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A Round-Up of 2021

2021..... it was better than 2020 that's for sure. 

While we thought that the pandemic would say "see ya!" this year, it is clear that it's not going away exactly, but more has an odd sleeping pattern. And when it wakes up, Ms Rona is wearing a different hat, this one being one designed by Omicron... 

But in better news, life has returned to a degree; and theatres came back! 

It was slow at first; socially distanced performances with compulsory mask wearing put audiences at ease, to a degree that some theatres are continuing socially distancing at certain performances. And encouraging audiences to continue to wear masks as much as possible - common sense people please!

But it wasn't too long until full house was finally allowed, and as of November 2021, with Moulin Rouge and Cabaret open, every West End theatre has now re-opened their doors. YAY!!!

This counts for cinemas too, to which I have loved going back with a big thing of popcorn; whether it be for a musical, Disney, Marvel or the third My Hero Academia film... 

I also had the chance to finally experience West End Live for the first time...! 

AND, most special of all, I have got to meet my theatre tribe in person! 

   

But whilst in the midst of cases rising, forcing performances left right and centre to be cancelled, it's a scary time once again. We don't know exactly yet what the outcome of Omicron will be but we just have to support our industry whenever and however we can. 

So as always, we're going to celebrate the return of theatres (and the creativity we experienced online while they were still dark) in our regular review of the year. 

Be warned, a lot of these choices were DIFFICULT to make. And remember that there has been a couple of repeated things from previous years, so if said production a. has been nominated for award x before, it won't be eligible again, to keep it as fair as possible. (There are two notable exceptions: one for performance which I will get to later: but also for & Juliet, as while it hasn't been the first time I have seen it this year, it WAS the first seeing the full show/having the complete experience rather than just a concert)

Let's Get Started

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Performance of the Year Award: 

Male: 

Nominees: 

Runner-Up: George Dennett as Frollo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame performed by the National Youth Music Theatre at Manchester Cathedral. This lad may only be young but OH BOY was he incredible! His version of Hellfire shook the entire cathedral by the acoustics. I will be very excited to see what he does next, as I'm sure he has an extremely bright future ahead. 

Winner: I don't think I can give this to anyone other than Andrew Garfield as Jonathan Larson in tick, tick... BOOM! His performance is the beating heart of the entire film; learning how to sing and play for this part, his effort paid off effortlessly, in celebrating this monumental writer who changed musical theatre forever. I haven't seen a role of his that made me fall in love with him ever since his Spiderman days. AND I am REALLY hoping he gets at least Oscar nominated for this - if not, WIN!

Female: This is difficult. Much harder to choose than the men. But I think I have finally narrowed it down...

Nominees:  

  • Lauryn Redding as Elle in Bloody Elle at the Royal Exchange, Manchester
  • Jenna Russell as Edith Piaf in Piaf at the Leeds Playhouse 
  • Millie O'Connell as Maureen Johnson in RENT at the Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester (yes this may not have been the first time, BUT this is the definition of 180 improvement . (This was the exception I was on about))
  • Amy Ellen Richardson as Margaret New in the UK tour of Everybody's Talking About Jamie
  • Lizzie Bea as Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray at the London Coliseum 
  • Jennifer Saunders as Madame Arcarti in Blithe Spirit at the Harold Pinter Theatre 
  • Stephanie Beatriz as Mirabel in Encanto - possibly the first nomination I have ever given to voice acting (please correct me if I am wrong...!)
  • Rachel John as The Ghost of Christmas Present/Mrs Fezziwig in A Christmas Carol
  • Carly Mercedes-Dyer as Erma in Anything Goes, filmed at the Barbican 
  • Rachel Zegler as Maria in the 2021 film adaptaion of West Side Story

Runner-Up: I cannot distinguish between these two performances for the Runner-Up spot, and I couldn't do a 3rd place - that was ridiculous. So it's a tie! In 2021 Lucy St Louis made history as the first actress of colour to play Christine Daae in The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theatre. And she is likely to be one of the best Christines you will see. She had a fierceness Christine can sometimes lack, and her voice was like vibrato on a violin. Secondly, I need to make the joint win with Ariana DeBose's fiery Anita in West Side Story. I've gushed about her loads in my review the other day - but let's just say I really really hope she gets an OSCAR nomination for it  

Winner: With all of these choices/winners, I have co-incidentally been able to lift and celebrate strong beautiful women of colour. My winner is no exception. One of my first screenings this year was The Colour Purple: At Home, filmed at Leicester Curve; and leading that company as a true tour-de-force, was T'Shan Williams as Celie. It is a mammoth role, and Celie goes through a lot. (understatement). But the grace Williams gives the part captures your heart and makes it sing by the time the triumphant I'm Here comes along. 


Understudy of the Year Award: This has to go to Alison Arnopp as cover Countess Quintet in The Magician's Elephant at the RSC. I haven't seen many understudies this year, many of them being swings covering ensemble parts that have just blended in with the crowds. Alison was the most significant one I saw though that was covering a main role. As the popularity-obsessed Countess Quintet in The Magician's Elephant she was delightfully childish and petty. Petty enough to keep an elephant locked up in ballroom and casually dish out child abuse...! Yes the show is based on a children's book but it is also dark. She therefore could afford to be both over-the-top silly, especially in scenes with her husband (played by Samuel Holmes), and to also play sinister when needed; and she took full advantage of it. 

 

Almost-But-Not-Quite Award: Quick note on this one. I have NOT seen Diana: The Musical, and I intend to stay away from it.... I knew one person was bound to ask otherwise...

Nominees: 

Winner: With the other three, they were projects that had their problems, but were either original stories or adaptations that hadn't/rarely happen. With Cinderella on Amazon Prime however, it is YET another adaptation on the x amount of them that already existed. And not a very good one at that. 


Leaky-Eyes Award: 

Nominees: 

  • Private Peaceful (I saw this on stream.theatre and loved it but didn't get a chance to write about it. Made me *almost* cry just as much as the book did when I first read it as a teenager)
  • Hushabye Mountain
  • A Super Happy Show About Feeling Super Sad filmed at Wilton Music Hall (yet another one I didn't get round to writing about, but this one is hard hitting; just saying)
  • Carousel at Regents Park Open Air Theatre
  • The Magician's Elephant - for the penultimate line in the first act alone
  • West Side Story

Winner: There were a couple of options here. Good options; but for the one that made me "almost" cry the most, I will say The Hunchback of Notre Dame. It's not the happiest story to begin with (though not as dark as the Hugo novel, it is darker than the Disney film); but pair that with the setting of Manchester Cathedral, with a company of extremely talented young people both singing and signing the Finale was emotional in more ways than one...


Laughed-Till-I-Was-Sore Award: 

Nominees: 

Winner: For this, I think I will go for Death Drop, which I saw in Salford as part of its UK tour. Featuring many a Queen for many a Drag Race fan, it was a gag-a-second, laugh-a-minute, rude, a bit crass, and of course, camp as tits! A murder mystery set on Tuck Island (hehe); it may not be on the level of Arthur Conan-Doyle BUT you aren't likely to find a mystery that will make you laugh more. 


Danced-Till-They-Dropped Award: 


Nominees: There was A LOT of stylish choreography this year! This would have been very hard to pick - if it wasn't for one or two choices in particular...!

  • In The Heights 
  • Hairspray
  • Pippin at the Charing Cross Theatre 
  • & Juliet
  • White Christmas UK Tour
  • The Wiz
  • Anything Goes
  • West Side Story

Winner: I love stylish choreo. But I love it more when it is used to further the plot and characters, as well as make the world and culture that much richer. That's what both of these productions did. Yes it's a tie! And both coincidentally are Rodgers + Hammerstein hits from the Summer: South Pacific at Chichester Festival Theatre, and Carousel at Regents Park Open Air Theatre. With South Pacific, I adored how the movement director and choreographer used dance for Liat to express herself, as she's not meant to speak, or even understand much English in the show. Sera Maehara, who played Liat, performed it with such expression too; it didn't matter she hardly said a word. With Carousel, Drew McOnie pulled it out of the bag again. The Carousel Waltz alone was a masterclass in how to create a world and whole social structure through dance; let alone Blow High, Blow Low, and Louise's Ballet at the end. 


Surprise-of-the-Year Award: 

Nominees: 

Winner: Ratatouille: The TickTok Musical. I thought this was going to be terrible. And yet it single-handedly taught me that creativity knows no bounds. After all the gossip and the memes, this viral hit started off the year unexpectedly. Perhaps it is 2021 in a nutshell? Oh and the theatre tribe could not get Ode to Remy out of their heads for weeks afterwards.  


On-Screen Event of the Year: While there may not be as many as there were last year, a good 6 months of only online work, I still have to split it into 2. Any online theatrical content are in one, and films/tv shows are in another. 

On-Screen Play/Musical of the Year

Nominees: 

Winner: Another very hard one. In fact, it was one I had to consult the tribe on. But I had to think of the one that made the biggest impact on me. And with that in mind, I think I will have to pick The Colour Purple. The music - epic. The staging - fantastic, and using the space more effectively than Curve did with Sunset Boulevard. The cast - on fire. And that final song, particularly with those harmonies that took you to CHURCH - chill-inducing all over. No wonder it got 5 stars all around, and many people I know watched it multiple times.... 

Film/TV series of the Year

Nominees: 

  • Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
  • In The Heights
  • Vivo
  • Schmigadoon!
  • Encanto

Runner-Up: Spielberg didn't screw it up! (Yay!) His version of West Side Story is truly a wonderful product on its own, raising the stakes of the community higher than ever before, as well as showing the true violence and danger Tony and Maria try to survive in. 

Winner: This one was a lot easier to decide than the streamed performance content. And while West Side is a wonderful film, nothing this year (of any genre to be honest) I have loved, and has moved me more than tick, tick... Boom! This has been a VERY busy year for Lin-Manuel Miranda, with him releasing 4 projects this year - and this one marks his directorial debut. His respect to Jonathan Larson is palpable through every shot, making this a true celebration of the composer's life. Oh and after finishing the film I had the soundtrack downloaded faster than you could spot all the cameos in Sunday....


Costume of the Year: 

Nominees: 

  • South Pacific
  • The Hunchback of Notre Dame
  • The Phantom of the Opera
  • Cinderella
  • Death Drop
  • The Magician's Elephant
  • The Wiz
  • Anything Goes

Winner: I am going to give this to possibly the most enchanting piece I have seen this year, and that is the UK tour of Bedknobs and Broomsticks. The show was truly magical and part of that was definitely from the costumes. To the Portobello Road garb, to the Beautiful Briny Sea blue wigs and moustaches, and the puppets. No one is going to forget Rob Madge's Norton the Northern fish in a hurry!


Blew My Mind Award: This is extremely hard. There are so many candidates for this, some of them for more personal reasons for anything else. So I am going to try and pick one that combines both the piece and the experience.... still going to be very tricky though. Any other year, ANY of these could take this crown. 

Nominees: 

  • Sunset Boulevard
  • The Colour Purple
  • The Show Must Go On Live!
  • Hairspray 
  • Carousel 
  • The Phantom of the Opera 
  • & Juliet 
  • tick, tick... BOOM!
  • West Side Story

Runner-Up: The Hunchback of the Notre Dame is a special one. Hearing one of the best scores EVER of any piece of theatre, or Disney film, in Manchester Cathedral was truly something special. 

Winner: This last one is going to be a tie, but it is for good reason. Both of these pieces would have likely blown my mind anyway, but they were also the first time I was back at the cinema and theatre respectfully. In The Heights was perfect for Summer; big and bold with heart, making you wish you could screw the restrictions and dance in the aisles. With Bloody Elle, it was mainly due to the experience of being back in a theatre - despite it being a small one-woman show and the performance being socially distanced at the time. The story felt so real, so Northern, and felt a bit like catching up with your friend - which again we missed because of bloody Madam Rona! I really hope it has another run, be that at the Royal Exchange, or elsewhere. 


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Whew! Well that was 2021 folks! 

Happy New Year to one and all, and I shall see you in 2022. I already have one show planned for January, and we shall go from there shall we. 

Keep an eye out for my 2022 Bucket List, which I shall post soon - just needs a finishing touch or two. 
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