The WhatsOnStage Awards were presented at an in-person ceremony at the Prince of Wales Theatre on Sunday February 27th.
Musicals FROZEN, ANYTHING GOES and BACK TO THE FUTURE were the big winners in a star-studded evening which also saw awards for smaller regional productions too.
FROZEN was the biggest winner with a clutch of offstage awards including Best Direction, Musical Direction, Choreography, Sound Design, Sets, Costumes, Video Design and Graphic Design
ANYTHING GOES won Best Musical Revival and Best Female Identifying Supporting Role for the delightful Carly Mercedes Dyer, who very much deserved it in my opinion!
BACK TO THE FUTURE won Best New Musical despite missing out on lead acting awards except for Hugh Coles who won Best Supporting Male Identifying Performance. It also won Best Lighting.
Kenny Wax’s SIX THE MUSICAL won the annual Best West End Show Award this year.
It was good to see Manchester’s Hope Mill Theatre win Best Regional Production for RENT.
Congratulations to all the winners and nominees!
For a full list of winners and nominees please click here
In looking back through the writings of my late colleague Anthony Field CBE, I came across this profile of one of the finest producers we have – and President of the Society of London Theatre from 2017-2020, Kenny Wax. Through a long acquaintance with Kenny, this affectionate portrait of a tenacious and committed producer who started at the bottom and worked his way up, rings with his genuine love of theatre, and highlights his biggest hit to date, the triple Olivier-winning TOP HAT (although his current production of SIX may well prove just as enduring). Enjoy this canter through Kenny’s career to date, which was written in September 2011.
The World Premiere musical TOP HAT now touring the UK is a highpoint in the career of one of our most successful young producers, Kenny Wax. Having assembled a superb team to realise the stage version of the iconic Astaire Rogers 1935 movie, he has succeeded in creating a Art Deco delight of a scale and quality not seen in recent times. As more people start to recognise his name above a production, it seems that now is a good time to relate the story of his career and how he came to stage this ambitious project.
Kenny Wax has spent the last 23 years working his way up the slippery slope of becoming a commercial theatre producer. When he entered the industry at 21 he had no stage management training and no practical experience. “I had taken a couple of parts in school productions, but never for a moment considered being an actor”.
At 18, he went to Central London Polytechnic to do a degree in Business Studies. “I found it terribly dull and couldn’t apply anything I’d learned to the real world. The only good thing about it was that it gave me time to figure out what I wanted to do. I spent a tedious year at Dixons Head Office as part of my placement. Until then I had considered a career in Personnel for one of the big retail chains. It certainly wasn’t for me. During my time in London I had become rather obsessed with the London theatre scene. Everyone appears to remember one defining show which shaped their decision to become a producer and mine was possibly “Me and My Girl” when Robert Lindsay and Emma Thompson charmed the whole Adelphi audience. Perhaps my decision was also influenced by my brother who at that time was a staff director at the National Theatre.
“As soon as I graduated, I started wandering the West End in search of a job. The theatre manager of the Theatre Royal Drury Lane had one remaining place for an usher on a big new show which started previewing the next day. Watching those first few performances of “Miss Saigon” I was smitten.
I had written to every producer for an opening in their office to no avail so I was presumptious enough to thrust a letter into Cameron Mackintosh’s hand one day when he was around the theatre. He invited me to tea at his office during which time we spent 1½ hours talking about our fanatical love of musicals. What struck me as so incredible was that the producer with the biggest show just about to open was the only person who gave me the time of day when so many others had shut the door. Cameron advised me that if I was serious about producing then the most important thing was to learn all aspects of the industry.”
Kenny found a job by day as a foot messenger for Dewynters, the theatre advertising and design agency, and within weeks they offered him a position in the media department.
That year coincided with the first year of Cameron Mackintosh’s Oxford University Professorship. “I went along to some of the lectures and as chance would have it, met George Stiles who enthused about his new musical “Just So” which was shortly to go into rehearsal at the Tricycle Theatre”. Kenny got hold of the demo tapes and badgered Cameron into giving him a job on the show as a runner. It meant leaving Dewynters, having been there for eighteen months, and they wouldn’t hold the job open. He had to decide to leave a full-time salaried position in a leading agency for the gamble of a 6 week job as a runner which would be paying pocket money. “It was a no-brainer and that six weeks was one of the most enjoyable times I have ever spent working in this crazy industry. I look back now and can’t believe how outrageously precocious I was or how they put up with me. The late great Mike Ockrent said to me at one point, the only reason I wasn’t fired was because he hoped that one day I would offer him a directing job!” Sadly, that never got to happen as Mike passed away in 1999. Kenny did however form some wonderful friendships with George Stiles and Anthony Drewe.
“At the first night of ‘JUST SO’ at the Tricycle I met Sue Uings who was enormously helpful, giving me a chance to work at the New London where ‘CATS’ was running. There I worked in the box-office by day and as a follow-spot operator by night presenting the back-stage tours between the matinees and the evening performances. I got a real buzz from working at the New London and the strange, inexplicable magic of ‘CATS’ will remain with me for many years to come.”
Kenny left the New London to gain experience in a totally different environment working for the late Dan Crawford at the King’s Head Theatre Club.
“I produced some Sunday night shows at the King’s Head and I shall never forget the feeling at the first performance of ‘KICKING THE CLOUDS AWAY’. The opening of ‘Doors’ from ‘CLOSER THAN EVER’ brought a tumultous reception; the place went wild and at that moment all my years of work learning the business came into focus. I was lucky to have a fantastic cast with Clive Rowe, Hal Fowler, Claire Burt and Nick Holder – and the sheer elation convinced me that I was right in my determination to be a producer. And I have been very lucky because everyone I have worked with in the business has remained a good friend and faithful colleague. Perhaps I lack a ruthless streak. That sort of management is not really my style. I think things generally get done better with straight talking and level-headedness than with shouting and screaming.”
Thus, perhaps like Michael Redington, Kenny remains a gentleman producer, laid back, patient and determined. Whilst at the King’s Head he remained in contact with some of the students from the Sondheim Master Classes, one of whom was Ed Hardy who came to him to ask him to administrate a new writers’ organisation. Kenny politely declined but came up with a plan to produce a collaborative musical to launch the writers’ organisation which would become known as The Mercury Workshop.
They produced ‘THE CHALLENGE’ at the Shaw Theatre, a retelling of the Daedalus/Icarus legend. “Book writer Stephen Clark constructed a storyline and we allocated each writing team a section to suit their own particular style. Contributors included George Stiles, Kit Hesketh-Harvey, Jason Carr, Stephen Keeling, Charles Hart, Howard Goodall, Anthony Drewe; indeed, the cream of British creative talent. Sacha Brooks co-produced the show which was directed by Steven Dexter. It attracted a great deal of attention, with Stephen Sondheim coming from New York to see it with Cameron Mackintosh.
“The success of ‘THE CHALLENGE’ led to Gary Withers offering me a job in the new Entertainments division of Imagination on the basis that anyone crazy enough to produce that show deserved to work for Imagination. I worked there for three years, developing such musicals as ‘TUTANKHAMEN’ and ‘ONCE ON THIS ISLAND’ which was transferred from Birmingham Rep. to the West-End, co-directed by the late, great David Toguri and Gwenda Hughes. The show was nominated for four Olivier awards and won the one for Best Musical.”
In 1995 Kenny Wax formed his own Company and produced ‘MADDIE’ at Salisbury Playhouse which received great reviews in the local and all the National press and a rave from the Daily Telegraph. As so often happens, the production transferred to the Lyric Theatre where it was met with a divided press. Kenny acknowledges that with more experience and a bigger budget he might have nursed the show into success but he chose to close it to ensure he could pay off all his creditors.
As one door closed another opened and Andrew Empson invited him to join Peter Wilson and himself at PW Productions as Tour Booker and then General Manager. Kenny now produces his own shows which have included tours of Gerald Moon’s comedy thriller ‘CORPSE’, the RNT’s Olivier-Award winning musical ‘HONK’, “THE SHELL SEEKERS’ with Stephanie Cole, ‘MY BOY JACK’ with David Haig and Belinda Lang and Neil LaBute’s ‘THE SHAPE OF THINGS’ in the West End. He managed a gala at the Bristol Old Vic for Cameron Mackintosh to honour Julian Slade marking 50 years since the first performance of ‘SALAD DAYS’. Kenny now co-produces with Nick Brooke a number of young people’s successes such as ‘THE TIGER WHO CAME TO TEA’ and ‘THE GRUFFALO’ But the really exciting leap forward for Kenny is his production of the classic musical ‘TOP HAT’ starring Tom Chambers and Summer Strallen, currently touring the regions to great acclaim. It is daring move to stage a large-scale, really lavish musical at a time when many producers are drawing in their budgets, but audience response is enthusiastic and the show has a wide fan base across the generations.
So what does Kenny think are the two most difficult problems to crack at this moment of time? “Well, raising the money and raising the money. There is now some valuable support from Stage One who particularly try to encourage younger producers and I have also had some financial help over the years from Arts Council England for touring work. I still rely heavily on private investors but there are only a finite number of times you can ask the same person if you haven’t been able to return their money.”
RSC Stratford lit red for part of the #wemakeevents national event in August
A personal view by Unrestricted Theatre founder, Gary Donaldson
Eight months into the Covid-19 era and here we are in lockdown once again. Public entertainment and hospitality venues are shuttered once again, as the country tries to drive down the spiralling growth of cases of this invisible threat which appears to attack so mercilessly.
The incompetent UK government, having totally mishandled every aspect of public information from Day One, has reduced the UK to a global laughing-stock, especially for its “one rule for us and one rule for you” mentality – remember Dominic Scummings’ (not a misprint, a review) Barnard Castle jaunt that drove the public past the point of return to any sort of government credibility.
And all the time these clowns were creating chaos, risking the lives of our loved ones and driving our beloved NHS to breaking point, our still globally-respected entertainment sector was on its knees, ignored by a Culture Secretary who said he was on our side, but aside from hot air, we got nothing. We’d have been better off having a dead parrot on our side.
Whereas large swathes of industry (all the government’s old chums network barging to the front of the line) got financial largesse within a few weeks of the crisis hitting, the arts and culture sector had to wait more than six full months to see a penny of any financial assistance. Thousands of arts staff across the country were made redundant with no light appearing at the end of the tunnel. But even they fared better than the freelancers – hundreds of thousands of dedicated and talented creatives who found themselves falling through a safety net that almost appears specifically designed to exclude them.
#WeMakeEvents in August highlighted the plight of freelancers who make our industry work by lighting arts and entertainment buildings all in red. To a passionate and supportive public – and an utterly deaf government.
And then, and then. Government decided that it would be a real morale booster to all those they were already ignoring and starving of lifelines to be told that their jobs were “unviable”. You try telling that to a classical musician who has spent decades in their career! Did the Chancellor (Fishy Rishi) and the Business Secretary (Alok him up Sharma) think that their gift of creativity would be more viably expressed by driving a Tesco delivery van instead? Perhaps Sir Ian McKellen might be more “viable” running a fruit and veg stall in Brick Lane market?And if so, what does that tell us about this government’s conscious incompetence? As well as their utter disregard for ambition, talent and aspiration.
In yet another unbelievably tone-deaf move, the government decided that all applicant organisations for funds (the process for which they had farmed out to the Arts Council for them to take any flak) would have to compete against each other, thus providing an undignified pushing and shoving as they fought for the means to keep much-loved and age-old venues and companies alive. One National does not equal ten Southwark Playhouses. But you can’t explain this to people who understand the cost of everything and the value of nothing.
Then, we find out, the almost one-third of all the applicants- the ones who failed to receive any funding at all – were simply cast adrift. Thankfully, creative folk being who they are, started creating a whole raft of public Crowdfunder campaigns which rallied to try to assist the majority of beloved local and national organisations who had been given the governmental cold shoulder. Also thankfully, audiences responded with their usual warmth of appreciation for their local and national organisations. I sincerely wish them all well, and have myself contributed to as many as I have felt financially able to.
Those organisations who did finally receive some of the financial help they had requested many months ago were given full and complete instructions on just one aspect of the transaction – how they were to publicly trumpet their gratitude. They were instructed to do this by genuflecting sycophantically at length about how grateful they were all over their social media feeds to try and put lipstick on this pig of a government. It didn’t work. And you could smell the embarrassment on media feeds everywhere.
Then the BBC’ s Parliament channel gave us the worst show of all, the farce of the Select Committee demonstrating that they had very little idea about real life or the arts, let alone any idea of how the arts and entertainment industries actually work, and worse still, demonstrating no interest or inclination to listen or learn. What a demeaning spectacle. It was like taking a pre-school playgroup to see the Hadron Collider.
Meanwhile, producers worked tirelessly this way and that to try to put work on, continually frustrated by endless variables including the local disparities in viral status across the country, so that planned drive-in tours and outdoor performances had to be postponed or cancelled. Some diversified creatively, showing movies as an alternative entertainment, others like ENO created Drive In Opera at Alexandra Palace and other venues. Others managed to get shows on in open-air and traditional venues, like Kenny Wax, Katy Lipson and David Pugh, and one must applaud the drive and determination of every producer who set out to make shows during this period. It must have been like skiing downhill in a blizzard. Many other groups got work together and aired it online, which was a great help to creatives as well as their superfans, and helped to build audiences for shows which perhaps some might not have traditionally considered, as well as those with pre-existing conditions who feared leaving their homes.
And then, with all these green shoots coming through – venues which had worked tirelessly to creatively adapt with reduced seating, perspex screen dividers and all manner of creative interventions – were summarily told they would have to shut again, placing yet more strain and insecurity on an already buckling sector.
Now we await December 2nd. Theatres are poised, their schedules all in place, actors rehearsing behind closed doors. They, and the audiences who so long for theatre’s return, are counting down the days.
Christmas is traditionally theatres’ best bet for making profits. Regionally, it is crucial to generate the income which propels the rest of the year. West End-wise, theatres’ big capacities bring the big money rolling in, with rarely a seat to be found between Christmas and New Year’s. Normally.
To lose Christmas for the arts and culture would be something akin to being run over by a truck for a second time. Who knows how many would get up.
Personally, I believe that the hope of a reasonable Christmas is a good enough incentive to get people to abide by the rules over this next couple of weeks, in the hope that restrictions can then ease.
As I see it, the biggest problem isn’t just about restrictions lifting, it’s the rebuilding of confidence that will need to happen before people feel comfortable enough to firstly go out of their houses, then take whatever travel options they have available, and finally to feel able to relax in a building with a lot of others in the same place at relatively close quarters. We have already seen anxiety and all sorts of pyschologically-related disorders rise exponentially. How, I wonder, will this play out with theatregoers? Although I would relish seeing a live show greatly, am I in any rush to return to a busy auditorium? No. It’s a bit like driving. You can be the most responsible driver in the world – all it takes is one idiot to do something wrong and you could be in trouble.
I worry about how much this will filter through to audiences. I think that theatres are doing all they can to assuage people’s fears- SOLT and UKTheatre’s SEE IT SAFELY campaign is providing customers with a reliable standard and very important visual reinforcement that venues are doing everything reasonably possible to adhere to wise safety processes. But its when you put the volatile commodity of people into the equation, that’s when the real litmus test will be.
I wish it success with all my heart.
As to what the government will do to control and diminish Covid-19’s threat both to human life and to the future of our industry, heaven alone knows. They have already proved themselves utterly incapable of running anything, let alone a co-ordinated virus response. And for anyone who disagrees, I have just three words – Test and Trace.
But, frankly, what can you expect of a government that actually voted to let children starve during the Christmas holidays?
On the morning of Tuesday 29 September, the Heart of London Business Alliance (HoLBA) held an online symposium to celebrate the launch of their cultural strategy – the Cultural Heart of London, whilst simultaneously announcing the launch of a new digital channel – Art of London – which should be available later this week.
In a discussion led by Jan Dalley, Arts Editor of the Financial Times, representatives from the West End’s leading cultural institutions discussed London’s unique spirit and shared their ideas on how to protect and promote its extraordinary creative potential.
Introduced by Ros Morgan, Chief Executive of Heart of London Business Alliance, and livestreamed from the ODEON Luxe, Leicester Square, the panel included Kenny Wax, President of the Society of London Theatre, Stuart Murphy, Chief Executive of English National Opera, Axel Ruger, CEO of The Royal Academy and Sherry Dobbin, partner at FutureCity.
The debate was lively, thoughtful and insightful, as the participants shared how the Covid-19 crisis has affected their organisations and the creative methods that they are employing to continue their engagements with audiences to provide vital diversions during this time of national crisis.
HoLBA commissioned Arup to investigate the potential impact of Covid-19 on the West End in a range of different scenarios and to produce ideas and recommendations for future recovery. With a range of modelling of different scenarios, at worst with the West End suffering repeated lockdowns the area would see a “catastrophic” loss of 97% of GVA (Gross Value Added- the financial value of all goods and services produced in an area).
What was unanimously agreed was that the sector requires immediate help, in the form of support and investment. The arts and culture have always played a big part in economic national recovery and 2020 is no exception.
All of the participants agreed on the importance of restoring confidence to visiting audiences, with Axel Ruger highlighting the emotional states of both venue workers and audiences who visit. Ruger felt it would take about a year for audiences to restore their confidence levels, saying “the nervousness is not to be underestimated”. He added that it was vital for concerted action by all organisations and businesses to achieve consistency in behaviour in applying the guidelines, which would in turn boost public confidence. He reminded us that the crisis has shown us just how “essential” the culture sector is, noting the “explosion” in online uptake of cultural offerings, adding “I’d say we provided an essential service”.
Stuart Murphy rightly highlighted people’s nervousness about travelling on public transport to get to and from the West End, also citing the older demographic of the ENO’s audiences, noting that with the digital outreach they must appeal to a wider age range in order to generate younger attendees. Echoing many who think from an audience point of view, Murphy also added “Socially distanced theatre doesn’t work. People don’t want to turn up to a party that’s half empty….Socially distancing is troubling in theatres.”
Without government help, Wax said, “95% of the West End theatres will stay closed”. Big musicals are major drivers to London’s economy but they “won’t open without government backing”. He highlighted the need for a government-backed insurance scheme covering business interruption cancellation which includes COVID risk. The insurance market is currently refusing to cover for this. The government has already helped the Cinema and TV industry with just such an agreed government backed insurance scheme, so logically all it would take is for them to extend this scheme to cover the live theatre sector. Their lack of action and initiative is inexplicable.
Supporting Wax, Murphy added “We (the arts and culture sector) are world leaders – you can’t say that about much in the UK”
Wax also reminded viewers of the complex ecosystem of theatres across the country which depend on a thriving West End to receive hit shows which then tour to great financial advantage to all regions of the UK. Mentioning the almost 300,000 people who work in the theatre sector, he also highlighted in the injustice of the vast numbers of freelance workers who have “fallen through the cracks” of the government’s range of financial support schemes.
The call to directly aid freelancers – the majority of the creative world’s workers – was unanimously supported, with Axel Ruger reminding us that “the notion of creativity is predicated on freelancing and flexibility”.
Drawing attention to the many ways creatives had adapted to contribute to society during the first months of the pandemic, Murphy was rightly proud of the creative ways his organisation has engaged with communities. Whilst appreciating this, Axel Ruger cautioned against becoming “instrumentalised”, filling the gaps in social care, reminding of the need to stay connected to the artform and its expression.
Sherry Dobbin provided some useful overviews during the debate, reminding us that “we go to the creative sector when we don’t know what to do, which is an indicator of value”, and “Absence teaches us what is valuable”.
Ros Morgan concluded the event by issuing a challenge to viewers to think about how they could make a contribution to the rebirth of the West End. Whilst acknowledging that we have many challenges ahead, the publication of this new report and the opening of the new digital channel Art of London are concrete measures of the determination of London’s West End cultural leaders to find a positive way forward.
Thank you to everyone involved for a very worthwhile event.
