British theatre and music talent celebrated
Two big British awards ceremonies were held last week, paying tribute to talented people from the worlds of theatre and music.
Fans and stars of the theatre came together on 12 February for the WhatsOnStage (WOS) Awards, an annual celebration of stage plays and musicals, where the winners are voted for by the public. The WOS Awards have taken place since 2008 but this was the first year that the awards for performances were gender-neutral. This meant that instead of “best actor” or “best actress”, men and women were nominated for a “best performer” award.
However, the four top awards for performers and supporting performers all went to women this year. The award for best takeover performance, which goes to a new cast member taking over a role that’s already been performed by someone else, went to Lucie Jones for the role of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, in the musical Wicked.
A stage adaptation of the 1988 Japanese film My Neighbour Totoro won five awards out of the nine it was nominated for, including ones for set design and musical direction. The story follows two sisters who have adventures with playful spirits in a magical forest. It was on stage at the Barbican, in London, until the end of January.
The WOS Awards included performances from several shows, including The Great British Bake Off Musical, which will be on for 12 weeks in London starting this month. On 11 February, the BRIT Awards celebrated the achievements of musical artists. Harry Styles won all four awards that he was nominated for, including Artist of the Year, Album of the Year and Song of the Year for As It Was. No female artists had been nominated for the Artist of the Year category, so in his speech Styles dedicated the award to female musicians who had been overlooked. He said, “I’m really, really grateful for this and I’m very aware of my privilege up here tonight.”
Other winners included Becky Hill, for Best Dance Act, and Beyoncé, who won International Artist of the Year and International Song of the Year.