Last night was the event of the year in Theatre, the Olivier Awards, held at the magnificent Royal Opera House in Covent Garden and hosted by Lenny Henry. I was elated to be there to walk the red carpet and feel like a celebrity for the night! The show was great and I spent most of it celeb-spotting on the crowd sat below me. The after party was jam packed full of stagey people and it was lovely to see so many familiar faces and dance the night away!
I am glad Nicole Scherzinger didn’t win Best Actress In A Supporting Role In A Musical, not because she didn’t do a good job as Grizabella but because I think the other people nominated in this category were more deserving (and had she have won, it would have been because of her celebrity status).
The biggest surprises of the night for me were the Best Actor and Best Actress in a Musical awards. Best Actor went to underdog Joh Dalgleish for Sunny Afternoon. I was gunning for Killian Donnelly to win but also thought Jon Jon Briones could take the award for his role as the Engineer in Miss Saigon. Best Actress went (deservingly) to Katie Brayben for her portrayal of Carole King in Beautiful but I was pinning all my hopes on Beverley Knight winning for Memphis.
The Best Actress In A Supporting Role award went to the legendary Angela Lansbury who received a standing ovation which got her a little choked up and emotional. At nearly 90 years old I think everyone agrees she was the only possible winner for this category. Bizarely, one of the other nominees in this category were all four girls who play Iris in The Nether. This seems strange to me to be able to nominate multiple people who play the same role. It feels more like the award should be for Best Character and not best actress if this is the case.
I was delighted to see Es Devlin win Best Set Design for her work on The Nether. She has made this show so beautiful and created a world you can get lost in. Es also did a great job designing the set for the awards last night which featured larger than life Olivier awards which moved up and down to make room for performances.
I thought Gillian Anderson would win the award for Best Actress but was hoping it would go to Imelda Staunton for her role in Good People which was amazing. Surprisingly though, it went to Penelope Wilton for Taken At Midnight.
The Olivier Awards was an experience I will never forget and I have to thank Kieran Brown for taking me as his guest and making it possible for me to live out a dream.
Here are all the winners from last night’s awards:
MasterCard Best New Musical
Sunny Afternoon at Hampstead Theatre & Harold Pinter Theatre
Best Actress in a Musical
Katie Brayben for Beautiful – The Carole King Musical at Aldwych Theatre
Best Actor in a Musical
John Dagleish for Sunny Afternoon at Hampstead Theatre & Harold Pinter Theatre
Magic Radio Best Musical Revival
City Of Angels at Donmar Warehouse
Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical
Lorna Want for Beautiful – The Carole King Musical at Aldwych Theatre
Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical
George Maguire for Sunny Afternoon at Hampstead Theatre and Harold Pinter Theatre
Autograph Sound Award for Outstanding Achievement in Music
Ray Davies for Sunny Afternoon at Hampstead Theatre & Harold Pinter Theatre
Best Director
Ivo Van Hove for A View From The Bridge at Young Vic
Best Theatre Choreographer
Sergio Trujillo for Memphis The Musical at Shaftesbury Theatre
Best Entertainment & Family
La Soirée at La Soirée Spiegeltent
Outstanding Achievement in Dance
Crystal Pite for her choreography in the productions of The Associates – A Picture Of You Falling, The Tempest Replica and Polaris at Sadler’s Wells
Best New Dance Production
32 Rue Vandenbranden by Peeping Tom at Barbican
Mats Ek’s Juliet And Romeo by Royal Swedish Ballet at Sadler’s Wells
This Morning Audience Award
Wicked at Apollo Victoria Theatre
Best Actress
Penelope Wilton for Taken At Midnight at Theatre Royal Haymarket
Best Actor
Mark Strong for A View From The Bridge at Young Vic & Wyndham’s Theatre
Virgin Atlantic Best New Play
King Charles III at Almeida Theatre & Wyndham’s Theatre
Outstanding Achievement in Opera
Richard Jones for his direction of The Girl Of The Golden West, The Mastersingers Of Nuremberg and Rodelinda at London Coliseum
Best New Opera Production
The Mastersingers Of Nuremberg at London Coliseum
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Angela Lansbury for Blithe Spirit at Gielgud Theatre
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Nathaniel Parker for Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies at Aldwych Theatre
XL Video Award for Best Set Design
Es Devlin for The Nether at Duke of York’s Theatre
Best Costume Design
Christopher Oram for Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies at Aldwych Theatre
Best Sound Design
Gareth Owen for Memphis The Musical at Shaftesbury Theatre
White Light Award for Best Lighting Design
Howard Harrison for City Of Angels at Donmar Warehouse
Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre
Bull at The Maria at Young Vic
Best New Comedy
The Play That Goes Wrong at Duchess Theatre
Best Revival
A View From The Bridge at Young Vic & Wyndham’s Theatre