Criterion
Ben Miles - Richard II at the Old Vic
Douglas Henshall - Death of a Salesman at the Lyric
Gary Kemp - The Rubenstein Kiss at the Hampstead
Richard Coyle - Don Carlos at the Gielgud

Best Actress in a Musical
Anna-Jane Casey - Sunday in the Park with George at the Menier Chocolate Factory
Haydn Gwynne - Billy Elliot at the Victoria Palace
Jane Krakowski - Guys And Dolls at the Piccadilly
Jenna Russell - Guys And Dolls at the Piccadilly
Julie Walters - Acorn Antiques at the Theatre Royal Haymarket
Laura Michelle Kelly - Mary Poppins at the Prince Edward

Best Actor in a Musical
Daniel Evans - Sunday in the Park with George at the Menier Chocolate Factory
Douglas Hodge - Guys And Dolls at the Piccadilly
Ewan McGregor - Guys And Dolls at the Piccadilly
Gavin Lee - Mary Poppins at the Prince Edward
George Maguire, James Lomas and Liam Mower - Billy Elliot at the Victoria Palace
Neil Patrick Harris - Tick Tick Boom at the Menier Chocolate Factory

Best Supporting Actress in a Musical
Ann Emery - Billy Elliot at the Victoria Palace
Caroline O’Connor - On the Town, ENO at the London Coliseum
Celia Imrie - Acorn Antiques at the Theatre Royal Haymarket
Linzi Hateley - Mary Poppins at the Prince Edward
Rosemary Ashe - Mary Poppins at the Prince Edward
Tameka Empson - The Big Life at the Theatre Royal Stratford East & the Apollo

Best Supporting Actor in a Musical
Adam Garcia - On the Town, ENO at the London Coliseum
David Haig - Mary Poppins at the Prince Edward
Joe Caffrey - Billy Elliot at the Victoria Palace
Martyn Ellis - Guys And Dolls at the Piccadilly
Simon Gleeson - The Far Pavilions at the Shaftesbury
Tim Healy - Billy Elliot at the Victoria Palace

Best Solo Performance
Corin Redgrave - Tynan, RSC at the Arts
Jefferson Mays - I Am My Own Wife at the Duke of York’s
Megan Dodds - My Name Is Rachel Corrie at the Royal Court
Stephen Dillane - Macbeth at the Almeida

Best Ensemble Performance
Heroes - at Wyndham’s
RSC Golden Age season - at the Playhouse
Shoot the Crow - at Trafalgar Studios
Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me - at the New Ambassadors
Talking to Terrorists - at the Royal Court
The Big Life - at Theatre Royal Stratford East/ Apollo

Best Takeover in a Role
Desmond Barrit - The History Boys at the NT Lyttelton
Giles Terera - The Rat Pack at the Strand/ Savoy
John Gordon Sinclair - The Producers at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Michael Ball - The Woman in White at the Palace
Ruthie Henshall - The Woman in White at the Palace
Sally Ann Triplett - Chicago at the Adelphi

Best New Play
A Few Good Men by Aaron Sorkin - at the Theatre Royal Haymarket
Coram Boy adapted by Helen Edmundson from Jamila Gavin’s novel - at the National Olivier
Harvest by Richard Bean - at the Royal Court
My Name Is Rachel Corrie developed by Katharine Viner and Alan Rickman - at the Royal Court
On the Shore of the Wide World by Simon Stephens - at the National Cottesloe
Some Girls by Neil LaBute - at the Gielgud

Best New Comedy
Glorious! by Peter Quilter - at the Duchess
Heroes by Gerald Sibleyras, translated by Tom Stoppard - at Wyndham’s
Mammals by Amelia Bullmore - at the Bush
Shoot the Crow by Owen McCafferty - at Trafalgar Studios
Theatre of Blood adapted by Lee Simpson and Phelim McDermott - at the National Lyttelton
Who’s the Daddy? by Lloyd Evans and Toby Young - at the King’s Head

Best New Musical
Acorn Antiques - The Musical by Victoria Wood - at the Theatre Royal Haymarket
Billy Elliot - The Musical by Elton John and Lee Hall - at the Victoria Palace
Mary Poppins by Julian Fellowes, George Stiles and Anthony Drewe - at the Prince Edward
The Big Life by Paul Sirett and Paul Joseph - at Theatre Royal Stratford East/ Apollo
Tick Tick Boom by Jonathan Larson - at the Menier Chocolate Factory
The Next Big Thing by Mark Burton and Pete Sinclair - at the New Players

Samuel French - Best Play Revival
Death of a Salesman - at the Lyric
Don Carlos - at the Gielgud
Mary Stuart - at the Apollo
Otherwise Engaged - at the Criterion
Pillars of the Community - at the National Lyttelton
The Philanthropist - at the Donmar Warehouse

Best Musical Revival
Guys And Dolls - at the Piccadilly
Hair - at the Gate
HMS Pinafore - at the Open Air Theatre, Regent’s Park
On the Town - ENO at the London Coliseum
Scrooge - at the London Palladium
Sunday in the Park with George - at the Menier Chocolate Factory

Best Shakespearean Production
As You Like It - at Wyndham’s
Henry IV parts 1 and 2 - at the National Olivier
Julius Caesar - at the Barbican
Richard II - at the Old Vic
Macbeth (with Simon Russell Beale) - at the Almeida
Macbeth (with Stephen Dillane) - at the Almeida

Best Director
Alan Rickman - My Name Is Rachel Corrie at the Royal Court
Melly Still - Coram Boy at the National Oliver
Michael Grandage - Guys And Dolls at the Piccadilly/ Don Carlos at the Gielgud
Phyllida Lloyd - Mary Stuart at the Apollo
Richard Eyre and Matthew Bourne - Mary Poppins at the Prince Edward
Stephen Daldry - Billy Elliot at the Victoria Palace

Best Set Designer
Bob Crowley - Mary Poppins at the Prince Edward
Christopher Oram - Don Carlos at the Gielgud
David Farley (set) and Timothy Bird (video projection) - Sunday in the Park with George at the Menier Chocolate Factory
Ian MacNeil - Billy Elliot at the Victoria Palace
Paul Brown - As You Desire Me at the Playhouse
Rae Smith - Theatre of Blood & Pillars of the Community at the National Lyttelton

Best Choreographer
Adam Cooper - Les Liaisons Dangereuses at Sadler’s Wells
Ann Yee - Hair at the Gate
Jason Pennycooke - The Big Life at Theatre Royal Stratford East & the Apollo
Matthew Bourne and Stephen Mear - Mary Poppins at the Prince Edward
Peter Darling - Billy Elliot at the Victoria Place
Rob Ashford - Guys And Dolls at the Piccadilly

Newcomer of the Year
Amelia Bullmore (playwright) - Mammals at the Bush
Andrea Riseborough (actor) - A Brief History of Helen of Troy at Soho
Charles Aitken (actor) - Hair at the Gate
George Maguire, James Lomas and Liam Mower (actors) - Billy Elliot at the Victoria Palace
Nick Moran and James Hicks (playwrights) - Telstar at the New Ambassadors
Sienna Miller (actor) - As You Like It at Wyndham’s

Best Off West End Production
Comfort Me with Apples at Hampstead
Hair at the Gate
Private Fears in Public Places at the Orange Tree
Sunday in the Park with George at the Menier Chocolate Factory
Tick Tick Boom at the Menier Chocolate Factory
What We Did to Weinstein at the Menier Chocolate Factory

Best Regional or Touring Production
The Winter’s Tale (Propeller) - at the Watermill, Newbury & on tour
A Doll’s House - at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying - at Chichester Festival Theatre
Mack And Mabel - at the Watermill, Newbury
Look Back in Anger - at the Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh/ Theatre Royal, Bath
Tristan And Yseult - (Kneehigh) on tour

Theatre Event of the Year
Harold Pinter winning the Nobel Prize for Literature
Mike Leigh’s return to theatre after 12 years
Ian McKellen making his pantomime dame debut in Aladdin
Theatres closing after the 7 July terrorist attacks
The notoriety surrounding Behind the Iron Mask
West End arrival of the first black British-created play (Kwame Kwei-Armah’s Elmina’s Kitchen), first black British-created musical (The Big Life) and first black British director (The Big Life’s Clint Dyer)