# 2012 WhatsOnStage Awards

The WhatsOnStage Awards, founded in 2001 as the Theatregoers' Choice Awards, are a fan-driven set of awards organised by the theatre website WhatsOnStage.com, based on a popular vote recognising performers and productions of English theatre, with an emphasis on London's West End theatre.
The 2012 Whatsonstage Award winners and nominees were:
| Best New Play | Best New Musical |
| Three Days in May Belongings Collaborators Grief Mogadishu The Heretic | Matilda the Musical Betty Blue Eyes Ghost the Musical London Road Rock of Ages Shrek the Musical |
| Best Play Revival | Best Musical Revival |
| Driving Miss Daisy Anna Christie Chicken Soup with Barley Ecstasy Flare Path Saved | The Wizard of Oz Crazy for You Fings Ain’t Wot They Used T’Be Parade Ragtime South Pacific |
| Best Actor in a Play | Best Actress in a Play |
| James Corden – One Man, Two Guvnors Benedict Cumberbatch – Frankenstein Jude Law – Anna Christie Kevin Spacey – Richard III David Tennant – Much Ado About Nothing James Earl Jones – Driving Miss Daisy | Vanessa Redgrave – Driving Miss Daisy Eve Best – Much Ado About Nothing Kristin Scott Thomas – Betrayal Ruth Wilson – Anna Christie Samantha Spiro – Chicken Soup with Barley Tamsin Greig – Jumpy |
| Best Actor in a Musical | Best Actress in a Musical |
| Richard Fleeshman – Ghost the Musical Bertie Carvel – Matilda the Musical Nigel Lindsay – Shrek the Musical Oliver Tompsett – Rock of Ages Reece Shearsmith – Betty Blue Eyes Sean Palmer – Crazy for You | Amanda Holden – Shrek the Musical Caissie Levy – Ghost the Musical Clare Foster – Crazy for You Emma Williams – Love Story Cleo Demetriou, Kerry Ingram, Eleanor Worthington Cox & Sophia Kiely – Matilda the Musical Sarah Lancashire – Betty Blue Eyes |
| Best Supporting Actor in a Play | Best Supporting Actress in a Play |
| Oliver Chris – One Man, Two Guvnors Arthur Darvill – Dr Faustus Charles Edwards – Twelfth Night David Hayman – Anna Christie Harry Hadden-Paton – Flare Path Mark Gatiss – Season’s Greetings | Catherine Tate – Season’s Greetings Bryony Hannah – The Children’s Hour Doon Mackichan – Jumpy Jemima Rooper – One Man, Two Guvnors Niamh Cusack – The Playboy of the Western World Sheridan Smith – Flare Path |
| Best Supporting Actor in a Musical | Best Supporting Actress in a Musical |
| Nigel Harman – Shrek the Musical Andrew Langtree – Ghost the Musical Ben Goddard – Million Dollar Quartet David Burt – Crazy for You Paul Kaye – Matilda the Musical Simon Lipkin – Rock of Ages | Hannah Waddingham – The Wizard of Oz Ann Emery – Betty Blue Eyes Harriet Thorpe – Crazy for You Lauren Ward – Matilda the Musical Meow Meow – The Umbrellas of Cherbourg Sharon D. Clarke – Ghost the Musical |
| Best Direction | Best Choreography |
| Danny Boyle – Frankenstein Josie Rourke – Much Ado About Nothing Matthew Warchus – Ghost the Musical Michael Grandage – King Lear & Luise Miller Nicholas Hytner – One Man, Two Guvnors Trevor Nunn – Flare Path & Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead | Peter Darling – Matilda the Musical Aline David – The Kitchen Ashley Wallen – Ghost the Musical Kate Prince – Some Like It Hip Hop Kelly Devine – Rock of Ages Stephen Mear – Crazy for You & Betty Blue Eyes |
| Best Set Design | Best Lighting Design |
| Rob Howell – Ghost the Musical & Matilda the Musical Mark Tildesley – Frankenstein Jon Bausor – Lord of the Flies Miriam Buether – Decade Paul Wills – Anna Christie Robert Jones – The Wizard of Oz | Hugh Vanstone – Ghost the Musical Bruno Poet – Frankenstein Mark Henderson – The Kitchen, 13 & Emperor & Galilean Paule Constable – Luise Miller Neil Austin – Betty Blue Eyes Oliver Fenwick – My City |
| Best Takeover In A Role | Best London Newcomer of the Year |
| Alfie Boe – Les Misérables Alex Gaumond – We Will Rock You Kimberley Walsh – Shrek the Musical Matt Lucas – Les Misérables Susan McFadden – Legally Blonde Tara Fitzgerald – Broken Glass | Tim Minchin – Matilda the Musical Danielle Hope – The Wizard of Oz Johnny Flynn – The Heretic Kara Tointon – Pygmalion Kyle Soller – The Glass Menagerie, Government Inspector & The Faith Machine Shayne Ward – Rock of Ages |
| Best Off-West End Production | Best Regional Production |
| The Riots – at the Tricycle Accolade – at the Finborough Realism – at Soho The Animals & Children Took to the Streets – at the Battersea Arts Centre The Belle’s Stratagem – at Southwark Playhouse Thrill Me: The Leopold & Loeb Story – at the Tristan Bates & Charing Cross | Sweeney Todd – at Chichester Festival 20th Century Boy – at the New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich Love, Love, Love – at the Drum Theatre, Plymouth & on tour Macbeth – at the Liverpool Everyman Othello – at the Sheffield Crucible The Go Between – at West Yorkshire Playhouse, Derby LIVE and Royal & Derngate, Northampton |
| Best New Comedy | Best Shakespearean Production |
| One Man, Two Guvnors – by Richard Bean Get Santa! – by Anthony Neilson Jumpy – by April de Angelis No Naughty Bits – by Steve Thompson Potted Panto – by Daniel Clarkson, Jefferson Turner & Richard Hurst The Village Bike – by Penelope Skinner | Much Ado About Nothing – at Wyndham’s Hamlet – at the Young Vic King Lear – at Donmar Warehouse Much Ado About Nothing – at Shakespeare’s Globe Richard III – at the Old Vic The Tempest – at the Theatre Royal Haymarket |
| Best Solo Performance | Best Ensemble Performance |
| Kerry Ellis – Anthems Daniel Kitson – It’s Always Right Now Until It’s Later John Leguziamo – Ghetto Klown Ruby Wax – Losing It Simon Callow – Being Shakespeare Stephanie Street – The Nightwatchman | London Road Backbeat Richard III & The Comedy of Errors Some Like It Hip Hop The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Top Girls |
| Best West End Show ||
| War Horse Wicked Les Miserables Jersey Boys The Phantom of the Opera We Will Rock You ||
| Theatre Event of the Year ||
| David Tennant & Catherine Tate reuniting on stage – in Much Ado About Nothing Headlong’s commemoration of 9/11 with Decade, written by 18 authors & staged in a disused office block at St Katharine’s Dock Michael Sheen & Bill Mitchell’s National Theatre of Wales staging of The Passion on the streets of Port Talbot The Bush Theatre’s 24-hour cycle of 66 Books, in response to the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, to open its new Shepherd’s Bush Library home The Phantom of the Opera’s 25th anniversary concert at the Royal Albert Hall & screened to cinemas worldwide The Royal Shakespeare Company’s 50th anniversary season & reopening of the Royal Shakespeare & Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon Danny Boyle’s return to the stage with Frankenstein and his alternate casting of Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller in the leads Duckie’s Lullaby, the Barbican’s first-ever sleepover show The National’s opening of its Paintframe as a one-off performance space Benefit concert to rescue Dress Circle ||