Tag Archive: WhatsOnStage Awards

1. Howard Hudson Wins Best Lighting Design at WhatsOnStage Awards

   2 March 2020 11:39 Leave a Comment

   

   The annual WhatsOnStage Awards took place at the Prince of Wales Theatre last night. Now in its 20th year, the Awards are the only major accolades in the UK where the audience choose the majority of winners. Alongside supplying the lighting equipment for the main ceremony, WL once again sponsored the Best Lighting Design Award which was won by Howard Hudson for & Juliet.

   This year’s WhatsOnStage Awards were the biggest yet, and for the first time, broadcast live on Radio 2 in a special show presented by Elaine Page and Paddy O’Connell. The biggest names from the worlds of theatre and showbiz were in attendance; as was WL who marked ten years of sponsoring the Best Lighting Design Award.

   This year’s Best Lighting Design Award was won by Howard Hudson for & Juliet. & Juliet looks at one of the most famous love stories of all time and asks what would happen if Julia decided to choose her own fate and if her famous ending was in fact just the beginning… The hilarious new musical uses the back catalogue of songs written by Swedish songwriter Max Martin, including ‘I Want It That Way’, ‘I Kissed A Girl’, ‘…Baby One More Time’ along with ‘It’s My Life’.

   Bryan comments: “We are absolutely delighted that Howard is this year’s recipient of the Best Lighting Design Award. A long-time friend of WL (we are currently supplying the 9 to 5 UK tour), we remember supplying some of the first shows he lit after graduating and have had the privilege of seeing him truly grow and develop to become a now award-winning lighting designer”.

   Howard has been a lighting designer for over ten years now, with select credits including 9 to 5 (Savoy Theatre), Strictly Ballroom (Piccadilly Theatre), Romeo and Juliet (Garrick Theatre), The Little Shop of Horrors (Regents Park Open Air Theatre) and Kiss Me Kate (Sheffield Crucible). He had twice previously been nominated for Best Lighting Design for his work on In The Heights (2016) and The Little Shop of Horrors (2019). Nominated alongside Howard for Best Lighting Design were Jon Clark (Evita), Ben Cracknell (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat), Jessica Hung Han Yun (Equus) and Tim Lutkin and Hugh Vanstone (Present Laughter).

   & Juliet was the biggest winner on the night, having won six awards in total which included all of the creative technical categories such as Best Sound, Best Lighting, Best Costume and Best Set Design, alongside Best Actress in a Musical for Miriam-Teak Lee.

   

   Other big winners included Come From Away, which won five awards including Best New Musical and Best Supporting Actress for Rachel Tucker, whereas the Old Vic took home three acting awards for Best Actress, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress.

   WhatsOnStage’s COO Sita McIntosh said: “In our 20th year, we’d also like to say a particular thank you to the audiences who are the lifeblood of our Awards, voting in their thousands. Their support and championing of shows is what keeps our industry alive”.

   The WhatsOnStage Awards are one of several that WL sponsors, such as the upcoming Olivier Awards, OffWestEnd Awards and Tonic Theatre to name but a few.

   Bryan concludes: “As the leading lighting supplier to West End and UK touring theatre, we feel it’s important we celebrate the great work that is made up and down the country and recognise the brilliant individuals involved. From everyone at WL, we’d like to say a massive well done to Howard and all the other winners on what was another great evening for our industry”.

2. Patrick Woodroffe Wins WhatsOnStage Awards Best Lighting Design

   26 February 2018 16:37 Comments Off on Patrick Woodroffe Wins WhatsOnStage Awards Best Lighting Design

   

                                       Patrick Woodroffe won Best Lighting Design

   Last night saw the return of the annual WhatsOnStage Awards. Taking place at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London’s West End, the Awards are the only major accolades in the UK where the audience are the judges. This year’s event was attended by the biggest names in the theatre industry and was presented by Trevor Dion Nicholas (Aladdin‘s Genie) and Vikki Stone. As the leading lighting supplier to West End theatre, White Light sponsored the Best Lighting Design Award which was won by Patrick Woodroffe for his work on Bat Out of Hell.

   Running at the London Coliseum last year, Bat Out of Hell uses the music of Meatloaf’s iconic album to tell the story of rebellious lead Strat who falls in love with Raven, the beautiful daughter of the most powerful man in post-apocalyptic Obsidian. It was lit by Patrick Woodroffe whose career spans over forty years. His work covers the fields of contemporary and classical music, opera, film, television, architecture and musical theatre.

   Bryan Raven, WL’s Managing Director, comments: “We were delighted to once again sponsor this year’s Best Lighting Design Award. We have worked with Patrick on several projects now, including the recent tour of The Band along with the Pink Floyd: Their Mortal Remains exhibition at the V & A Museum, and it’s fantastic that he has won this accolade for the first time”.

   The biggest winner of the evening was 42nd Street, which won Best Musical Revival, Best Choreography, Best Costume Design and Best Set Design. The show was also nominated for the Best Lighting Design Award by Peter Mumford (you can read his interview about the production here). Other notable winners included David Tennant for Best Actor in a Play, Olivia Colman for Best Actress in a Play, The Ferryman for Best New Play, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie for Best New Musical and Sonia Friedman for Services to Theatre.

   

   The WL team with lighting designers Charlie Morgan Jones, Prema Mehta, Nic Farman, Declan Randall and Jess Bernberg

   Two new awards were also presented this year. These included the Best Original Cast Recording which went to Les Misérables. There was also the Best Show Poster Award which went to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. WL supplies the lighting for both productions.

   WhatsOnStage’s Chief Operating Officer Sita McIntosh comments: “2017 was such a strong year for theatre, and it’s wonderful to see such a broad cross section of work recognised in this year’s awards – many of the nominees were running neck and neck during the voting process due to the strength of talent represented.”

   Bryan adds: “The WhatsOnStage Awards are truly unique in the sense that they are one of very few that are solely decided by the audience. Ultimately, shows are there to serve their audiences and it only makes sense that the work/performances that they admired the most should receive recognition. It also marks our continued commitment to celebrating the very best of the theatre industry, as seen with our sponsorship of the OffWestEnd Awards and the Tonic Theatre Awards; both recognising theatre at all levels”.