WhatsOnStage Award for Best Actress in a Musical

The WhatsOnStage Award for Best Performer in a Female Identifying Role in a Musical is an annual award presented by WhatsOnStage.com as part of the annual WhatsOnStage Awards. Founded in 2001 as the Theatregoers' Choice Awards, the WhatsOnStage Awards are based on a popular vote recognising performers and productions in London's West End theatre.

WhatsOnStage Award for Best Performer in a Female Identifying Role in a Musical
Awarded for	Excellence in a leading role in a musical
Country	United Kingdom
Presented by	WhatsOnStage.com
First awarded	2001
Currently held by	Carrie Hope Fletcher (2022)

This award is given to a person who has performed a leading female identifying role in a musical during the eligibility year. Introduced in 2001 as the award for Best Actress in a Musical, the category was renamed in 2022 in an effort to be more inclusive. The category was discontinued following the 2022 ceremony and was replaced with the gender-neutral WhatsOnstage Award for Best Performer in a Musical.

First presented to Samantha Spiro at the inaugural ceremony, Carrie Hope Fletcher is the leader in this category after winning three times. Imelda Staunton is the only other performer to win the award multiple times. Fletcher has also received the most nominations in this category, with four.

Winners and nominees

2000s

Year	Performer	Musical	Female Identifying Character
2001^[1]	Samantha Spiro	Merrily We Roll Along	Mary Flynn
2002^[2]	Frances Barber	Closer to Heaven	Billie Trix
	Tracie Bennett	Last Song of the Nightingale	Martha
	Anita Louise Combe	Hello Again	The Actress
	Ruthie Henshall	Peggy Sue Got Married	Peggy Sue
	Marin Mazzie	Kiss Me, Kate	Lilli Vanessi/Katharine
	Golda Rosheuvel	Songs for a New World	Woman
2003^[3]
	Hannah Jane Fox	We Will Rock You	Scaramouche
	Kathryn Evans	Follies	Sally Durant Plummer
	Linzi Hateley	Love Songs	Nellie Forbush
	Preeya Kalidas	Bombay Dreams	Priya
	Lauren Kennedy	South Pacific	Nellie Forbush
	Emma Williams	Chitty Chitty Bang Bang	Truly Scrumptious
2004^[4]	Sally Ann Triplett	Anything Goes	Reno Sweeney
	Vivienne Carlyle	Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat	Narrator
	Anna Francolini	The Ballad of Little Jo	Josephine Monaghan
	Maria Friedman	Ragtime	Mother
	Amanda Holden	Thoroughly Modern Millie	Millie Dillmount
	Alison Jiear	Jerry Springer: The Opera	Shawntel/Eve
2005^[5]
	Maria Friedman	The Woman in White	Marian Halcombe
	Joanna Francis	Purlie	Lutiebelle
	Karen Mann	Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street	Mrs. Lovett
	Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio	Grand Hotel	Elizaveta Grushinskaya
	Rebecca Vere	Bat Boy: The Musical	Meredith Parker
	Leigh Zimmerman	The Producers	Ulla Bloom
2006^[6]	Jane Krakowski	Guys and Dolls	Miss Adelaide
	Anna-Jane Casey	Sunday in the Park with George	Dot/Marie
	Haydn Gwynne	Billy Elliot the Musical	Mrs. Wilkinson
	Laura Michelle Kelly	Mary Poppins	Mary Poppins
	Jenna Russell	Guys and Dolls	Sister Sarah Brown
	Julie Walters	Acorn Antiques: The Musical!	Bo Beaumont
2007^[7]	Idina Menzel	Wicked	Elphaba
	Connie Fisher	The Sound of Music	Maria Rainer
	Tonya Pinkins	Caroline, or Change	Caroline Thibodeaux
	Elena Roger	Evita	Eva Perón
	Jenna Russell	Sunday in the Park with George	Dot/Marie
	Hannah Waddingham	Spamalot	Lady of the Lake
2008^[8]	Leanne Jones	Hairspray	Tracy Turnblad
	Susan McFadden	Grease	Sandy
	Lara Pulver	Parade	Lucille Frank
	Sheridan Smith	Little Shop of Horrors	Audrey
	Summer Strallen	The Drowsy Chaperone	Janet van de Graaff
	Denise van Outen	Rent	Maureen Johnson
2009^[9]	Sofia Escobar	West Side Story	Maria
	Connie Fisher	They're Playing Our Song	Sonia Walsk
	Leila Benn Harris	Imagine This	Rebecca (Tamar)
	Ruthie Henshall	Marguerite	Marguerite
	Lisa O'Hare	Gigi	Gigi
	Elena Roger	Piaf	Edith Piaf

2010s

Year	Performer	Musical	Female Identifying Character
2010^[10]	Patina Miller	Sister Act	Doloris Van Cartier
	Kathryn Evans	Sunset Boulevard	Norma Desmond
	Jane Horrocks	Annie Get Your Gun	Annie Oakley
	Samantha Spiro	Hello, Dolly!	Dolly Gallagher Levi
	Hannah Waddingham	A Little Night Music	Desiree Armfeldt
	Charlotte Wakefield	Spring Awakening	Wendla Bergmann
2011^[11]	Sheridan Smith	Legally Blonde	Elle Woods
	Sierra Boggess	Love Never Dies	Christine Daaé
	Anna-Jane Casey	Bells Are Ringing	Ella Peterson
	Victoria Hamilton-Barritt	Flashdance	Alex Owens
	Tamzin Outhwaite	Sweet Charity	Charity Hope Valentine
	Elena Roger	Passion	Fosca
2012^[12]^[13]	Amanda Holden	Shrek The Musical	Princess Fiona
	Cleo Demetriou Eleanor Worthington Cox Sophia Kiely Kerry Ingram	Matilda the Musical	Matilda Wormwood
	Clare Foster	Crazy for You	Polly Baker
	Sarah Lancashire	Betty Blue Eyes	Joyce Chilvers
	Caissie Levy	Ghost	Molly Jensen
	Emma Williams	Love Story	Jenny
2013^[14]	Imelda Staunton	Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street	Mrs. Lovett
	Heather Headley	The Bodyguard	Rachel Marron
	Megan McGinnis	Daddy Long Legs	Jerusha Abbott
	Scarlett Strallen	Singin' in the Rain	Kathy Selden
	Hannah Waddingham	Kiss Me, Kate	Lilli Vanessi/Katharine
	Emi Wokoma	Soul Sister	Tina Turner
2014^[15]	Scarlett Strallen	A Chorus Line	Cassie Ferguson
	Rosalie Craig	The Light Princess	Althea
	Zrinka Cvitešić	Once	Girl
	Cynthia Erivo	The Color Purple	Celie
	Charlotte Wakefield	The Sound of Music	Maria Rainer
2015^[16]	Eva Noblezada	Miss Saigon	Kim
	Madalena Alberto	Evita	Eva Perón
	Gemma Arterton	Made in Dagenham	Rita O'Grady
	Beverley Knight	Memphis	Felicia Farrell
	Jenna Russell	Urinetown	Penelope Pennywise
2016^[17]	Imelda Staunton	Gypsy	Rose Thompson Hovick
	Katie Brayben	Beautiful: The Carole King Musical	Carole King
	Lily Frazer	In the Heights	Nina Rosario
	Beverley Knight	Cats	Grizabella
	Kimberley Walsh	Elf	Jovie
2017^[18]	Amber Riley	Dreamgirls	Effie White
	Glenn Close	Sunset Boulevard	Norma Desmond
	Carrie Hope Fletcher	Chitty Chitty Bang Bang	Truly Scrumptious
	Devon-Elise Johnson	Half a Sixpence	Ann Pornick
	Sheridan Smith	Funny Girl	Fanny Brice
2018^[19]	Carrie Hope Fletcher	The Addams Family	Wednesday Addams
	Christina Bennington	Bat Out of Hell: The Musical	Raven
	Janie Dee	Follies	Phyllis Rogers Stone
	Ria Jones	Sunset Boulevard	Norma Desmond
	Josie Walker	Everybody's Talking About Jamie	Margaret New
2019^[20]	Carrie Hope Fletcher	Heathers: The Musical	Veronica Sawyer
	Laura Baldwin	Eugenius!	Janey
	Rosalie Craig	Company	Bobbie
	Rachelle Ann Go	Hamilton	Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton
	Adrienne Warren	Tina	Tina Turner

2020s

Year	Performer	Musical	Female Identifying Character
2020^[21]	Miriam-Teak Lee	& Juliet	Juliet Capulet
	Tracie Bennett	Mame	Mame Dennis
	Lucie Jones	Waitress	Jenna Hunterson
	Katharine McPhee
	Zizi Strallen	Mary Poppins	Mary Poppins
2021	Not presented due to impact on theatres of COVID-19 pandemic
2022^[22]
	Carrie Hope Fletcher	Cinderella	Cinderella
	Aimie Atkinson	Pretty Woman: The Musical	Vivian Ward
	Samantha Barks	Frozen	Elsa
	Jessie Buckley	Cabaret	Sally Bowles
	Beverley Knight	The Drifters Girl	Faye Treadwell
	Steph McKeon	Frozen	Anna

Multiple wins and nominations

Wins

3 wins

• Carrie Hope Fletcher

2 wins

• Imelda Staunton

Nominations

4 nominations

• Carrie Hope Fletcher

3 nominations

• Beverley Knight
• Elena Roger
• Jenna Russell
• Sheridan Smith
• Hannah Waddingham

2 nominations

• Tracie Bennett
• Anna-Jane Casey
• Rosalie Craig
• Kathryn Evans
• Connie Fisher
• Maria Friedman
• Ruthie Henshall
• Amanda Holden
• Samantha Spiro
• Imelda Staunton
• Scarlett Strallen
• Emma Williams

References

1. "Whatsonstage Awards 2001". Westendtheatre.com. 1 January 2009. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
2. "Whatsonstage Awards 2002". Westendtheatre.com. 1 January 2009. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
3. "Whatsonstage.com Awards - Theatregoers' Choice Awards". Archive.ph. 12 April 2013. Archived from the original on 12 April 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
4. "Whatsonstage Awards 2004". Westendtheatre.com. 1 January 2009. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
5. "Whatsonstage.com Awards - Theatregoers' Choice Awards". Archive.ph. 19 November 2013. Archived from the original on 19 November 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
6. "Whatsonstage.com Awards - Theatregoers' Choice Awards". Archive.ph. 19 November 2013. Archived from the original on 19 November 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
7. "Whatsonstage.com Awards - Theatregoers' Choice Awards". Archive.ph. 19 November 2013. Archived from the original on 19 November 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
8. "Full List: Your Theatregoers' Choice Award Winners". Whatsonstage.com. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
9. Varley, Eddie. "Tennant, Branagh, Hartnett & 'JERSEY BOYS' Win Big at the WHATSONSTAGE Awards". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
10. "Full List: 2010 Whatsonstage.com Award Winners". Whatsonstage.com. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
11. "Full List: 2011 Whatsonstage.com Award Winners". Whatsonstage.com. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
12. "Full List: 2012 Whatsonstage.com Awards Nominees". Whatsonstage.com. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
13. "Full List: 2012 Whatsonstage.com Award winners". Whatsonstage.com. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
14. "Full list: Winners announced of the 2013 Whatsonstage.com Awards". Whatsonstage.com. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
15. "Full List: Winners of the 2014 WhatsOnStage Awards". Whatsonstage.com. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
16. "Full list: Winners of the 15th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards". Whatsonstage.com. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
17. "Whatsonstage Awards – Winners 2016". Westendtheatre.com. 22 February 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
18. "Whatsonstage Awards – Winners 2017". Westendtheatre.com. 20 February 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
19. "Winners of the 18th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards announced: David Tennant and Olivia Colman win". Whatsonstage.com. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
20. "Hamilton and Aidan Turner among winners at 19th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards". Whatsonstage.com. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
21. "20th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards winners include Andrew Scott, Claire Foy, Come From Away and Six". Whatsonstage.com. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
22. "Nominees for 22nd Annual WhatsOnStage Awards announced". Whatsonstage.com. Retrieved 28 January 2022.

External links

• Official website