2009 WhatsOnStage Awards explained

The WhatsOnStage Awards, founded in 2001 as the Theatregoers' Choice Awards, are a fan-driven set of awards organised by the theatre website WhatsOnStage.com, based on a popular vote recognising performers and productions of English theatre, with an emphasis on London's West End theatre.

The 2009 WhatsOnStage Award nominees and winners were:^{[1] [2]}

Best New Play	Best New Musical
Under the Blue Sky August: Osage County Black Watch Now or Later That Face The Pitmen Painters	Jersey Boys Eurobeat Imagine This Marguerite Never Forget Zorro
Best Play Revival	Best Musical Revival
Ivanov, Donmar West End Six Characters in Search of an Author Speed the Plow The Chalk Garden The Norman Conquests Waste	West Side Story Candide Gigi La Cage aux Folles Piaf They're Playing Our Song
Best Actor in a Play	Best Actress in a Play
Kenneth Branagh for Ivanov, Donmar West End Adam Godley for Rain Man Chiwetel Ejiofor for Othello Eddie Redmayne for Now or Later Ian McDiarmid for Six Characters in Search of an Author Kevin Spacey & Jeff Goldblum for Speed the Plow	Katy Stephens for The Histories Deanna Dunagan for Lesley Sharp for Harper Regan Lindsay Duncan for That Face Margaret Tyzack for The Chalk Garden Penelope Wilton for The Chalk Garden
Best Actor in a Musical	Best Actress in a Musical
Ryan Molloy for Jersey Boys Darius Danesh for Gone With the Wind Douglas Hodge for La Cage aux Folles Julian Ovenden for Marguerite Matt Rawle for Zorro Rolan Bell for The Harder They Come	Sofia Escobar for West Side Story Connie Fisher for They're Playing Our Song Elena Roger for Piaf Leila Benn Harris for Imagine This Lisa O'Hare for Gigi Ruthie Henshall for Marguerite
Best Supporting Actor in a Play	Best Supporting Actress in a Play
Tom Hiddleston for Othello & Ivanov, Donmar West End Douglas Henshall for The Last Days of Judas Iscariot Kevin McNally for Ivanov, Donmar West End Malcolm Sinclair for Rosmersholm Paul Ready for Major Barbara Pip Carter for Gethsemane	Sophie Thompson for The Female of the Species Barbara Jefford for Pygmalion Denise Gough for Six Characters in Search of an Author Michelle Terry for The Man Who Had All the Luck Phoebe Nicholls for The Vortex & Waste Susan Engel for Her Naked Skin
Best Supporting Actor in a Musical	Best Supporting Actress in a Musical
Stephen Ashfield for Jersey Boys Alexander Hanson for Marguerite Jason Pennycooke for La Cage aux Folles Luke Evans for Piaf Michael Matus for Imagine This Nick Cavaliere for Zorro	Tracie Bennett for La Cage aux Folles Lesli Margherita for Zorro Linda Thorson for Gigi Lorraine Bruce for Piaf Natasha Yvette Williams for Gone With the Wind Sophia Ragavelas for Never Forget
Best Direction	Best Lighting Designer
Michael Grandage for Othello, The Chalk Garden &Ivanov Emma Rice for Brief Encounter Matthew Warchus for The Norman Conquests Michael Boyd for The Histories Rupert Goold for The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Six Characters in Search of an Author & No Man's Land Samuel West for Dealer's Choice & Waste	Mark Henderson for Under the Blue Sky, Marguerite & The Sea Chahine Yavroyan for Relocated & Wig Out! Jean Kalman for The Year of Magical Thinking & In the Red & Brown Water Malcolm Rippeth for Brief Encounter & Six Characters in Search of an Author Neil Austin for Piaf, No Man's Land & Oedipus Paule Constable for Othello, The Chalk Garden & Ivanov
Best Set Design	Best Choreographer
Klara Zieglerova for Jersey Boys Eugene Lee for Imagine This Miriam Buether for In the Red & Brown Water Neil Murray for Brief Encounter Rob Howell for The Norman Conquests Tom Piper for The Histories	Lynne Page for La Cage aux Folles Akram Khan for in-i Karen Bruce for Never Forget Kate Prince + ZooNation for Into the Hoods Matthew Bourne for Dorian Gray Rafael Amargo for Zorro
Best Off-West End Production	Best Regional Production
Come Dancing An Enemy of the People Piranha Heights Plague Over England The Vaclav Havel season The White Devil	Hamlet Calendar Girls On the Waterfront Once Upon a Time The Glass Menagerie The Music Man
Best Solo Performance	Best Ensemble Performance
Eddie Izzard for Stripped David Bradley for The Quiz Derren Brown for Derren Brown Mindreader: An Evening of Wonders Maria Friedman for Maria Friedman: Re-Arranged Nadine Marshall for Random Vanessa Redgrave for The Year of Magical Thinking	Into the Hoods August: Osage County Black Watch Brief Encounter The Histories The Norman Conquests
Best Takeover in a Role	Best Shakespearean Production
Daniel Boys for Avenue Q Denis Lawson for La Cage aux Folles Kelly Brook for Fat Pig Rachel Tucker for We Will Rock You Summer Strallen for The Sound of Music Suzanne Shaw for Chicago	Othello A Midsummer Night's Dream Much Ado About Nothing The Histories The Merry Wives of Windsor Twelfth Night
London Newcomer of the Year	Best New Comedy
Josh Hartnett for Rain Man Ella Smith for Fat Pig George Sampson for Into the Hoods Joseph Mawle for The Last Days of Judas Iscariot Ray Davies for Come Dancing Tarell Alvin McCraney for In the Red & Brown Water	Fat Pig God of Carnage Lifecoach The Female of the Species The Walworth Farce Well

References

1. Web site: 2008-12-05 . WOS Theatregoers' Choice Nominees Announced . 2023-07-13 . en-US.
2. Web site: Varley . Eddie . Tennant, Branagh, Hartnett & 'JERSEY BOYS' Win Big at the WHATSONSTAGE Awards . 2023-07-13 . BroadwayWorld.com . en.