My top theatre productions of 2018 are up! You can read them all here. But there’s more praise to go around when I look back at the performances and productions to have impressed over the last year. So, with no actual awards to deliver, here are my top cast and creatives of 2018, who shall receive only a sincere nod of respect and appreciation for performances which stood out amongst so many other wonderful performances given this year.
I make absolutely no apology for the length of this three part round-up. When 110 shows have been seen, I feel no need to be unnecessarily restrictive when it comes to far-reaching recognition. I also stand by my selections of categories – I’m praising what I’ve loved, meaning made-up categories feature and I’ve chosen to separate my Top Picks into London, Regional and Touring Productions to ensure fair coverage across theatreland…
Here’s the first instalment of my Top Picks Of Casts and Creatives 2018: London Productions
Best Lead Performance in a Musical
Adrienne Warren in Tina The Tina Turner Musical
Best Supporting Performance in a Musical
Courtney Bowman in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie
Best Lead Performance in a Drama
Sharon D. Clark in Caroline, Or Change
(I’m getting away with this as for me, Caroline, Or Change is such a gripping show because it’s such a clear and distinctive hybrid).
Best Supporting Performance in a Drama
Lauren Ward in Caroline, Or Change
Best Lead Performance in a Comedy
Joshua James in Lady Windermere’s Fan

Best Supporting Performance in a Comedy
Samantha Spiro In Lady Windermere’s Fan
Best Ensemble Performance
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie
Best Female Vocals in a Musical
Adrienne Warren in Tina The Tina Turner Musical
Best Male Vocals in a Musical
John McCrea In Everybody’s Talking About Jamie
Best Duet
Adrienne Warren and Francesca Jackson in Tina The Tina Turner Musical
Best Lead Performance in a Fringe Production
Miranda Porter – He/She/It Happens
Best Supporting Performance in a Fringe Production
Rachel Morris – In The Wake Of
Best Direction
Tom Morris – The Grinning Man
Best Fringe Direction
Miranda Porter – He/She/It Happens

Best Choreography
Kirstie Skivington – Everybody’s Talking About Jamie
Best Set Design
Bob Crowley – Aladdin
Best Costume Design
Mark Thompson – Tina, The Tina Turner Musical
Best Lighting Design
Bruno Poet – Tina, The Tina Turner Musical
Best Puppetry Design and Direction
Finn Caldwell and Toby Olié (for Gyre and Gimble) – The Grinning Man (with additional prosthetic and make-up design from Susanna Peretz).
Best Fringe Writing
Miranda Porter – He/She/It Happens
Best New Writing (Book)
Tom Macrae and Jonathan Butterell – Everybody’s Talking About Jamie
Best Writing Overall
Oscar Wilde – Lady Windermere’s Fan
Best New Music
Dan Gillespie Sells and Tom Macrae – Everybody’s Talking About Jamie
Overall Best Music
Various – Tina, The Tina Turner Musical
Top five most memorable moments:
Adrienne Warren’s EPIC end of show concert
*That* moment of solidarity and acceptance in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie
Jennifer Saunders’ Don’t Touch My Fan Sir (penned by Kathy Burke)
Sharon D Clarke’s entire performance (yes, really).
Miranda Porter’s entire show (yes, really).
Here’s to another year of theatrical glory in 2019!
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