It received rave reviews when it opened in the West End following a successful run at the Lyric Hammersmith, but unfortunately Spring Awakening was to be short lived. Spring sprung out of town almost as quick as it came on the scene, to the dismay of the theatre scene.
But last night the musical received the recognition it deserved as two of its young stars, Aneurin Barnard and Iwan Rheon (pictured below), took home Best Actor in a Musical and Best Supporting Performance in a Musical. The two Welsh actors made their stage debuts in the show.
The musical was also awarded Best New Musical and Best Sound Design for Brian Ronan.
The star-studded event, hosted by Anthony Head at the Grosvenor House Hotel, also saw Jez Butterworth's Jerusalem loose out to The Mountaintop, a two-hander that premiered at a pub theatre before transferring to the West End's Trafalgar Studios. Butterworth's play, which had previously scooped up a string of other awards, was seen very much as the favourite to win.
The Mountaintop, written by 28 year old Black American Katori Hall, is set on the night Martin Luther King was assassinated and following its run at Theatre503, was picked up by commercial Producer Sonia Friedman, who also produced Jerusalem. Hall’s play also fought off stiff competition from Lucy Prebble's Enron, the other Royal Court play that was a seen as a front runner.
Not all was lost for Jerusalem however, with Mark Rylance picking up Best Actor and Best Set Design for Ultz.
Rachel Weisz picked up Best Actress for A Streetcar Named Desire at the Donmar Warehouse, an almost dead-cert and her third major award for her role as Blanche DeBois.
The all-black production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams, which stars James Earl-Jones and Adrian Lester, scooped Best Revival.
The full list of winners are below:-
Audience Award for Most Popular Show (as voted for by the users of officiallondontheatre.co.uk)
Wicked
Music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, book by Winnie Holzman at the Apollo Victoria theatre
Best Actress
Rachel Weisz
A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE at the Donmar Warehouse
Best Actor
Mark Rylance
JERUSALEM at the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Downstairs and now at the Apollo theatre
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Ruth Wilson
A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE at the Donmar Warehouse
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Eddie Redmayne
RED at the Donmar Warehouse
Best Revival
Cat On A Hot Tin Roof
Directed by Debbie Allen at the Novello theatre
Best Entertainment
Morecambe
By Tim Whitnall, at the Duchess theatre
Best New Play
The Mountaintop
By Katori Hall at Trafalgar Studio 1
Best New Comedy
The Priory
By Michael Wynne at the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Downstairs
Best Musical Revival
Hello Dolly!
Book by Michael Stewart, music and lyrics by Jerry Herman, based on the play The Matchmaker by Thornton Wilder, at the Open Air theatre
Best New Musical
Spring Awakening
Music by Duncan Sheik, book and lyrics by Steven Sater, based on the play by Frank Wedekind, at the Novello theatre
Best Actress in a Musical or Entertainment
Samantha Spiro
HELLO DOLLY! at the Open Air theatre
Best Actor in a Musical or Entertainment
Aneurin Barnard
SPRING AWAKENING at the Novello theatre
Best Supporting Performance in a Musical or Entertainment
Iwan Rheon
SPRING AWAKENING at the Novello theatre
Best Director
Rupert Goold
ENRON at the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Downstairs and now at the Noël Coward theatre
Best Theatre Choreographer
Stephen Mear
HELLO DOLLY! at the Open Air theatre
Best Lighting Design
Burnt By The Sun
Designed by Mark Henderson at the National Theatre, Lyttelton
Best Set Design
Jerusalem
Designed by Ultz at the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Downstairs and now at the Apollo theatre
Best Costume Design
Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert – The Musical
Designed by Tim Chappel and Lizzy Gardiner at the Palace theatre
Best Sound Design
Spring Awakening
Designed by Brian Ronan at the Novello theatre
Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre
The Royal Court for COCK
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
Best New Opera Production
The Royal Opera's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE
At the Royal Opera House
Outstanding Achievement in Opera
Nina Stemme
For her performance in the Royal Opera's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE at the Royal Opera House
Best New Dance Production
The Brandstrup-Rojo project's GOLDBERG
At the Royal Opera House
Outstanding Achievement in Dance
Rambert Dance Company
For an outstanding year of new work
Outstanding Achievement
Michael Codron
Special Award
Maggie Smith
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