Nominations have been revealed for the 2025 Whatsonstage Awards.
Winners of the annual awards, which celebrate their 25th anniversary in 2025, will be announced at a ceremony at the London Palladium on 9 February 2025.
The awards across the 24 categories are voted for by theatregoers. Voting is open to Thursday 9 January 2025.
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Starlight Express leads this year’s shortlist with nine nominations including Best Musical Revival. Drew McOnie’s production of The Artist scored six nominations, as did Max Webster’s production of Macbeth starring David Tennant and Cush Jumbo.
Cameron Mackintosh’s West End bound revival of Oliver! got five nominations, as did Spirited Away at the London Coliseum, and Fiddler on the Roof at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre.
Last year’s winners included Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard with 7 awards, Guys & Dolls, Cabaret, Operation Mincemeat, and Stranger Things: The First Shadow. The awards were hosted by Melanie La Barrie (Hadestown) and Bonnie Langford (Les Miserables).
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Whatsonstage Awards 2025 – Nominations
See below for the League Table of nominations ↓
Best West End Show
Cabaret, The Kit Kat Club at the Playhouse Theatre
Hamilton, Victoria Palace Theatre
Les Misérables, Sondheim Theatre
Mamma Mia!, Novello Theatre
Operation Mincemeat, Fortune Theatre
Six, Vaudeville Theatre
Best Performer in a Musical
Georgina Castle, Mean Girls
Jo Foster, Why Am I So Single?
Myles Frost, MJ the Musical
Imelda Staunton, Hello, Dolly!
Leesa Tulley, Why Am I So Single?
Vanessa Williams, The Devil Wears Prada
Best Supporting Performer in a Musical
Siobhan Athwal, Bhangra Nation
Amy Di Bartolomeo, The Devil Wears Prada
Melanie La Barrie, Hadestown
Grace Mouat, Mean Girls
Jaydon Vijn, Starlight Express
Tom Xander, Mean Girls
Best Performer in a Play
Emma D’Arcy, The Other Place
Tom Holland, Romeo and Juliet
Cush Jumbo, Macbeth
Anne Odeke, Princess Essex
Michael Sheen, Nye
David Tennant, Macbeth
Best Supporting Performer in a Play
Freema Agyeman, Romeo and Juliet
Romola Garai, Giant
Julie Hesmondhalgh, Punch
Teddy Hinde, The History Boys
Atsuki Mashiko, Spirited Away
Sharon Small, Nye
Best Takeover Performance
Zoe Birkett, TINA The Tina Turner Musical
Cara Delevingne, Cabaret
Craig Ryder, Moulin Rouge! the Musical
Alex Sawyer, Hamilton
Tobias Turley, Mamma Mia!
Layton Williams, Cabaret
Best Professional Debut Performance
Esme Bowdler, Heathers the Musical
Jeevan Braich, Starlight Express
Stevie Doc, Mamma Mia!
Vasco Emauz, Back to the Future the Musical
Mia Kobayashi, Your Lie in April
Gerardine Sacdalan, & Juliet
Best New Musical
Babies, Jack Godfrey and Martha Geelan
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Darren Clark and Jethro Compton
The Devil Wears Prada, Elton John, Shaina Taub, Mark Sonnenblick and Kate Wetherhead
MJ the Musical, Michael Jackson and Lynn Nottage
Mean Girls, Jeff Richmond, Nell Benjamin and Tina Fey
Why Am I So Single?, Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss
Best Musical Revival
Dear Evan Hansen, Nottingham Playhouse and on tour
Hadestown, Lyric Theatre
Hello, Dolly!, The London Palladium
Kiss Me, Kate, Barbican Theatre
Oliver!, Chichester Festival Theatre
Starlight Express, Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre
Best New Play
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
Best Play Revival
A Raisin in the Sun, UK tour
The Crucible, Crucible Theatre
Macbeth, Donmar Warehouse and Harold Pinter Theatre
Oedipus, Wyndham’s Theatre
Romeo and Juliet, Duke of York’s Theatre
Waiting for Godot, Theatre Royal Haymarket
Best Regional Production
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
Best Off-West End Production
Brace Brace, Royal Court
Dear Young Monster, Bristol Old Vic
Diary of a Gay Disaster, Underbelly Cowgate and Arcola Theatre
Kenrex, Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse, Sheffield
Mulatto Boy, Omnibus Theatre
Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em, Barn Theatre, Cirencester
Best Concert Event
Gypsy the Musical in Concert, Hope Mill Theatre at Opera House, Manchester
I Am Harvey Milk, Cadogan Hall
Pippin 50th Anniversary Concert, Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Something Rotten! In Concert, Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Sondheim on Sondheim, Alexandra Palace Theatre
Spring Awakening: 15th Anniversary Concert, Victoria Palace Theatre
Best Direction
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
Best Musical Direction/Supervision
Mark Aspinall and Dan Turek, Fiddler on the Roof
Niraj Chag and Simon Baker, The Buddha of Suburbia
Darren Clark and Mark Aspinall, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Alasdair Macrae, Macbeth
Matthew Malone, Brassed Off
Liam Robinson and Tarek Merchant, Hadestown
Best Casting Direction
Amy Ball, The Years
Harry Blumenau and Sarah-Jane Price, Why Am I So Single?
Stuart Burt, Fiddler on the Roof
Alastair Coomer and Chloe Blake, Till the Stars Come Down
Anna Cooper, Macbeth
Lotte Hines, A Raisin in the Sun
Best Choreography
Matthew Bourne, Oliver!
Julia Cheng, Fiddler on the Roof
Drew McOnie, The Artist
Rujuta Vaidya, Bhangra Nation
Anthony Van Laast, Kiss Me, Kate
Christopher Wheeldon, MJ the Musical
Best Costume Design
Sachiko Nakahara, Spirited Away
Lez Brotherston, Oliver!
Marg Horwell, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Tom Scutt, Fiddler on the Roof
Gabriella Slade, Starlight Express
Rae Smith, Hello, Dolly!
Best Lighting Design
Paule Constable, Oliver!
Howard Hudson, Starlight Express
Jessica Hung Han Yun, Minority Report
Tim Lutkin, Coriolanus
Bruno Poet, Waiting for Godot
Zoe Spurr, The Artist
Best Set Design
Jon Bausor and Toby Olié, Spirited Away
Miriam Buether, Kyoto
Es Devlin, Coriolanus
Tim Hatley, Starlight Express
Kenneth MacLeod, Maggie and Me
Tom Scutt, Fiddler on the Roof
Best Sound Design
Paul Arditti, Brace Brace
Susan Bear, Maggie and Me
Nicola T Chang, Minority Report
Gareth Fry, Macbeth
Gareth Fry, Viola’s Room
Gareth Owen, Starlight Express
Best Video Design
David Bergman, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Grant Gee and Ellie Thompson, Bluets
Andrzej Goulding, Starlight Express
Tal Rosner, Minority Report
Ash J Woodward, The Artist
Ash J Woodward, Fangirls
Best Wigs, Hair and Make Up Design
Campbell Young Associates, The Devil Wears Prada
Jackie Saundercock and Campbell Young Associates, Starlight Express
Marg Horwell, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Betty Marini, The Cabinet Minister
Hiroaki Miyauchi, Spirited Away
Georgia Nosal, The Artist
Whatsonstage Awards 2025 – Nominations League Table
| Show | Nominations |
| Starlight Express | 9 |
| The Artist | 6 |
| Macbeth | 6 |
| Oliver! | 5 |
| Spirited Away | 5 |
| Fiddler on the Roof | 5 |
| Mean Girls | 4 |
| Why Am I So Single? | 4 |
| The Devil Wears Prada | 4 |
| Cabaret | 3 |
| Hadestown | 3 |
| Waiting for Godot | 3 |
| Romeo and Juliet | 3 |
| The Picture of Dorian Gray | 3 |
| Hello, Dolly! | 3 |
| Mamma Mia! | 3 |
| Minority Report | 3 |
| MJ the Musical | 3 |
| The Buddha of Suburbia | 2 |
| The Years | 2 |
| Brace Brace | 2 |
| Brassed Off | 2 |
| Coriolanus | 2 |
| Dear Evan Hansen | 2 |
| Oedipus | 2 |
| The Crucible | 2 |
| A Raisin in the Sun | 2 |
| Hamilton | 2 |
| Maggie and Me | 2 |
| Kiss Me, Kate | 2 |
| Kyoto | 2 |
| The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | 2 |
| Nye | 2 |
| Giant | 2 |
| Punch | 2 |
| Bhangra Nation | 2 |
| Princess Essex | 2 |
| The Other Place | 1 |
| Something Rotten! In Concert | 1 |
| Sondheim on Sondheim | 1 |
| Spring Awakening: 15th Anniversary Concert | 1 |
| Till the Stars Come Down | 1 |
| I Am Harvey Milk | 1 |
| Six | 1 |
| Operation Mincemeat | 1 |
| Les Misérables | 1 |
| Viola’s Room | 1 |
| Bluets | 1 |
| Fangirls | 1 |
| Pippin 50th Anniversary Concert | 1 |
| Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em | 1 |
| Gypsy the Musical in Concert | 1 |
| TINA The Tina Turner Musical | 1 |
| & Juliet | 1 |
| Your Lie in April | 1 |
| Slave Play | 1 |
| Back to the Future the Musical | 1 |
| Heathers the Musical | 1 |
| Moulin Rouge! the Musical | 1 |
| 42 Balloons | 1 |
| Babies | 1 |
| The History Boys | 1 |
| Becoming Nancy | 1 |
| Dear Young Monster | 1 |
| Diary of a Gay Disaster | 1 |
| Kenrex | 1 |
| Mulatto Boy | 1 |
| The Cabinet Minister | 1 |
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