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A Round Up of 2025

Happy New Year! 

2025 was the year of pushing the boat out and trying new things. Of taking in the experience of live theatre, and soaking it up, allowing others (usually my boyfriend) to enjoy the experience. 

It has also been the year, for me personally, of taking a step back. Professionally in particular, to look after my mental health and make sure I don't burn out. And here, for the same reasons, as well as making a rule to not review anything I usher, but also to not revisit a production I have seen before in blog form (an example this year would be Calamity Jane returning, this time starring Carrie Hope Fletcher). As a content creator, I can have a tendency to put things out for the (admittedly small) audience I have. However, I still plan to make content for my theatre Insta, but know when my mind is telling me to take some time out, that is likely when things are getting sluggish.

Anyway, let's move past that, and look back at some amazing productions in 2025 

Let's get started

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Performance of the Year Award: 

Leading: 

Can I just say that the standard of this category is insane. Picking just a couple was difficult. Even now I am debating and doubting, but if I don't make a decision, I never will. But just know that at least two of these were so close. 

Nominees: 

Winner: Like I said, this could have gone to a number of choices. There were several excellent leading performances, all for their own reasons. But in the end, I had to go with John Dagleish and Clare Foster as Benjamin Button and Elowen Keene in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, at the Ambassador's Theatre, London. Dagleish won an Olivier this year for this part, while Foster earned a nomination. And anyone who has seen this pair can understand why. Benjamin and Elowen would be gifts for any actor, but there was something about Dagleish and Foster that allowed you to get swept up in the Cornish coast, and this most curious and extraordinary story. Bonus marks for Foster for her moments doubling up as the sheep. I was lucky to meet them at the stage door afterwards, and they are both lovely off stage. 

Supporting: 

Nominees:

  • Alice Fearn as Heidi in the UK Tour of Dear Evan Hansen
  • Courtney Bowman as Lauren in Kinky Boots
  • The Ensemble of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  • Natasha Jules Bernard as Tzeitel, Georgia Bruce as Hodel, and Hannah Birstow as Chava in the UK Tour of Fiddler on the Roof
  • Rhiannon Chesterman as Elizabeth Benning in Young Frankenstein at the Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester

Runner Up: If you went to see, 13 Going On 30: The Musical at the Manchester Opera House, you would agree with me that the team of young people playing the younger versions of our main characters were a real highlight. Team 13 has some stars in there, especially Amelia Minto and Max Bispham as young Jenna and young Matt respectfully. Plus, I have to mention about The Six Chick choreography going viral, lead by Anna De Oliviera as Lulu. That kid can move. 

Winner: Victoria Hamilton-Barritt has had an extremely good year. Understatement sure, but point still stands. She started off the year playing what she is nominated for here, Luisa in NINE in concert at Lowry in partnership with the Hope Mill theatre. That cast was stacked (featuring Ramin Karimloo, Ruthie Henshall, Strictly finalist Amber Davies and more), so to say she stood out so much for such a small part, speaks volumes to me. The day after NINE, she was announced as Hadestown's next Persephone, and is currently starring as the wicked Millicent Clyde, in Paddington: The Musical. As I said, what a 2025 this lady has had!


Understudy/Alternate of the Year Award: 

Nominees: 

  • Newtion Matthews as Lola in Kinky Boots
  • Maria Garret as Wednesday in the UK Tour of The Addams Family

Winner: Paula Tappenden as Mrs Johnstone in the UK Tour of Blood Brothers. This one was a shift at Lowry, but I'm still counting it. At the time of writing this, Tappenden was playing Mrs Lyons and covering Mrs Johnstone. She gave such an honest and heart-breaking turn as the desperate Scouse mother, that I struggle to see her as Mrs Lyons.  


Almost-But-Not-Quite Award: 

Nominees: 

Runner-Up: Freaky Friday at HOME was the most forgettable show of the year for me personally. I still cannot understand why Disney did yet another new adaptation, and not just adapt the 2003 version, which most people these days are familiar with, and were perhaps were expecting.  

Winner: This one was pretty easy, as I could not connect with Private Lives at all. Most of which was, with my 2025 brain, I could not grasp the idea of Anna and Elyot being a good couple for each other. There were a couple of chuckles here and there, but you knew that bomb was going to go off, and when it did, it did with behaviour that we should not consider anything other than toxic from a couple, and thus, it felt very much flat. I know this is more of a dig at the play itself rather than the production itself, but it still didn't sit right with me at all. 


Laugh-Out-Loud Award: 

Nominees: 

Winner: There were a lot of funny ones this year, but I had to go, in the end, with Acorn Antiques. Anyone who saw it would agree with me that it was utterly hysterical. The team at the Hope Mill outdid themselves by getting the very best comics of musical theatre to bring this Victoria Wood laugh-fest to laugh. I was grateful the first half came when it did. Because, as stated before, it was so funny, it nearly made me pee... 


Leaky Eyes Award: 

Nominees: 

Runner Up: I am counting Frozen: The Hit Broadway Musical in this, purely for the moment Olaf came on. I did cry because it was so wholesome. Buuuuuut..... I was also on day 2 of a horrible period, cramping, stuffing chocolate and herbal tea, and just generally being an emotional idiot.... Oh the joys of being a woman! However, that adorable little snowman buddy of mine was as wholesome and adorable on stage as he is in the film.  

Winner: While the other two nominees (besides Frozen) may have given me emotional or powerful moments, neither truly made me cry in a live theatre. Let alone sob. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button however, I absolutely sobbed. From Time until the curtain call, I was a blubbering mess. 


Danced-Till-They-Dropped Award: 

Nominees: 

Winner: While not it may not what you would expect to win a dancing award, Much Ado About Nothing takes it here for how Jamie Lloyd and Fabain Aloise used dance to further the story. It was certainly different, having a Shakespearean comedy take us to a nightclub and roll around in bright pink confetti. But that is why it takes this - because it was different from anything else I have seen this year, as well as unexpected, fun and allows us as the audience to really let us have a good time. And maybe sweat a little at seeing Tom Hiddleston rolling around and dancing in said pink confetti-covered floor... What? Am I wrong?


Costume of the Year Award: 

Nominees: 

Winner: This was another one I went back and forth on (especially as most of these nods came so late in the year), but in the end, I decided to go with Tina - The Tina Turner Musical for one big reason: the range of costumes on offer. Throughout the show, we get to travel across time, from Ada-Mae's childhood in the 40s, until Tina's peak in the 80s. That is a lot of ground to cover fashion-wise. Tina's costumes herself in particular are stunning, each one different, some you could imagine appearing in Strictly. And what is just as changing and stunning are her wigs. In fact, it was such a feature, that the Palace Theatre got to show off some of the costumes for a display in the Stalls Bar. 

On-Screen Award:

Nominees: 

  • Frozen
  • Wicked: For Good
Runner Up: 2025 was the year of the Hellaverse, as we got not only Hazbin Hotel Season 2, but also, Hazbin Hotel: Live on Broadway, which aired on Amazon Prime just before the Season 2 finale. I've put these two together, mainly because they are from the same title, but also because of how much I loved both events. Season 2 expanded more on the first, and gave us even more great tunes which have now dominated many a drive to work. The Live on Broadway special was what us fans truly wanted - an opportunity for the cast, many of whom are Broadway names, to belt out these songs that we have fallen in love with. 

Winner: I went back and forth on this for a while. If you asked me at the beginning of the year, I would have said that surely nothing would top Wicked: For Good. And I still, until a couple of weeks ago thought it could be. But in the end, I had to think which piece not only moved me, but was also the bigger risk that paid off. K Pop Demon Hunters was a huge risk for Sony Pictures Animation. They clearly had no idea how big of a hit it was going to be. But hit making aside, its engaging story, fun animation and complex characters make it one of the best animated films in years, while paying tribute to k pop, k dramas, anime and more. Plus the music is fantastic - Golden, Soda Pop, What it Sounds Like and more are absolute bops. 


Shift of the Year Award:

Nominees: 

  • Pride & Prejudice (sort of)
  • Pig Heart Boy
  • The Koala Who Could
  • SIX 
  • The Smeds & The Smoos
  • A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong
  • Blood Brothers
  • The Enormous Crocodile

Winner: Culminating with Lowry's 25th Anniversary, Dear England being on for a run as long as the Christmas shows felt incredibly special. I am so glad I got to see this three times - and I do not like football at all! What made this Shift of the Year for me though, was also getting to help with the Touch Tour, a fantastic experience for visually impaired guests, allowing them to go backstage, meet some actors and get a feel for the stage and props, all before a captioned performance. I have done one more on Blood Brothers, but Dear England's was my first. 


Blew My Mind Award: 

Nominees: 

  • Much Ado About Nothing
  • Dear England
  • Tina - The Tina Turner Musical

Winner: It had to be Benjamin Button didn't it? I was surprised that it was K Pop Demon Hunters that topped my Spotify Wrapped and not this (although Huntrix was my second guess...). It truly blew me away in every way: the story, the storytelling, the music, the acting, the talent, the... well, everything. Please please please come around again. I hope, that as they say, it was all just a matter of time. 

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Like I said, what a year. I hope you all have a happy 2025. Let's see what it brings shall we..!



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