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A Round-Up of 2019

Another year gone. 2019 really has brought its ups and downs.

I've been on one of the best experiences of my life in travelling around Europe (you can read more here), making loads of new friends along the way!
But in other times, it has been, in the words of Queen Baga Chipz "a bit of a gobshite"!

Thankfully, it has generally been a good egg as far as theatre goes (I mean LOOK at the montage!).

And as per every year, we look back as to what were the best of the best during 2019.

As always, don't forget to click the pink to read my reviews of all the nominated and winning shows in full.

Let's get started:

Performance of the Year Award:
Male:
Nominees:
Winner: This is a special winner indeed, as he is the first person to be nominated twice in the same year! Hammad Animashuan may not be a name many people know now, but he WILL be - MARK MY WORDS! This year, he has played camp assistant Carmen Ghia in The Producers at the Royal Exchange, and Bottom at The Bridge Theatre's A Midsummer Night's Dream, which I saw through its NT Live screening, and I think he has been nominated for a WhatsOnStage Award for it too.  

Female: This has been THE hardest category to decide....! Partly due to the AMAZEBALLS choice of parts for women played this year.
Nominees:
  • Katie Hall as Fantine in Les Miserables UK tour (still my favourite Fantine so far, sorry Carrie, love you too!)
  • Jocasta Almgill as Anita in West Side Story
  • Judy Kuhn as Golde in Fiddler on the Roof
  • Phoebe Waller-Bridge as the title character in the NT Live screening of Fleabag
  • Laura Pitt-Pulford as Trina in Falsettos 
  • Tracie Bennett as Mame Dennis in Mame
  • The UK touring cast of SIX (all six of them)
Runner-Up: It was so hard to choose in fact, that I need to pick a Runner-Up. And this goes to the three incredible women who were playing Shakespeare's Dark Lady, Emilia Bassano in Emilia: Saffron Coomber, Adelle Leonce and Clare Perkins - anyone who saw the show would appreciate why these three are not just here, but also so high on the list. I was back and from with this and my winner, but my gut goes with this way around.

Winner: Like I said, this was VERY close, but my eventual winner is Almgill's co-star Gabriela Garcia, as Maria in West Side Story at the Royal Exchange. There is a reason why she, along with Andy Coxon, is returning with the production next year - because she was FANTASTIC!!! Her light soprano was beautiful! In the above picture, during A Boy Like That, even from the top you can see the tears (and snot) running down á la Viola Davis, she was THAT invested into the character!


Understudy of the Year Award:
Nominees:
  • Sergio Pasquariello as cover Sam Wheat in Ghost
  • Rachelle Diedericks as cover Rose Granger-Weasley in Cursed Child
  • Jennifer Caldwell as cover Anne Boleyn in SIX
Winner: Playing Caroline Thibodaux in Caroline or Change is one thing. Covering a powerhouse like Sharon D Clarke playing Caroline Thibodaux in Caroline Or Change is another thing - but Naana Agyei-Ampad stepped up and blew the audience away. In fact, she was still the best thing about a show that in comparison to others this year was a bit of a meh.


Almost-But-Not-Quite Award: This one is interesting. My parents went to see Magic Goes Wrong, and did the one thing we have NEVER done before - walked out after the interval. If I had seen it as well (I couldn't because of work), this could have been the winner from what they told me, but alas, I didn't so it will obviously not count.
Nominees:
  • Caroline Or Change 
  • RENT Live - the saving grace it has from winning is it is a filmed dress rehearsal rather than the LIVE event it was planning to be, due to Brenin Hunt breaking his foot. 
  • The Lion King remake by Disney - not BAD as such, but it is essentially the same as the 1st without adding enough to it for it to be its own original thing. 
Winner: Hair. A very talented cast and good numbers couldn't save it from the story being so jarring, it was as if everyone was high on weed... Oh yeah, half of the second half WAS a hallucination! The sound levels too were sadly way off, and it left me with a bit of earache.


Leaky Eyes Award: Another hard one, but eventually it came down between two of these four nominees
Nominees:
Runner-Up: West Side Story. I've already mentioned Gabriela Garcia's tear and snot stained face, but I saved it until now to mention that a lot of the audience were like that too.

Winner: This was another one I was back and forth with, but ultimately Les Mis wins again, particularly the tour. Katie Hall's I Dreamed A Dream was VERY close to making me cry, and I heard a lot of sobs during Killian Donnely's Bring Him Home. It does have "Miserable" in the title after all... 


Laughed-Till-I-Was-Sore Award:
Nominees:
  • The Producers
  • Jack McBrayer's performance as Ogie in Waitress. Couldn't sing for pot but oh boy did he make us laugh!
  • Lea Salonga's banter during her concert. Including an apology to parents for putting Let It Go back in people's heads when it had only just left....
  • 9 to 5 UK tour
  • Rebecca Lock and Samuel Holmes' performances as Carmen and Chris in Curtains
Winner: Even with all this laughter, there was one that had me howling from start to finish. Not even Mel Brooks this time can beat The Book Of Mormon - yes it's not for everyone and yes it's loud and crude, but it's also really really funny!


Danced-Till-They-Dropped Award:
Nominees:
  • West Side Story - paying homage to Jerome Robbins' original work while making something feel fresh and exciting for the Royal Exchange is NOT easy
  • Fiddler on the Roof - brilliantly performed, but clearly made for the people in the stalls in mind...
Winner: I look at tap and I'm exhausted by the first number - don't even think about me attempting it! I watched 42nd Street during its screening in the cinema and was amazed the dancers didn't all have to go and lie down.... And there are A LOT of dancing feet in that show!


Surprise of the Year Award: This is 2019's brand new award (which I intend to keep) and highlights the moments when someone or something with no expectations ended up leaving a brilliant surprise for us! It can either be for a show itself, or for a performer in a specific part.
Nominees:
  •  Dove Cameron's performance as Clara Johnson in The Light in the Piazza
  •  Amber Davies' performance as Judy Bernly in 9 to 5 UK tour
Winner: This goes to a production itself rather than one particular performance. Sometimes you don't want something big and brash, but something that's witty, homely and charming. That is exactly what Amelie: The Musical was. As well as the performances from Audrey Brisson and Danny Mac, the production was also an actor-musician piece, a specialty of the Watermill Theatre. It's something you can just relax to with a cuppa tea (or perhaps a brandy), and that is why I wanted to recognise it. If you're in London at the moment, it is currently playing at The Other Palace, so I would recommend you go and get tickets!


On-Screen Event of the Year Award:
Nominees:
Winner: This was another hard one, but I'm going to pick the Bohemian Rhapsody of 2019 - Rocketman, starring the brilliant Taron Egerton as Elton John. It's not the easiest watch by all means but Egerton's performance is fantastic, including his singing voice!


Costume of the Year Award:
Nominees:
Winner: As much as I loved every costume-nominated show above, I chose The Light in the Piazza as they were just so classy! I love 1950s pieces, and as it was set in Florence, there was plenty of Italian glamour in there too!


Blew My Mind Award:
Nominees:
  • Les Mis (both the UK tour and the Staged Concert)
  • School of Rock
  • West Side Story
  • Jeremy Jordan in concert, particularly his The Greatest Showman medley
  • SIX
Winner: This has ended up as a tie, because they blew my mind for completely different reasons, yet I love them both equally. I couldn't even do a Runner-Up! Emilia has been the piece that has challenged me the most, not just as a theatre-goer, but also as a woman - her final speech brought the audience of mostly women to their feet in a heartbeat. And oh by the way, I'm still waiting for the tour to be announced! Cursed Child blew me away most as far as a piece of theatre goes, from story, to seeing the beloved characters I grew up with now as parents, and some just as beloved new ones too, to the special effects and the … well …. MAGIC!

***

2020 is already starting to look pretty varied, with work old and new. Some well known West End hits are embarking on their first UK tours, with Waitress and Heathers hitting Manchester in the Autumn, and Everybody's Talking About Jamie in Salford with Layton Williams continuing in the role.

The highly praised current tour of Cabaret is coming in February, while I am hoping to kick off the New Year with the one literally at the top of the list, We Will Rock You. A huge UK tour of The Phantom of the Opera will also be kicking off in 2020 with Killian Donnely in the title role! Plus my very first West End show, The Lion King will also be doing an almost 3 month (!) stint at Manchester's Palace!
The Lowry will also be showcasing the UK tour of the Old Vic's production of A Monster Calls and the Hope Mill will be holding the first staged production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella.

Manchester's Opera House will also be hosting the pre-run of a brand new musical, just as they did this year with & Juliet (which I sadly didn't get to see due to an 8am flight the day after all my friends were going - I digress). This time, instead of bubblegum pop tunes, grab your time machines, as they will be premiering Back To The Future: The Musical....! Great Scott!!

I'm not planning to see loads of stuff in London this year (could change my mind though) - BUUUT the West End will be holding the UK premiere of The Prince of Egypt; Michael Ball (Chess) returning to his Olivier-winning role of Edna Turnblad in Hairspray; a revival of Hello Dolly starring Imelda Staunton (Gypsy) and Jenna Russel (Fun Home); and Frozen, who have recently announced that Samantha Barks will be their Elsa....! Think that will happily suffice..! 😁😁😁

On screen, a HUGE adaptation of In The Heights is going to be released in cinemas everywhere in the Summer starring Anthony Ramos (A Star Is Born). The trailer looks AMAZING!!

***

Hopefully, this next year, and DECADE will have a standard in the theatre scene which continues to be this high!

Weird to think that this time 10 years ago I was only just STARTING to get the bug!

I was in my final year of sixth form, thinking about university; and the soundtrack to those years was Hairspray, Avenue Q and Wicked - those were the ones that really made me full in love with Broadway cast albums.
Chuck in a lot of Nickelback my friend and I listened to in Geography class and you've got a full playlist (we had to though, our teacher liked to sing Girls Aloud and The Saturdays at full pelt in our lessons.....) 😒
From there, I studied Les Mis and West Side Story as part of my case studies for my Music A Level, and then got into the likes of Spamalot, RENT, Little Shop of Horrors, Phantom and more throughout that time and into uni.

And now look where my obsession is - who knows where it will end up in another 10 years....!
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