The Standard View: A starry celebration of the London stage at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards

Christian Adams
Christian Adams
Evening Standard Comment20 November 2023
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

The stars were out in force in central London last night for the 67th Evening Standard Theatre Awards.

This newspaper’s proprietor Lord Lebedev, who hosted the glamorous show at Claridge’s alongside Ian McKellen, told the audience the event was “a testimony to the resilience of the West End and the resurrection of the London stage after several challenging years”.

Big-name winners included Nicole Scherzinger, who took home the Best Musical Performance for her show-stopping turn in Sunset Boulevard, and Andrew Scott who secured the Best Actor Award for his one man take on Uncle Vanya.

There were also two special awards, with one presented to Sir Elton John in recognition of his collaborative approach to musical theatre, including his work on shows such as The Lion King, Billy Elliot and recent hit Tammy Faye. For other talented winners, stunning dresses and so much more, follow our coverage at standard.co.uk.

Don’t fudge the data

Transport for London runs a tight ship when it comes to what is, and isn’t, permitted to be advertised on its network. It even rejected a poster from a London-based online cheese shop on the grounds that it promoted an unhealthy diet. But the Mayor appears to have fallen foul of the rules when it comes to the Ultra low emission zone.

A draft report by the Advertising Standards Authority suggests that Sadiq Khan may have misled the public over the benefits of the Ulez, in particular over claims that the central London zone had “almost halved” the levels of nitrogen dioxide. But these “did not clarify” that they were based on models, rather than real-world statistics.

This newspaper has supported the Ulez and extension because of the benefits to air quality in the city. But public consent relies on a broad trust that scientific data is not misused or figures fudged.

The party’s over

Living in central London shouldn’t mean putting up with endless loud parties from nearby residential properties. Yet that is the reality for many, with Westminster council revealing it has received an “unprecedented” 30 complaints a week from residents about flats being turned into short-term lets. It estimates there are roughly 12,000 in the borough, with areas such as Soho and Marylebone the worst-affected.

These are not people who have bought a flat above a night club and are surprised there is noise. It cannot be right that apartment buildings are being hollowed out to become what are essentially hotels — without the regulation. Westminster wants a registration scheme like Edinburgh, Paris and Barcelona.

For the sake of a decent night’s sleep, it cannot come soon enough.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in