# WhatsOnStage Award for Best Actress in a Musical

The WhatsOnStage Award for Best Performer in a Female Identifying Role in a Musical is an annual award presented by WhatsOnStage.com as part of the annual WhatsOnStage Awards. Founded in 2001 as the Theatregoers' Choice Awards, the WhatsOnStage Awards are based on a popular vote recognising performers and productions in London's West End theatre.
This award is given to a person who has performed a leading female identifying role in a musical during the eligibility year. Introduced in 2001 as the award for Best Actress in a Musical, the category was renamed in 2022 in an effort to be more inclusive. The category was discontinued following the 2022 ceremony and was replaced with the gender-neutral WhatsOnstage Award for Best Performer in a Musical.
First presented to Samantha Spiro at the inaugural ceremony, Carrie Hope Fletcher is the leader in this category after winning three times. Imelda Staunton is the only other performer to win the award multiple times. Fletcher has also received the most nominations in this category, with four.

## Winners and nominees
### 2000s

| Year | Performer | Musical | Female Identifying Character |
| 2001 | Samantha Spiro | Merrily We Roll Along | Mary Flynn |
| 2002 | Frances Barber | Closer to Heaven | Billie Trix |
| 2002 | Tracie Bennett | Last Song of the Nightingale | Martha |
| 2002 | Anita Louise Combe | Hello Again | The Actress |
| 2002 | Ruthie Henshall | Peggy Sue Got Married | Peggy Sue |
| 2002 | Marin Mazzie | Kiss Me, Kate | Lilli Vanessi/Katharine |
| 2002 | Golda Rosheuvel | Songs for a New World | Woman |
| 2003 |
| 2003 | Hannah Jane Fox | We Will Rock You | Scaramouche |
| 2003 | Kathryn Evans | Follies | Sally Durant Plummer |
| 2003 | Linzi Hateley | Love Songs | Nellie Forbush |
| 2003 | Preeya Kalidas | Bombay Dreams | Priya |
| 2003 | Lauren Kennedy | South Pacific | Nellie Forbush |
| 2003 | Emma Williams | Chitty Chitty Bang Bang | Truly Scrumptious |
| 2004 | Sally Ann Triplett | Anything Goes | Reno Sweeney |
| 2004 | Vivienne Carlyle | Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat | Narrator |
| 2004 | Anna Francolini | The Ballad of Little Jo | Josephine Monaghan |
| 2004 | Maria Friedman | Ragtime | Mother |
| 2004 | Amanda Holden | Thoroughly Modern Millie | Millie Dillmount |
| 2004 | Alison Jiear | Jerry Springer: The Opera | Shawntel/Eve |
| 2005 |
| 2005 | Maria Friedman | The Woman in White | Marian Halcombe |
| 2005 | Joanna Francis | Purlie | Lutiebelle |
| 2005 | Karen Mann | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street | Mrs. Lovett |
| 2005 | Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio | Grand Hotel | Elizaveta Grushinskaya |
| 2005 | Rebecca Vere | Bat Boy: The Musical | Meredith Parker |
| 2005 | Leigh Zimmerman | The Producers | Ulla Bloom |
| 2006 | Jane Krakowski | Guys and Dolls | Miss Adelaide |
| 2006 | Anna-Jane Casey | Sunday in the Park with George | Dot/Marie |
| 2006 | Haydn Gwynne | Billy Elliot the Musical | Mrs. Wilkinson |
| 2006 | Laura Michelle Kelly | Mary Poppins | Mary Poppins |
| 2006 | Jenna Russell | Guys and Dolls | Sister Sarah Brown |
| 2006 | Julie Walters | Acorn Antiques: The Musical! | Bo Beaumont |
| 2007 | Idina Menzel | Wicked | Elphaba |
| 2007 | Connie Fisher | The Sound of Music | Maria Rainer |
| 2007 | Tonya Pinkins | Caroline, or Change | Caroline Thibodeaux |
| 2007 | Elena Roger | Evita | Eva Perón |
| 2007 | Jenna Russell | Sunday in the Park with George | Dot/Marie |
| 2007 | Hannah Waddingham | Spamalot | Lady of the Lake |
| 2008 | Leanne Jones | Hairspray | Tracy Turnblad |
| 2008 | Susan McFadden | Grease | Sandy |
| 2008 | Lara Pulver | Parade | Lucille Frank |
| 2008 | Sheridan Smith | Little Shop of Horrors | Audrey |
| 2008 | Summer Strallen | The Drowsy Chaperone | Janet van de Graaff |
| 2008 | Denise van Outen | Rent | Maureen Johnson |
| 2009 | Sofia Escobar | West Side Story | Maria |
| 2009 | Connie Fisher | They're Playing Our Song | Sonia Walsk |
| 2009 | Leila Benn Harris | Imagine This | Rebecca (Tamar) |
| 2009 | Ruthie Henshall | Marguerite | Marguerite |
| 2009 | Lisa O'Hare | Gigi | Gigi |
| 2009 | Elena Roger | Piaf | Edith Piaf |

### 2010s

| Year | Performer | Musical | Female Identifying Character |
| 2010 | Patina Miller | Sister Act | Doloris Van Cartier |
| 2010 | Kathryn Evans | Sunset Boulevard | Norma Desmond |
| 2010 | Jane Horrocks | Annie Get Your Gun | Annie Oakley |
| 2011 | Sheridan Smith | Legally Blonde | Elle Woods |
| 2011 | Sierra Boggess | Love Never Dies | Christine Daaé |
| 2011 | Anna-Jane Casey | Bells Are Ringing | Ella Peterson |
| 2011 | Victoria Hamilton-Barritt | Flashdance | Alex Owens |
| 2011 | Tamzin Outhwaite | Sweet Charity | Charity Hope Valentine |
| 2011 | Elena Roger | Passion | Fosca |
| 2012 | Amanda Holden | Shrek The Musical | Princess Fiona |
| 2012 | Cleo Demetriou Eleanor Worthington Cox Sophia Kiely Kerry Ingram | Matilda the Musical | Matilda Wormwood |
| 2012 | Clare Foster | Crazy for You | Polly Baker |
| 2012 | Sarah Lancashire | Betty Blue Eyes | Joyce Chilvers |
| 2012 | Caissie Levy | Ghost | Molly Jensen |
| 2012 | Emma Williams | Love Story | Jenny |
| 2013 | Imelda Staunton | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street | Mrs. Lovett |
| 2013 | Heather Headley | The Bodyguard | Rachel Marron |
| 2013 | Megan McGinnis | Daddy Long Legs | Jerusha Abbott |
| 2013 | Scarlett Strallen | Singin' in the Rain | Kathy Selden |
| 2013 | Hannah Waddingham | Kiss Me, Kate | Lilli Vanessi/Katharine |
| 2013 | Emi Wokoma | Soul Sister | Tina Turner |
| 2014 | Scarlett Strallen | A Chorus Line | Cassie Ferguson |
| 2014 | Rosalie Craig | The Light Princess | Althea |
| 2014 | Zrinka Cvitešić | Once | Girl |
| 2014 | Cynthia Erivo | The Color Purple | Celie |
| 2014 | Charlotte Wakefield | The Sound of Music | Maria Rainer |
| 2015 | Eva Noblezada | Miss Saigon | Kim |
| 2015 | Madalena Alberto | Evita | Eva Perón |
| 2015 | Gemma Arterton | Made in Dagenham | Rita O'Grady |
| 2015 | Beverley Knight | Memphis | Felicia Farrell |
| 2015 | Jenna Russell | Urinetown | Penelope Pennywise |
| 2016 | Imelda Staunton | Gypsy | Rose Thompson Hovick |
| 2016 | Katie Brayben | Beautiful: The Carole King Musical | Carole King |
| 2016 | Lily Frazer | In the Heights | Nina Rosario |
| 2016 | Beverley Knight | Cats | Grizabella |
| 2016 | Kimberley Walsh | Elf | Jovie |
| 2017 | Amber Riley | Dreamgirls | Effie White |
| 2017 | Glenn Close | Sunset Boulevard | Norma Desmond |
| 2017 | Carrie Hope Fletcher | Chitty Chitty Bang Bang | Truly Scrumptious |
| 2017 | Devon-Elise Johnson | Half a Sixpence | Ann Pornick |
| 2017 | Sheridan Smith | Funny Girl | Fanny Brice |
| 2018 | Carrie Hope Fletcher | The Addams Family | Wednesday Addams |
| 2018 | Christina Bennington | Bat Out of Hell: The Musical | Raven |
| 2018 | Janie Dee | Follies | Phyllis Rogers Stone |
| 2018 | Ria Jones | Sunset Boulevard | Norma Desmond |
| 2018 | Josie Walker | Everybody's Talking About Jamie | Margaret New |
| 2019 | Carrie Hope Fletcher | Heathers: The Musical | Veronica Sawyer |
| 2019 | Laura Baldwin | Eugenius! | Janey |
| 2019 | Rosalie Craig | Company | Bobbie |
| 2019 | Rachelle Ann Go | Hamilton | Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton |
| 2019 | Adrienne Warren | Tina | Tina Turner |

### 2020s

| Year | Performer | Musical | Female Identifying Character |
| 2020 | Miriam-Teak Lee | & Juliet | Juliet Capulet |
| 2020 | Tracie Bennett | Mame | Mame Dennis |
| 2020 | Lucie Jones | Waitress | Jenna Hunterson |
| 2020 | Katharine McPhee | Waitress | Jenna Hunterson |
| 2020 | Zizi Strallen | Mary Poppins | Mary Poppins |
| 2021 | Not presented due to impact on theatres of COVID-19 pandemic | Not presented due to impact on theatres of COVID-19 pandemic | Not presented due to impact on theatres of COVID-19 pandemic |
| 2022 |
| 2022 | Carrie Hope Fletcher | Cinderella | Cinderella |
| 2022 | Aimie Atkinson | Pretty Woman: The Musical | Vivian Ward |
| 2022 | Samantha Barks | Frozen | Elsa |
| 2022 | Jessie Buckley | Cabaret | Sally Bowles |
| 2022 | Beverley Knight | The Drifters Girl | Faye Treadwell |
| 2022 | Steph McKeon | Frozen | Anna |

## Multiple wins and nominations
### Wins
#### 3 wins

* Carrie Hope Fletcher

#### 2 wins

* Imelda Staunton

### Nominations
#### 4 nominations

* Carrie Hope Fletcher

#### 3 nominations

* Beverley Knight
* Elena Roger
* Jenna Russell
* Sheridan Smith
* Hannah Waddingham

#### 2 nominations

* Tracie Bennett
* Anna-Jane Casey
* Rosalie Craig
* Kathryn Evans
* Connie Fisher
* Maria Friedman
* Ruthie Henshall
* Amanda Holden
* Samantha Spiro
* Imelda Staunton
* Scarlett Strallen
* Emma Williams