28th April, The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Organisers of the Olivier Awards will be patting themselves on the back for a job well done. This year’s star-studded event at The Royal Opera House looked and felt like the Oscars, with a red carpet stretching as far as the eye could see and littered with all manner of famous actors from both theatre and film, such as Tom Hiddleston, Kim Cattrall, Damian Lewis and Helen Mirren.
The ceremony itself was, for the first time, being broadcast on national television, hence the higher production values and whole host of well-polished musical theatre numbers from past and present West End hits, such as A Chorus Line, Cabaret, The Bodyguard, Top Hat and Cats. You name it, they had it. Surprise performances came from Glee’s Indina Menzel and Matthew Morrison, who both showed that it’s not just the Brits who have talent.
The award-winners came thick and fast, but it was The National Theatre’s stage adaptation of Marc Haddon’s best-selling novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time that swept the boards this year. It won a total of seven Oliviers, equalling the record set last year by another literary-inspired hit, the RSC’s musical version of Roald Dahl’s Matilda.
The Audience at The Gielgud Theatre did well, with Helen Mirren being crowned Best Actress for her performance as The Queen, and Richard McCabe, who appears opposite Mirren as Prime Minister Harold Wilson, was named Best Supporting Actor. Chichester Festival’s revival of the Sondheim classic Sweeney Todd had cause to celebrate, winning Best Musical Revival as well as Best Actor and Best Actress in a Musical for Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton.
Billy Elliot at The Victoria Place Theatre snatched the BBC2 Audience vote, won last year by Les Miserables.
The Olivier Awards were a perfect opportunity to show the world just what London Theatre has to offer – world-class, high-quality productions that keep audiences going back to the theatre night after night. The West End has never been better.
