Bird College is proud to be an official supporter of The Stage Debut Awards 2019 which celebrate emerging actors and creatives from all backgrounds. David Grindrod, the British theatre and television casting director who primarily works with Andrew Lloyd Webber, has said: ‘These awards have the power to change everything for the recipients and accelerate their careers‘.
Now in their second year, these are the only UK awards that specifically recognise breakthrough theatre talent, celebrating emerging actors and creatives from around the country.
The Nominees and Winners for 2019 are as follows:
Best actress in a play
Sponsored by Audible
• WINNER: Lauren O’Leary for The Awkward Years at the Other Room, Cardiff
• Liv Hill for Top Girls at the National Theatre, London
• Urielle Klein-Mekongo for Yvette at the Bush Theatre, London
• Bea Webster for Mother Courage at the Albion Electric Warehouse, Leeds
Best actor in a play
Sponsored by Audible
• WINNER: Jamal Ajala for Ear for Eye at the Royal Court, London
• Stuart Campbell for The Hunt at the Almeida Theatre, London
• Patrick Gibson for Sweat at the Donmar Warehouse and Gielgud Theatre, London
• Ivan Oyik for Blue/Orange at Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Birmingham
Best actress in a musical
Sponsored by Really Useful Group
• WINNER: Danielle Fiamanya for The Color Purple at Curve, Leicester and Birmingham Hippodrome
• Georgina Ambrey for My Mother Said I Never Should and The Rise and Fall of Little Voice at the Theatre by the Lake, Keswick
• Maiya Quansah-Breed for Six at the Arts Theatre, London
• Jarneia Richard-Noel for Six at the Arts Theatre, London
Best actor in a musical
Sponsored by Encore Radio
• WINNER: Adam Hugill for Standing at the Sky’s Edge at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield
• Ryan Hutton for Only Fools and Horses the Musical at Theatre Royal Haymarket, London
• Jac Yarrow for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the London Palladium, London
Best director
Sponsored by Smith and Williamson
• WINNER: Atri Banerjee for Hobson’s Choice at the Royal Exchange, Manchester
• Tyrone Huntley for Ain’t Misbehavin’ at the Mercury Theatre, Colchester
• Jade Lewis for Superhoe at the Royal Court, London
• Tom Scutt for Berberian Sound Studio at the Donmar Warehouse, London
Best designer
Sponsored by Robe Lighting
• WINNER: Evie Gurney for Antony and Cleopatra at the National Theatre, London, and The Hunt at the Almeida Theatre, London
• Abby Clarke for Beauty and the Beast at Theatre by the Lake, Keswick
• Maxwell Nicholson-Lailey for Huddle at the Unicorn Theatre, London
Best composer or lyricist
Sponsored by Trafalgar Entertainment Group
• WINNER: David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoe Roberts for Operation Mincemeat at the New Diorama Theatre, London
• Oran Eldor and Marcus Stevens for Mythic the Musical at the Charing Cross Theatre, London
• Anaïs Mitchell for Hadestown at the National Theatre, London
• Femi Temowo for Death of a Salesman at the Young Vic, London
Best writer
Sponsored by Sonia Friedman Productions
• WINNER: Jasmine Lee-Jones for Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner at the Royal Court, London
• Nicôle Lecky for Superhoe at the Royal Court, London
• Holly Robinson for Soft Animals at Soho Theatre, London
• Ross Willis for Wolfie at Theatre503, London
The Joe Allen Best West End Debut
• WINNER: Jac Yarrow for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the London Palladium
• Matthew Broderick for The Starry Messenger at Wyndham’s Theatre
• Andrew Burnap for The Inheritance at the Noël Coward Theatre
• Nathanael Campbell for Come From Away at the Phoenix Theatre
• Saffron Coomber for Emilia at the Vaudeville Theatre
• Sarah Gordy for Jellyfish at the National Theatre
• Ryan Hutton for Only Fools and Horses the Musical at the Theatre Royal Haymarket
• Samuel H Levine for The Inheritance at the Noël Coward Theatre
• Pericles community cast for Pericles at the National Theatre
• Christie Prades for On Your Feet at the London Coliseum
Best creative West End debut
Sponsored by the Noël Coward Foundation
• WINNER: Frankie Bradshaw (designer) and Lynette Linton (director) for Sweat at Donmar Warehouse and the Gielgud Theatre
• Arinzé Kene for Misty at Trafalgar Studios
• Matthew Lopez for The Inheritance at the Noël Coward Theatre
• Morgan Lloyd Malcolm for Emilia at the Vaudeville Theatre
• Irene Sankoff and David Hein for Come from Away at the Phoenix Theatre
Child performer of the year
Sponsored by Stagecoach
• WINNER: Taya Tower for The Hunt at the Almeida Theatre, London
• Caelan Edie for The Bodyguard at the Theatre Royal, Glasgow and tour
• Jack Meredith for Caroline, Or Change at the Playhouse Theatre, London
• Clara Read for The Wild Duck at the Almeida Theatre, London