Angela Lansbury Wins First Olivier Award; Sunny Afternoon Named Best New Musical & Wins 3 More Awards | Playbill

News Angela Lansbury Wins First Olivier Award; Sunny Afternoon Named Best New Musical & Wins 3 More Awards Dame Angela Lansbury won her first-ever Olivier Award for her return to the London stage in Blithe Spirit after an absence of nearly 40 years. The Broadway import of Beautiful saw its two female stars win the awards for Best Actress in a Musical and best Supporting Actress in a Musical.

Another Broadway import, Memphis, took awards for its best theatre choreographer for Sergio Trujillo and Gareth Owen's sound design.

 



Hampstead Theatre and the Young Vic were the big winners for its transfers of Sunny Afternoon, which won four Oliviers in all including Best New Musical (still running at the Harold Pinter Theatre, and the sole British entry in a category otherwise featuring shows that originated in New York), and A View from the Bridge respectively, which won three Oliviers (for Best Revival, Best Director and Best Actor in a Play) and ended its West End run April 11 at Wyndham's Theatre.

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The Young Vic also took a further win for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre for its production of Mike Bartlett's Bull that transferred to its Maria studio from Sheffield's Crucible, while playwright Bartlett also took the Best New Play Award for King Charles III that transferred from the Almeida to the West End's Wyndham's.



The Best New Comedy was presented to The Play That Goes Wrong, a transfer from the London fringe to the West End's Duchess Theatre (where it is still running), and Best Entertainment was won for the second time by burlesque revue La Soiree. City of Angels, revived at the Donmar Warehouse last Christmas, was named Best Revival and also took the lighting award. Nathaniel Parker, currently reprising his role of King Henry VIII on Broadway in Wolf Hall. was named Best Actor in a Supporting Role.



Kevin Spacey won the Olivier Special Award to recognise his ten-year tenure at the helm of the Old Vic Theatre, which he leaves this year, and following the award's presentation by Judi Dench he was joined by Beverley Knight to perform "Bridge over Troubled Water" as the finale to the show.

Lansbury won her Olivier for the same role, Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit, for which she won the 2009 Tony Award in the same category.

 

Also receiving a special award was Royal Ballet dancer Sylvie Guillem, who is retiring from stage performance this year and declared that she intends to devote herself to animal activism. It was presented by Sir Anthony Dowell.

The only publicly voted prize, the This Morning Audience Award, was won by Wicked, taking the award for a second time.

The London productions of Here Lies Love and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, each of which received multiple nominatoins, went home empty handed. 

 

 

The full nominations are as follows. Winners are marked in bold:

MASTERCARD BEST NEW MUSICAL
Beautiful – The Carole King Musical at Aldwych Theatre
Here Lies Love at National Theatre, Dorfman
Memphis The Musical at Shaftesbury Theatre
Sunny Afternoon at Hampstead Theatre & Harold Pinter Theatre

VIRGIN ATLANTIC BEST NEW PLAY
King Charles III at Almeida Theatre & Wyndham’s Theatre
The Nether at Duke of York’s Theatre
Taken At Midnight at Theatre Royal Haymarket
Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies at Aldwych Theatre

BEST REVIVAL
A View From The Bridge at Young Vic & Wyndham’s Theatre
A Streetcar Named Desire at Young Vic
The Crucible at Old Vic
My Night With Reg at Donmar Warehouse & Apollo Theatre
Skylight at Wyndham’s Theatre

MAGIC RADIO BEST MUSICAL REVIVAL
Cats at London Palladium
City Of Angels at Donmar Warehouse
The Gershwins’ Porgy And Bess at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Miss Saigon at Prince Edward Theatre

BEST NEW COMEDY
Handbagged at Vaudeville Theatre
The Play That Goes Wrong at Duchess Theatre
Shakespeare In Love at Noël Coward Theatre

BEST ENTERTAINMENT AND FAMILY
Dance ‘Til Dawn at Aldwych Theatre
Hetty Feather at Vaudeville Theatre
La Soirée at La Soirée Spiegeltent

BEST ACTOR
Richard Armitage for The Crucible at Old Vic
James McAvoy for The Ruling Class at Trafalgar Studio 1
Tim Pigott-Smith for King Charles III at Almeida Theatre & Wyndham’s Theatre
Mark Strong for A View From The Bridge at Young Vic & Wyndham’s Theatre

BEST ACTRESS
Gillian Anderson for A Streetcar Named Desire at Young Vic
Kristin Scott Thomas for Electra at Old Vic
Imelda Staunton for Good People at Hampstead Theatre & Noël Coward Theatre
Penelope Wilton for Taken At Midnight at Theatre Royal Haymarket

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
David Calder for The Nether at Duke of York’s Theatre
Richard Goulding for King Charles III at Almeida Theatre & Wyndham’s Theatre
John Light for Taken At Midnight at Theatre Royal Haymarket
Nathaniel Parker for Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies at Aldwych Theatre

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Phoebe Fox for A View From The Bridge at Young Vic & Wyndham’s Theatre
The Girls playing Iris for The Nether at Duke of York’s Theatre
Angela Lansbury for Blithe Spirit at Gielgud Theatre
Lydia Wilson for King Charles III at Almeida Theatre & Wyndham’s Theatre

Here is a clip of Lansbury's acceptance speech:

BEST ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Jon Jon Briones for Miss Saigon at Prince Edward Theatre
John Dagleish for Sunny Afternoon at Hampstead Theatre & Harold Pinter Theatre
Killian Donnelly for Memphis The Musical at Shaftesbury Theatre
Brandon Victor Dixon for The Scottsboro Boys at Garrick Theatre

BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Gemma Arterton for Made In Dagenham at Adelphi Theatre
Katie Brayben for Beautiful – The Carole King Musical at Aldwych Theatre
Tamsin Greig for Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown The Musical at Playhouse Theatre
Beverley Knight for Memphis The Musical at Shaftesbury Theatre

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Rolan Bell for Memphis The Musical at Shaftesbury Theatre
George Maguire for Sunny Afternoon at Hampstead Theatre and Harold Pinter Theatre
Ian McIntosh for Beautiful – The Carole King Musical at Aldwych Theatre
Jason Pennycooke for Memphis The Musical at Shaftesbury Theatre

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Samantha Bond for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels The Musical at Savoy Theatre
Haydn Gwynne for Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown The Musical at Playhouse Theatre
Nicole Scherzinger for Cats at London Palladium
Lorna Want for Beautiful – The Carole King Musical at Aldwych Theatre

BEST DIRECTOR
Rupert Goold for King Charles III at Almeida Theatre & Wyndham’s Theatre
Jeremy Herrin for Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies at Aldwych Theatre
Josie Rourke for City Of Angels at Donmar Warehouse
Ivo Van Hove for A View From The Bridge at the Young Vic & Wyndham’s Theatre

BEST THEATRE CHOREOGRAPHER
Jerry Mitchell for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels The Musical at Savoy Theatre
Annie-B Parsons for Here Lies Love at National Theatre, Dorfman
Josh Prince for Beautiful – The Carole King Musical at Aldwych Theatre
Sergio Trujillo for Memphis The Musical at Shaftesbury Theatre

WHITE LIGHT AWARD FOR BEST LIGHTING DESIGN
Jon Clark for King Charles III at Almeida Theatre & Wyndham’s Theatre
Paule Constable and David Plater for Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies at Aldwych Theatre
Howard Harrison for City Of Angels at Donmar Warehouse
Jan Versweyveld for A View From The Bridge at the Young Vic & Wyndham’s Theatre

BEST SOUND DESIGN
Tom Gibbons for A View From The Bridge at the Young Vic & Wyndham’s Theatre
Matt McKenzie for Sunny Afternoon at Hampstead Theatre and Harold Pinter Theatre
Gareth Owen for Memphis The Musical at Shaftesbury Theatre
Brian Ronan for Beautiful – The Carole King Musical at Aldwych Theatre

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Rob Jones for City Of Angels at Donmar Warehouse
Christopher Oram for Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies at Aldwych Theatre
Paul Tazewell for Memphis The Musical at Shaftesbury Theatre
Alejo Vietti for Beautiful – The Carole King Musical at Aldwych Theatre

XL VIDEO AWARD FOR BEST SET DESIGN
Bunny Christie for Made In Dagenham at Adelphi Theatre
Es Devlin for The Nether at Duke of York’s Theatre
Rob Jones for City Of Angels at Donmar Warehouse
Jan Versweyveld for A View From A Bridge at Young Vic & Wyndham’s Theatre

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN AN AFFILIATE THEATRE
Bull at The Maria at Young Vic
Four Minutes Twelve Seconds at Hampstead Downstairs
Juma Sharkah for her performance in Liberian Girl at the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs at the Royal Court
Tanya Moodie for her performances in Intimate Apparel at Park Theatre and The House That Will Not Stand at Tricycle Theatre

AUTOGRAPH SOUND AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC
The Orchestra for Beautiful – The Carole King Musical at Aldwych Theatre
David Byrne and Fatboy Slim for Here Lies Love at National Theatre, Dorfman
David Bryan, Joe DiPietro, Tim Sutton and the Memphis Band for Memphis The Musical at Shaftesbury Theatre
Ray Davies for Sunny Afternoon at Hampstead Theatre & Harold Pinter Theatre

THIS MORNING AUDIENCE AWARD
Billy Elliot The Musical at Victoria Palace Theatre
Jersey Boys at Piccadilly Theatre
Matilda The Musical at Cambridge Theatre
Wicked at Apollo Victoria Theatre

BEST NEW OPERA PRODUCTION
Benvenuto Cellini at London Coliseum
Dialogues Des Carmélites at Royal Opera House
Die Frau Ohne Schatten at Royal Opera House
The Mastersingers Of Nuremberg at London Coliseum

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN OPERA
Jonas Kaufmann for Andrea Chénier and Manon Lescaut at Royal Opera House
Richard Jones for his direction of The Girl Of The Golden West, The Mastersingers Of Nuremberg and Rodelinda at London Coliseum
Royal Opera House and Early Opera Company for their offsite programme at Sam Wanamaker Playhouse and Roundhouse
Welsh National Opera Chorus for Moses Und Aron at Royal Opera House

BEST NEW DANCE PRODUCTION
32 Rue Vandenbranden by Peeping Tom at Barbican (joint winner)
Mats Ek’s Juliet And Romeo by Royal Swedish Ballet at Sadler’s Wells (joint winner)
Tabac Rouge by Compagnie Du Hanneton/James Thiérrée at Sadler’s Wells

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DANCE
Christopher Wheeldon for The Winter’s Tale at Royal Opera House
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
Rocio Molina for Bosque Ardora at Barbican
The Elders Project as part of the Elixir Festival at Sadler’s Wells

 

Here is a clip of Nicole Scherzinger singing "Memory" from Cats at the Olivier Awards ceremony:

 
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