Billy Elliot and The Home Place Top 2005 Evening Standard Awards

Billy Elliot won the award for Best Musical and Brian Friel's The Home Place took home the honor for Best Play when the 2005 Evening Standard Theatre Awards were presented during a ceremony on November 28 at the Savoy Hotel in London. Billy Elliot beat out competition from Mary Poppins which will open on Broadway in the fall and the already shuttered The Big Life. The Home Place topped Mike Leigh's National Theatre hit 2,000 Years, Richard Bean's Harvest and Richard Norton-Taylor's Bloody Sunday with its Best Play win. No show one more than one award.

Here is a complete list of the winners:

Best Play
The Home Place by Brian Friel, Gate Theatre, Dublin/Comedy Theatre

Best Musical
Billy Elliot, Victoria Palace Theatre

Best Actor
Simon Russell Beale, The Philanthropist, Donmar Warehouse

Best Actress
Harriet Walter, Mary Stuart, Donmar Warehouse/Apollo

Best Designer
Paul Brown, As You Desire Me, Playhouse Theatre
Bob Crowley, Mary Poppins, Prince Edward Theatre
Christopher Oram designer and Paule Constable lighting designer, Don Carlos, Sheffield Theatres/Gielgud

Milton Shulman Award for Outstanding Newcomer
Daniel Kramer for his direction of Hair and Woyzeck, Gate Theatre
Menier Chocolate Factory co-directors David Babani and Danielle Tarento
Ben Silverstone for his performance in Man And Boy, Duchess Theatre

Sydney Edwards Award for Best Director
Michael Grandage, Don Carlos Sheffield Theatres/Gielgud and Grand Hotel Donmar Warehouse

Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright
Nell Leyshon, Comfort Me With Apples, Hampstead Theatre

Milton Shulman Award for Outstanding Newcomer
Menier Chocolate Factory co-directors David Babani and Danielle Tarento

A special award also went to the Royal Court for its "exceptional contribution" to British theater.