Excitement is building for the 2002 Laurence Olivier Awards ceremony, organized by the Society of London Theatre (SOLT) at the Victoria Palace Theatre on Feb. 15. The ceremony will be followed by a starry reception at the London Hilton - Hilton hotels being SOLT's sponsors.
This year's awards will include a new category, Audience Award for Most Popular Show. This, which was voted on-line by members of the public, recognizes the achievement of long-running (over a year at time of nomination) and the nominees are Cats, Mamma Mia!, The Phantom of the Opera and the Reduced Shakespeare Company's Complete Works of Shakespeare/ History of America.
The winner will be voted for by the public, and the result announced on Feb. 15. Laurence Olivier was a great popularizer of theatre in his time - not just through his hugely successful stage productions but also through his filming of Shakespeare (Henry V, Hamlet, Richard III).
—by Paul Webb Theatrenow