10th Annual Whatsonstage.com Awards Held 12/4, Jones, Rashad, Lathan To Headline

Just days after opening in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”, Broadway stars James Earl Jones, Phylicia Rashad and Sanaa Lathan will headline one of the biggest events in the West End calendar, the launch of the 10th Annual Whatsonstage.com Awards, the “theatregoers choice”.

The three Broadway stars will be joined by British stage and screen legend Jeremy Irons, who is representing this year’s adopted charity, Theatre Royal Haymarket Masterclass.

And there will be live performances from ‘Sister Act’ star Patina Miller, the ever-smooth Frank, Sammy and Dean from ‘Christmas with The Rat Pack’ and the company from satirical musical comedy ‘Jest End’, who will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Awards with a specially written number.

The cream of the West End and beyond - a veritable Who’s Who in acting - will be celebrating at the glittering lunchtime ceremony at Cafe de Paris on Friday December 4.

The Broadway stars of ‘Cat On a Tin Roof’ - who themselves boast an impressive collection of Tony Awards and other US accolades - are the special guest co-presenters, reading the nominations across the 20+ Award categories. The race will then be on to decide the eventual Whatsonstage.com Award winners, with voting on the shortlists opening that day and continuing until the end of January. The final results will be announced and awards presented in front of a live audience of theatregoer voters at the Winners’ Concert on Sunday 14 February at the Prince of Wales Theatre.

Last year more than 35,000 theatregoers voted online for the eventual winners on theatreland’s No1 website - www.whatsonstage.com.

Throughout November, theatregoers can log on to nominate their favourite performances and productions. The categories include Best Actor, Best Actress, Best New Play and Best New Musical as well as less conventionAl Fields such as Best Ensemble Performance, Best Off-West End Production and Theatre Event of the Year. And this year, to tie in with the 10th birthday celebrations, there’s a new category:?Best West End Show, which applies to all current West End productions, including long-running blockbusters from the past decade.

In a vintage year dominated by the opening of such big musicals as ‘Priscilla Queen of the Desert’, ‘Oliver!’ and ‘Sister Act’ and major star turns including Jude Law, Anna Friel, Kevin Spacey, Rachel Weisz, Jane Horrocks, James McAvoy, Judi Dench, Derek Jacobi,  Dominic West, Rowan Atkinson, Ethan Hawke, Lesley Sharp, Nigel Harman, Richard Dreyfuss, Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart, it’s sure to be yet another hotly contested competition. For the main Award categories, all professional productions – from Fringe to the West End – opened in London between 1 December 2008 and 30 November 2009 are eligible for nomination.

Both Awards events are held in aid of this year’s adopted charity, Theatre Royal Haymarket Masterclass, which gives young people the chance to learn from and be inspired by leading artists. Set up by the Theatre Royal Haymarket in 1998, the hugely successful Masterclass programme has now welcomed over 40,000 people aged 17-30. Events are given free of charge and occur at least one Friday a month throughout the year, focusing on all aspects of theatre from acting and directing to writing and producing. Although Masterclass events are designed for those at the start of their careers, theatregoers and others, of whatever age, are also welcome.