“Cursed Child” Breaks Records at WhatsOnStage Awards
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child swept the board this evening, taking home eight awards at the 17th annual WhatsOnStage Awards, a record number for a play in the ceremony’s history.
Nominated across nine categories, Cursed Child most notably won Best New Play, Best Direction, and Best Actor for Jamie Parker’s portrayal of Harry Potter, all voted on by the public.
Parker was in attendance for the duration of the evening, delivering a nervous but delightful speech of thanks to the “fantasy creative dream team.”
.@DickLeFenwick's wonderful acceptance speech. #CursedChild #WOSAwards #HarryPotter pic.twitter.com/dj7yk2NJfO
— MuggleNet Live (@MuggleNetLive) February 19, 2017
The show also won in two further acting categories, with Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress in a play going to Anthony Boyle (Scorpius Malfoy) and Noma Dumezweni (Hermione Granger), respectively. The latter awards were conveniently placed at the very end of the evening, withBoyle and Dumezweni rushing from the theater following this evening’s performance. In his haste, Anthony Boyle made a bit of a blunder backstage!
.@antoboyle takes Best Supporting Actor and gives hilarious speech! #CursedChild #wosawards pic.twitter.com/Fl1iLk6dfa
— MuggleNet Live (@MuggleNetLive) February 19, 2017
The one and only @MissDumezweni runs from #CursedChild to accept Best Supporting Actress #wosawards! ❤? pic.twitter.com/phwaQLs3uq
— MuggleNet Live (@MuggleNetLive) February 19, 2017
Cursed Child’s runaway success hardly went unnoticed, with host Simon Lipkin joking, “Harry Potter [is] having a sh*t night” halfway through proceedings. A number of the creative team winners also took their acceptance speeches as an opportunity to comment on the show’s timely nature, a common theme throughout the night.
"An honour, at this time, to be doing a story…about a bunch of kids defeating an evil man." John Tiffany accepts #WOSAwards. #CursedChild
— MuggleNet Live (@MuggleNetLive) February 19, 2017
John Tiffany mentions #CursedChild's themes of a group of brave innocents fighting an evil narcissist. No parallels there.. #WOSAwards
— WhatsOnStage (@WhatsOnStage) February 19, 2017
Sonia Friedman Productions also won Best Musical Revival for Funny Girl, while Amber Riley was awarded Best Actress in a Musical for Dreamgirls, another Sonia Friedman production.
Sonia Friedman returns to the podium. #FunnyGirl is a long-held passion project and will carry on for "many years", she says #WOSAwards
— WhatsOnStage (@WhatsOnStage) February 19, 2017
The evening was a resounding success for the Cursed Child team and a true testament to the fandom’s enthusiasm for the production. We can’t wait to see what they win next!
Full list of awards for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
- Best Actor in a Play – Jamie Parker
- Best Supporting Actor in a Play – Anthony Boyle
- Best Supporting Actress in a Play – Noma Dumezweni
- Best New Play
- Best Direction – John Tiffany
- Best Set Design – Christine Jones
- Best Lighting Design – Neil Austin
- Best Video Design – Finn Ross and Ash Woodward
For the complete list of tonight’s winner, visit the WhatsOnStage website.
