What Happened:
The winners of the 2020 Olivier Awards were announced Sunday, Oct. 25. The Olivier Awards are a special awards ceremony for theatrical productions over the past season at London’s West End. (What are the Olivier Awards? If the Tony Awards were for New York City’s Broadway, then the Olivier Awards are similarly for West End). For the United Kingdom, the awards were shown on the ITV network—other than that, it was live-streamed on the Official London Theatre’s YouTube channel.
How We Got Here:
Back in April, the Olivier Awards were postponed due to the coronavirus and international health concerns. Instead, the special television program “Olivier Awards – Greatest Moments” was broadcasted.
Some Highlights From the Show:
Only four new musicals were on the list for nominations, so there was not much in terms of performances during the broadcast. Miriam-Teak Lee, who ended up winning Best Actress in a Musical, sang a selection from the musical & Juliet and Sam Tutty, who won Best Actor in a Musical, from Dear Evan Hansen sang the opening number of his show.
List of Winners:
Best Musical Revival: Fiddler On The Roof, which tells the story of a Jewish milkman and his daughters in Imperial Russia. (Other nominations included Evita, Mary Poppins and Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.)
Best New Musical: Dear Evan Hansen, which tells the story of a teen fabricating a relationship with a deceased student to become closer to that student’s family. (Other nominations included Waitress, Amélie The Musical and & Juliet.)
Best Entertainment or Comedy Play: Emilia, which plays on Shakespearean tropes to present a story from a female perspective.
Best Revival: Cyrano De Bergerac, which tells the story of a brilliant poet falling in love with his cousin.
Best Director: Marianne Elliot and Miranda Cromwell from Death Of A Salesman, which follows a man named Willy and his family in the last twenty-four hours of his life.
Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Adrian Scarborough from Leopoldstadt, the story of a young British man visiting Vienna, Austria who seems to have forgotten most of his childhood memories.
Best New Play: Leopoldstadt.
Best Actress in a Musical: Miriam-Teak Lee from & Juliet.
Best Actor in a Musical: Sam Tutty from Dear Evan Hansen.
Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Indira Varma from Present Laughter, the story of an actor getting ready to embark on a tour of Africa—and a mid-life crisis.
Best Actor: Andrew Scott from Present Laughter.
Best Actress: Sharon D. Clarke from Death of A Salesman.
Best Theatre Choreographer: Matthew Bourne and Stephen Mear from Mary Poppins (based on the classic Disney movie).
Outstanding Achievement in Opera: The Children’s Ensemble for their performance in Theatre Royal Stratford East and ENO’s Noye’s Fludde.
Outstanding Achievement in Dance: Sara Baras for her choreography and performance in Ballet Flamenco.
Outstanding Achievement in Affiliate Theatre: Baby Reindeer at the Bush Theatre.
Best Lighting Design: Paule Constable from The Ocean at the End of the Lane.
Best Set Design: Bob Crowley from Mary Poppins.
Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical: David Bedella from & Juliet.
Best Original Score or New Orchestrations: Dear Evan Hansen.
Best New Opera Production: Billy Budd at the Royal Opera House.
Best New Dance Production: Ingoma presented by Ballet Black and the Linbury Theatre.
Best Family Show: The Worst Witch at the Vaudeville Theatre.
Best Sound Design: Emma Laxton for Emilia.
Best Costume Design: Joanna Scotcher for Emilia.
Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical: Cassidy Janson in & Juliet.
Final Notes:
While the Olivier Awards were able to be celebrated this fall, the Official London Theatre is expecting to bypass the spring awards and celebrate the theatre industry again in 2021. For more information about the Olivier Awards, the nominations and the winners you can view the Official London Theatre’s website here.
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