2017 Laurence Olivier Awards

2017 Laurence Olivier Awards
2017 Laurence Olivier Awards
Date	9 April 2017
Location	Royal Albert Hall, London
Hosted by	Jason Manford
Television/radio coverage
Network	ITV (television); Magic 105.4 FM (radio)
	← 2016; Laurence Olivier Awards; 2018 →;

The 2017 Laurence Olivier Awards were held on 9 April 2017 at the Royal Albert Hall, London. The ceremony was hosted by comedian Jason Manford.^[1] A highlights show was shown on ITV shortly after the live event ended.

Eligibility[]

Any new production that opened between 17 February 2016 and 21 February 2017 in a theatre represented in membership of the Society of London Theatre was eligible for consideration, provided it had performed at least 30 performances.^[2]

Event calendar[]

2 March: Kenneth Branagh announced as the recipient of the Society Special Award^[3]
6 March: Nominations announced by Denise Gough and Matt Henry on Facebook Live^[3]
10 March: Nominations party held; Jason Manford announced as the host of the ceremony^[4]
9 April: Award ceremony held

Winners and nominees[]

The nominations were announced on 6 March 2017 in 26 categories.^[5]

Best New Play	Best New Musical
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child script and story by Jack Thorne, story by J. K. Rowling and John Tiffany – Palace Elegy by Nick Payne – Donmar Warehouse The Flick by Annie Baker – National Theatre Dorfman One Night in Miami by Kemp Powers – Donmar Warehouse	Groundhog Day – The Old Vic Dreamgirls – Savoy The Girls – Phoenix School of Rock – New London
Best Revival	Best Musical Revival
Yerma – Young Vic The Glass Menagerie – Duke of York's This House – Garrick Travesties – Apollo	Jesus Christ Superstar – Regent's Park Open Air Funny Girl – Savoy Show Boat – New London Sunset Boulevard – London Coliseum
Best New Comedy	Best Entertainment and Family
Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour by Lee Hall – National Theatre Dorfman The Comedy about a Bank Robbery by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields – Criterion Nice Fish adapted by Mark Rylance, based on text by Louis Jenkins – Harold Pinter The Truth by Florian Zeller, translated by Christopher Hampton – Wyndham's	The Red Shoes – Sadler's Wells Cinderella – London Palladium David Baddiel – My Family: Not the Sitcom – Vaudeville Peter Pan – National Theatre Olivier
Best Actor	Best Actress
*Jamie Parker as Harry Potter in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child* – Palace** Ed Harris as Dodge in Buried Child – Trafalgar Studios 1 Tom Hollander as Henry Carr in Travesties – Apollo Ian McKellen as Spooner in No Man's Land – Wyndham's	Billie Piper as Yerma in Yerma – Young Vic Glenda Jackson as Lear in King Lear – The Old Vic Cherry Jones as Amanda Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie – Duke of York's Ruth Wilson as Hedda Gabler Tesman in Hedda Gabler – National Theatre Lyttelton
Best Actor in a Musical	Best Actress in a Musical
*Andy Karl as Phil Connors in Groundhog Day* – The Old Vic** David Fynn as Dewey Finn in School of Rock – New London Tyrone Huntley as Judas Iscariot in Jesus Christ Superstar – Regent's Park Open Air Charlie Stemp as Arthur Kipps in Half a Sixpence – Noël Coward	*Amber Riley as Effie White in Dreamgirls* – Savoy** Glenn Close as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard – London Coliseum Debbie Chazen, Sophie-Louise Dann, Michele Dotrice, Claire Machin, Claire Moore and Joanna Riding as Ruth, Celia, Jessie, Cora, Chris and Annie in The Girls – Phoenix Sheridan Smith as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl – Savoy
Best Actor in a Supporting Role	Best Actress in a Supporting Role
*Anthony Boyle as Scorpius Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child* – Palace** Freddie Fox as Tristan Tzara in Travesties – Apollo Brian J Smith as Jim O'Connor in The Glass Menagerie – Duke of York's Rafe Spall as Judge Brack in Hedda Gabler – National Theatre Lyttelton	*Noma Dumezweni as Hermione Granger in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child* – Palace** Melissa Allan, Caroline Deyga, Kirsty Findlay, Karen Fishwick, Kirsty MacLaren, Frances Mayli McCann, Joanne McGuinness and Dawn Sievewright as Orla, Chell, Understudy Chell/Fionnula/Kay, Kay, Manda, Kylah, Understudy Kylah/Manda/Orla and Fionnula in Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour – National Theatre Dorfman Clare Foster as Cecily Carruthers in Travesties – Apollo Kate O'Flynn as Laura Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie – Duke of York's
Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical	Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical
*Adam J. Bernard as James "Thunder" Early in Dreamgirls* – Savoy** Ian Bartholomew as Chitterlow in Half a Sixpence – Noël Coward Ben Hunter as Danny in The Girls – Phoenix Andrew Langtree as Ned Ryerson in Groundhog Day – The Old Vic	*Rebecca Trehearn as Julie LaVerne in Show Boat* – New London** Haydn Gwynne as Celia Peachum in The Threepenny Opera – National Theatre Olivier Victoria Hamilton-Barritt as The Narrator in Murder Ballad – Arts Emma Williams as Helen Walsingham in Half a Sixpence – Noël Coward
Best Director	Best Theatre Choreographer
*John Tiffany for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child* – Palace** Simon Stone for Yerma – Young Vic John Tiffany for The Glass Menagerie – Duke of York's Matthew Warchus for Groundhog Day – The Old Vic	*Matthew Bourne for The Red Shoes* – Sadler's Wells** Peter Darling and Ellen Kane for Groundhog Day – The Old Vic Steven Hoggett for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – Palace Drew McOnie for Jesus Christ Superstar – Regent's Park Open Air
Best Set Design	Best Costume Design
*Christine Jones for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child* – Palace** Bob Crowley for Aladdin – Prince Edward Bob Crowley for The Glass Menagerie – Duke of York's Rob Howell for Groundhog Day – The Old Vic	*for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child* – Palace** Gregg Barnes for Dreamgirls – Savoy Hugh Durrant for Cinderella – London Palladium Rob Howell for Groundhog Day – The Old Vic
Best Lighting Design	Best Sound Design
*for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child* – Palace** Lee Curran for Jesus Christ Superstar – Regent's Park Open Air Natasha Katz for The Glass Menagerie – Duke of York's Hugh Vanstone for Groundhog Day – The Old Vic	*for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child* – Palace** Paul Arditti for Amadeus – National Theatre Olivier Adam Cork for Travesties – Apollo Nick Lidster for Autograph for Jesus Christ Superstar – Regent's Park Open Air
Outstanding Achievement in Music
*The three children's bands for playing instruments live every night in School of Rock* – New London** Henry Krieger for composing Dreamgirls – Savoy Imogen Heap for composing and arranging Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – Palace The band and company for creating the gig-like rock vibe of the original concept album of Jesus Christ Superstar – Regent's Park Open Air
Outstanding Achievement in Dance	Best New Dance Production
*English National Ballet for expanding the variety of their repertoire with Akram Khan's Giselle* and She Said – Sadler's Wells** Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater for their Dance Consortium-presented London season – Sadler's Wells Luke Ahmet in The Creation by Rambert – Sadler's Wells	by Crystal Pite and Jonathon Young – Sadler's Wells Blak Whyte Gray by Boy Blue Entertainment – Barbican Giselle by Akram Khan and the English National Ballet – Sadler's Wells My Mother, My Dog and CLOWNS! by Michael Clark – Barbican
Outstanding Achievement in Opera	Best New Opera Production
*Mark Wigglesworth for conducting Don Giovanni* and Lulu – London Coliseum** Renée Fleming in Der Rosenkavalier – Royal Opera House Stuart Skelton in Tristan and Isolde – London Coliseum	Akhnaten – London Coliseum 4.48 Psychosis – Lyric Hammersmith Così fan tutte – Royal Opera House Lulu – London Coliseum
Outstanding Achievement in Affiliate Theatre
Rotterdam – Trafalgar Studios 2 Cuttin' It, Young Vic / Royal Court – Young Vic, Maria The Government Inspector – Theatre Royal Stratford East The Invisible Hand – Tricycle It Is Easy to Be Dead – Trafalgar Studios 2
Society Special Award
Kenneth Branagh

Productions with multiple wins and nominations[]

Multiple wins[]

The following productions received multiple awards:

9: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
2: Dreamgirls, Groundhog Day, The Red Shoes, Yerma

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child broke the record for winning the most awards by a single production, overtaking Matilda (2012) and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (2013) both winning seven.

Multiple nominations[]

The following 18 productions, including one opera and two dances, received multiple nominations:

11: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
8: Groundhog Day
7: The Glass Menagerie
6: Jesus Christ Superstar
5: Dreamgirls, Travesties
3: The Girls, Half a Sixpence, School of Rock, Yerma
2: Cinderella, Funny Girl, Giselle, Hedda Gabler, Lulu, Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour, The Red Shoes, Show Boat, Sunset Boulevard

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child tied for most nominations by a single production with Hairspray at the 2008 ceremony.

Guest performers[]

Gary Barlow, Tim Firth and the cast of The Girls performing 'Yorkshire' (featuring an appearance from the original Calendar Girls)
Amber Riley from Dreamgirls performing 'And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going'
Tim Minchin and the cast of Groundhog Day performing 'Hope'
Tyrone Huntley and the cast of Jesus Christ Superstar performing 'Heaven On Their Minds'
David Fynn and the child cast of School of Rock performing 'Stick It To The Man'
Sam Archer and Ashley Shaw performing a dance section from The Red Shoes
Audra McDonald and choir of the Arts Education School performing 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow' during the In Memoriam section

References[]

^ Masters, Tim (9 April 2017). "Olivier Awards: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child wins record nine prizes". BBC News. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
^ "Frequently Asked Questions". olivierawards.com.
^ ^a ^b "Kenneth Branagh announced as Special Award winner at the Olivier Awards | WhatsOnStage".
^ "Jason Manford to host this year's Olivier Awards | WhatsOnStage".
^ "Olivier awards 2017: full list of nominations". The Guardian. 2017-03-06. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-03-06.

External links[]

Olivier Awards official website

[1] Masters, Tim (9 April 2017). "Olivier Awards: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child wins record nine prizes". BBC News. Retrieved 9 April 2017.

[2] "Frequently Asked Questions". olivierawards.com.

[special-3] "Kenneth Branagh announced as Special Award winner at the Olivier Awards | WhatsOnStage".

[4] "Jason Manford to host this year's Olivier Awards | WhatsOnStage".

[5] "Olivier awards 2017: full list of nominations". The Guardian. 2017-03-06. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-03-06.

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v t Laurence Olivier Awards
Drama	New Play New Comedy Revival Actor Actress Performance in a Supporting Role (Actor in a Supporting Role, Actress in a Supporting Role)
Musical	New Musical Musical Revival Actor in a Musical Actress in a Musical Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical (Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical, Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical) Achievement in Music
Production/Creatives	Director Theatre Choreographer Set Design Costume Design Lighting Design Sound Design
Dance/Opera	New Dance Production New Opera Production Achievement in Dance Achievement in Opera
Special/Other	Special Award Entertainment and Family Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre Audience Award
Retired	Actor of the Year in a New Play Actress of the Year in a New Play Actor of the Year in a Revival Actress of the Year in a Revival Comedy Performance Performance in a Musical Supporting Artist of the Year Newcomer in a Play Most Promising Performer Company Performance Director of a Play Director of a Musical Most Promising Playwright Achievement in a Musical
Ceremonies	1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 (none) 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020