{"id":1831,"date":"2026-03-09T01:04:49","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T01:04:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/?p=1831"},"modified":"2026-03-09T01:04:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T01:04:49","slug":"paddington-musical-dominates-whatsonstage-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/?p=1831","title":{"rendered":"Paddington musical dominates WhatsOnStage awards"},"content":{"rendered":"

Paddington The Musical has dominated the WhatsOnStage Awards, winning nine prizes after its triumphant launch in the West End last year. <\/strong><\/p>\n

The show, based on Michael Bond’s original children’s books and the recent film adaptations, was a hit with fans and received rave reviews from critics after its debut at the Savoy Theatre in November.<\/p>\n

The marmalade-loving bear’s nine trophies are the most ever for a new musical, and equal the joint record previously set by Miss Saigon and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.<\/p>\n

Winners in the acting categories, meanwhile, included Rachel Zegler, Jonathan Bailey, Amber Davies and Sir Stephen Fry.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the winners, Darius Thompson and Alex Wood of WhatsOnStage said: “The voters really did look after that Bear!”<\/p>\n

“Paddington’s record-setting awards haul has firmly cemented it as a fan-favourite new addition to the West End.” <\/p>\n

Held at the London Palladium, the WhatsOnStage Awards have been running since 2001 and are voted for by the general public.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Paddington’s wins included best new musical and best professional debut for 17-year-old actor Timi Akinyosade<\/strong>, as well as prizes for its direction, costumes, make-up and sound.<\/p>\n

US actress Rachel Zegler<\/strong>, best known for West Side Story and Snow White, won two prizes – best concert event for Rachel Zegler: Live at The London Palladium, and best performer in a musical for Evita.<\/p>\n

Jamie Lloyd’s adaptation of the Eva Per\u00f3n-inspired musical hit the headlines last year thanks to a stunt which saw Zegler leave the stage every night, to perform Don’t Cry For Me Argentina, from the London Palladium’s outdoor balcony.<\/p>\n

It drew large crowds to the concourse outside the theatre at each performance, while the ticket-buyers indoors watched the performance live-streamed on a large screen. Evita won five prizes overall including best musical revival. <\/p>\n

Referring to Paddington and Evita’s wins, Wood and Thompson said: “From bears to balconies \u2013 it’s no surprise to see Rachel Zegler amongst the starry line-up of winners following her al fresco performance at this very venue last summer.”<\/p>\n

Other winners included Bridgerton and Wicked star Jonathan Bailey<\/strong>, who was recognised for his leading role in a modern-dress production of Shakespeare’s Richard II.<\/p>\n

He held off competition in a star-packed category from Tom Hiddleston, Joe Locke, Ncuti Gatwa, Maxine Peake and Rosamund Pike. <\/p>\n

Recent Strictly contestant Amber Davies <\/strong>was named best supporting actor in a musical for The Great Gatsby, which concluded shortly before she joined the dance competition.<\/p>\n

And Sir Stephen Fry<\/strong> won best supporting performer in a play for his role in a revival of The Importance of Being Earnest, which also starred Olly Alexander.<\/p>\n

The winners in full<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

Best performer in a play <\/strong>– Jonathan Bailey, Richard II<\/p>\n

Best performer in a musical <\/strong>– Rachel Zegler, Evita<\/p>\n

Best supporting performer in a play <\/strong>– Stephen Fry, The Importance of Being Earnest<\/p>\n

Best supporting performer in a musical <\/strong>– Amber Davies, The Great Gatsby<\/p>\n

Best professional debut<\/strong> – Timi Akinyosade, Paddington The Musical, Savoy Theatre<\/p>\n

Best takeover of an existing role <\/strong>– Emma Kingston, Wicked, Apollo Victoria Theatre<\/p>\n

Best child performance <\/strong>– Platon Filatov, Darcy Tosun, Artie Wilkinson-Hunt and Anton Vehring, The Land of the Living<\/p>\n

Best new play <\/strong>– The Comedy About Spies<\/p>\n

Best new musical <\/strong>– Paddington The Musical<\/p>\n

Best play revival –<\/strong> Richard II<\/p>\n

Best musical revival <\/strong>– Evita<\/p>\n

Best West End show <\/strong>– Les Mis\u00e9rables<\/p>\n

Best regional production<\/strong> – 13 Going on 30 The Musical<\/p>\n

Best concert event <\/strong>– Rachel Zegler: Live at The London Palladium<\/p>\n

Best studio production<\/strong> – Young Frankenstein, Hope Mill Theatre<\/p>\n

Best direction<\/strong> – Luke Sheppard, Paddington The Musical, Savoy Theatre<\/p>\n

Best choreography <\/strong>– Fabian Aloise, Evita, The London Palladium<\/p>\n

Best set design <\/strong>– Tom Pye, Paddington The Musical, Savoy Theatre<\/p>\n

Best costume design –<\/strong> Gabrielle Slade and Tahra Zafar, Paddington The Musical, Savoy Theatre<\/p>\n

Best lighting design <\/strong>– Jon Clark, Evita, The London Palladium<\/p>\n

Best sound design <\/strong>– Gareth Owen, Paddington The Musical, Savoy Theatre<\/p>\n

Best video design <\/strong>– Jamie Lloyd, Nick Ward, David Anderson, Evita, The London Palladium<\/p>\n

Wigs, hair and make-up design <\/strong>– Campbell Young Associates, Paddington The Musical, Savoy Theatre<\/p>\n

Best music direction or supervision<\/strong> – Matt Brind, Paddington The Musical, Savoy Theatre<\/p>\n

Best casting direction <\/strong>– Natalie Gallacher CDG for Pippa Ailion and Natalie Gallacher Casting, Nick Hockaday, Annabelle Davis,Paddington The Musical, Savoy Theatre<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Rachel Zegler nominated for Olivier after balcony performance of Evita<\/li>\n
  • Paddington’s West End musical declared a hit by critics<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Paddington The Musical has dominated the WhatsOnStage Awards, winning nine prizes after its triumphant launch in the West End last year. The show, based on Michael Bond’s original […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1832,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1831\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}