Laurence Olivier Awards

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Olivier Awards
Awarded forBest in London theatre
CountryUnited Kingdom
Presented bySociety of London Theatre
First awarded1976; 45 years ago (1976)
Websiteofficiallondontheatre.com/olivier-awards/

The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known as the Society of West End Theatre Awards, but they were renamed in honour of the British actor Laurence Olivier in 1984.

The awards are given to individuals involved in West End productions and other leading non-commercial theatres based in London across a range of categories covering plays, musicals, dance, opera and affiliate theatre. A discretionary non-competitive Special Olivier Award is also given each year. The Olivier Awards are recognised internationally as the highest honour in British theatre, equivalent to the BAFTA Awards for film and television, and the BRIT Awards for music. The Olivier Awards are considered equivalent to Broadway's Tony Awards and France's Molière Award.

Since inception, the awards have been held at various venues and theatres across London, from 2012 to 2016 at the Royal Opera House, before moving to the Royal Albert Hall in 2017. Television coverage is broadcast in prime time on ITV, who acquired the rights from 2013 onwards, with radio coverage by Magic Radio.

History[]

The awards were established in 1976 by the Society of London Theatre as the Society of West End Theatre Awards and were designed by artist Tom Merrifield. The first ceremony was in December 1976 at the Café Royal. In 1984, British actor Laurence Olivier gave his consent for the awards to be renamed in his honour and they became known as the Laurence Olivier Awards.[1]

Judging[]

Every year, judging panels for theatre, opera, dance and affiliate shows are put together by the Society of London Theatre.[2]

For opera, dance and affiliates, each panel is made up of a mix of professional panellists (journalists, casting directors, arts administrators, publishers and other industry professionals chosen for their knowledge in the field) and members of the public who are passionate about London theatre. The panels first select the shows they consider most worthy of an Olivier Award nomination, then vote on a winner at the end of the judging period.[2]

For the theatre awards, a longlist is compiled by a panel made up of members of the public, and submitted to SOLT members to vote on. Members may still vote outside of the list at this stage, except for in the four Supporting Actor/Actress categories (as these each contain thousands of eligible performers). The members’ votes are collated with those of the panellists to create the list of nominees. The nominees list is then voted on by both members and panellists to produce the winners.[2]

Ceremony[]

Hosts and presenters[]

Past hosts of the Olivier Awards ceremony include Michael Ball, Imelda Staunton, Clive Anderson, Gemma Arterton, Stephen Mangan, Hugh Bonneville, Sheridan Smith, Lenny Henry, Catherine Tate, and Jason Manford.

Presenters of individual awards include Diana, Princess of Wales, Richard E. Grant, Anthony Head, Sue Johnston, Angela Lansbury, James Nesbitt, Richard Wilson, Eddie Izzard, Sir Tom Stoppard, Barry Norman, Peter Barkworth, Daniel Radcliffe, Anthony Hopkins, Sue Lawley, Diana Rigg, Edward Fox, Tim Rice, Gary Wilmot, Jane Asher, Tom Conti, Denis Quilley, Angela Rippon, Cuba Gooding Jr., Lee Evans, Patti LuPone, Lin-Manuel Miranda, John Boyega, Michael Sheen, Meera Syal, Paul O'Grady, Julian Clary, and Juliet Stevenson.[3]

Venues[]

The venue most associated with the Awards is Grosvenor House Hotel, which has housed the after-show reception nine times and hosted the whole event on four further occasions. As well as at the Grosvenor, the presentations have been held at the Albery Theatre (now Noël Coward), Café Royal, Dominion Theatre, London Palladium, Lyceum Theatre, Park Lane Hilton, Piccadilly Theatre, Royal National Theatre Olivier, Royalty Theatre (now Peacock), Shaftesbury Theatre, Theatre Royal Drury Lane and Victoria Palace Theatre.[4]

From 2012 to 2016 the awards ceremony was held at the Royal Opera House, moving to the Royal Albert Hall in 2017.[5][6]

Broadcast[]

The first Laurence Olivier Awards to be broadcast on television was the 1981 ceremony, which was broadcast on BBC1. This continued until 1992, before a switch to BBC2 until 2003.[7] The awards ceremony was then only broadcast on radio until 2011, when the BBC broadcast live interactive red-button coverage of the event,[8] while Paul Gambaccini presented a programme on BBC Radio 2 with live coverage and interviews.[4] The same coverage followed in 2012, before ITV secured the broadcast rights which saw the return of the Olivier Awards to mainstream television in 2013.[9] This has continued in recent years, and the ceremony has also been broadcast on Magic Radio.

Award categories[]

Award milestones[]

Some notable records and facts about the Laurence Olivier Awards include the following:[10]

Productions[]

Individuals[]

  • William Dudley (designer), Judi Dench (actress) and Matthew Bourne (choreographer) are tied for the record for the most competitive wins by an individual with seven each. Dench also won a Special Olivier Award in 2004. Andrew Lloyd Webber (composer/producer) has won six plus the Special Olivier Award in 2008.[11]
  • Ian McKellen, Alan Bennett, Richard Eyre and Stephen Sondheim have all won five competitive awards plus the Special Olivier Award.
  • Five wins: Declan Donnellan, Mark Henderson, Mark Thompson.
  • Four wins: Michael Bryant, Darcey Bussell, Michael Frayn, Tim Goodchild, Clare Higgins, Alex Jennings, Sam Mendes, John Napier, Trevor Nunn, Philip Quast, Willy Russell, Simon Russell Beale, Imelda Staunton, Frances de la Tour, Paule Constable, Bunny Christie.
  • Michael Gambon received thirteen-time nominations (winning it three times).
  • Performers who have won Olivier Awards in both the play and musical categories are: Simon Russell Beale, Jonathan Pryce, Henry Goodman, Imelda Staunton, Judi Dench, Sheridan Smith, Janie Dee and Sharon D. Clarke.
  • In 1991 Karla Burns became the first black performer to win the award for the role of Queenie in Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Show Boat.[12]
  • Maggie Smith has never won the award despite being nominated a total of six times. She did receive the Special Olivier Award in 2010.
  • Judi Dench is the only actress to win dramatic and musical Olivier acting awards in the same year (1996) - for her performances in Absolute Hell and A Little Night Music.
  • Philip Quast has won the Olivier for Best Actor in a Musical on three occasions, while Michael Crawford, Robert Lindsay, Daniel Evans and Michael Ball have all won the award twice.
  • Imelda Staunton has won the Olivier for Best Actress in a Musical three times. Julia McKenzie, Joanna Riding, Maria Friedman and Samantha Spiro have all won twice. Imelda Staunton also holds the record for the most Olivier nominations in the Best Actress in a Musical category, with seven nominations. Maria Friedman is next, with six nominations.
  • Jenny Galloway and Tracie Bennett have both won the Olivier for Best Supporting Performance in a Musical twice.
  • Shows that have won Olivier Awards for Best Actor and Best Actress in a Musical: Barbara Dickson and Con O'Neill in Blood Brothers (1988), Jonathan Pryce and Lea Salonga in Miss Saigon (1990), Alun Armstrong and Julia McKenzie in Sweeney Todd (1993), Daniel Evans and Samantha Spiro in Merrily We Roll Along (2001), Alex Jennings and Joanna Riding in My Fair Lady (2003), Daniel Evans and Jenna Russell in Sunday in the Park with George (2007), Michael Ball and Leanne Jones in Hairspray (2008), Bertie Carvel and all four Matildas in Matilda (2012) and Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton in Sweeney Todd (2013)
  • In 1984, Tim Flavin was the first American actor to win the Olivier Award for his performance in On Your Toes at the Palace Theatre. He was nominated twice in the same year for Most Promising Newcomer and Best Actor in a Musical and the award was presented by Dame Anna Neagle. In 1985, Patti LuPone was the first American actress to win an Olivier award for her work in The Cradle Will Rock and Les Miserables. Jessica Lange was the first American actress nominated for the Olivier Award for Best Actress for her performance in Long Day's Journey Into Night
  • Hairspray won all three musical acting awards in 2008: Best Actor and Actress in a Musical for Michael Ball and Leanne Jones and Best Supporting Performance in a Musical for Tracie Bennett.
  • Roles that have won awards for actors on more than one occasion include: Miss Adelaide in Guys and Dolls (1982 and 2006), George in Sunday in the Park with George (1991 and 2007), The Baker's Wife in Into the Woods (1991 and 1999), Nicely Nicely Johnson in Guys and Dolls (1982 and 1997), Sweeney Todd in Sweeney Todd (1980, 1994 and 2013), Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd (1980, 1994 and 2013), Frau Schneider in Cabaret (1994 and 2007) and Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady (2002 and 2003).
  • Michael Ball and Bertie Carvel both won Oliviers for playing roles of the opposite sex, in 2008 for Hairspray and 2012 for Matilda, respectively.
  • Shared wins: In 2006, all three actors sharing the role of Billy Elliot received the Olivier for Best Actor in a Musical and in 2012, all four actresses sharing the role of Matilda received the Olivier for Best Actress in a Musical.
  • Shared nominations: In 2017, the eight members of the cast of Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour were jointly nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and in the same year, six cast members from The Girls were jointly nominated in the Best Actress in a Musical category. In 2019, the six cast members of Six were jointly nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical for their performances as the six wives of Henry VIII.[13]
  • In 2012, Eleanor Worthington-Cox became the youngest winner of an award, which she won for the title role in Matilda the Musical.
  • In 2018, Billie Piper became the first, and so far only, actor to have won all six of the currently available UK Theatre Best Actress awards for a single performance (Evening Standard Theatre Awards, What's On Stage Theatre Awards, Critic's Circle Theatre Awards, Broadway UK Theatre Awards, Glamour Awards and Laurence Olivier Theatre Awards.) This accolade was achieved by her performance in Yerma which was hailed as “the performance of the decade”, “shattering, exhausting, earthquaking” and “unbearably harrowing”.[14]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "10 Things You Probably Didn't Know About The Olivier Awards". OfficialLondonTheatre.com, accessed 30 January 2018
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c "How the Olivier Award winners are chosen - Olivier Awards". Official London Theatre. Retrieved 2018-03-07.
  3. ^ "Olivier Awards: Facts and Trivia". Olivierawards.com. Archived from the original on 28 April 2011. Retrieved 7 February 2011.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Jones, Kenneth. "Love Never Dies, Legally Blonde, Rylance, Jacobi, Boggess, Bennett, End of the Rainbow Are Olivier Nominees". Playbill.com, February 7, 2011
  5. ^ Alvarez, Joe; Orlova-Alvarez, Tamara (10 April 2017). "Who Won at The Olivier Awards 2017". Ikon London Magazine. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  6. ^ "Olivier Awards - How It All Began". OfficialLondonTheatre.com. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  7. ^ "Olivier Awards – HistoryLondon theatre tickets - London theatre tickets". www.westendtheatre.com.
  8. ^ Dunn, Carrie (14 March 2011). "Olivier theatre awards: the BBC should be red-faced over its red-button coverage". the Guardian.
  9. ^ Trueman, Matt (29 January 2013). "Olivier awards make triumphant return to TV". the Guardian.
  10. ^ Olivier Awards: 10 Things You Probably Didn't Know. OfficialLondonTheatre.com, accessed Jan 30, 2018
  11. ^ "Andrew Lloyd Webber Receives Seventh Olivier" Archived 2012-02-13 at the Wayback Machine. Really Useful Group
  12. ^ Karla Burns, music theater trailblazer who won coveted Olivier award, dies at 66. The Wichita Eagle. June 4, 2021.
  13. ^ "Olivier Winners 2017". Olivier Awards. Retrieved 2018-01-30.
  14. ^ "About Billie Piper". billiepiperofficial.com.

External links[]

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