You must be living under a rock to not notice the outstanding Olivier Awards ceremony that went on last night. The greatest acting talent in modern theatre all shared the stage to celebrate their well deserved achievements and success. With Jason Manford hosting the popular awards night we knew that we were in for a night of all kinds of emotions coated in witty comedy.
The highlighting factor of the Olivier Awards was that Harry Potter And The Cursed Child smashed records as it took home an outstanding nine awards. This proves that the Harry Potter series has absolutely no limits when it comes to success thanks to the beautiful imagination of JK Rowling.
The nine awards, including the nominees, that Harry Potter And The Cursed Child won are as follows:
Best Lighting Design Winner: Neil Austin for Harry Potter And The Cursed Child
Nominees:
Lee Curran for Jesus Christ Superstar at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Natasha Katz for The Glass Menagerie at the Duke of York’s Theatre
Hugh Vanstone for Groundhog Day at the Old Vic
Best Sound Design Winner: Gareth Fry for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Palace Theatre
Nominees:
Paul Arditti for Amadeus at the Olivier, National Theatre
Adam Cork for Travesties at the Apollo Theatre
Nick Lidster for Autograph for Jesus Christ Superstar at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Best Costume Design Winner: Katrina Lindsay for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Palace Theatre
Nominees:
Gregg Barnes for Dreamgirls at the Savoy Theatre
Hugh Durrant for Cinderella at London Palladium
Rob Howell for Groundhog Day at the Old Vic
Best Set Design Winner: Christine Jones for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Palace Theatre
Nominees:
Bob Crowley for Disney’s Aladdin at the Prince Edward Theatre
Bob Crowley for The Glass Menagerie at the Duke of York’s Theatre
Rob Howell for Groundhog Day at the Old Vic
Best Actor In A Supporting Role: Anthony Boyle for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Palace Theatre
Nominees:
Freddie Fox for Travesties at the Apollo Theatre
Brian J. Smith for The Glass Menagerie at the Duke of York’s Theatre
Rafe Spall for Hedda Gabler at the Lyttelton, National Theatre
Best Actress In A Supporting Role: Noma Dumezweni for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Palace Theatre
Nominees:
Melissa Allan, Caroline Deyga, Kirsty Findlay, Karen Fishwick, Kirsty MacLaren, Frances Mayli McCann, Joanne McGuinness and Dawn Sievewright for Our Ladies Of Perpetual Succour at the Dorfman, National Theatre
Clare Foster for Travesties at the Apollo Theatre
Kate O’Flynn for The Glass Menagerie at the Duke of York’s Theatre
Best Actor: Jamie Parker for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Palace Theatre
Nominees:
Ed Harris for Buried Child at Trafalgar Studios 1
Tom Hollander for Travesties at the Apollo Theatre
Ian McKellen for No Man’s Land at Wyndham’s Theatre
Best New Play: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Palace Theatre
Elegy at Donmar Warehouse
The Flick at the Dorfman, National Theatre
One Night In Miami… at Donmar Warehouse
Best Director Winner: John Tiffany for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Palace Theatre
Nominee:
Simon Stone for Yerma at the Young Vic
John Tiffany for The Glass Menagerie at the Duke of York’s Theatre
Matthew Warchus for Groundhog Day at the Old Vic
As you can see, Harry Potter absolutely dominated the awards as they also had nominations for quite a chunk of them too. The nominees did offer some incredible competition though as some of the biggest names lost out to the groundbreaking play.
Moving from that, the Young Vic Theatre also had success as they won two awards for their production of Yerma. The new musical version of Groundhog Day and the amazing Dreamgirls also join the formidable two award club. These Awards were:
Best Actress Winner: Billie Piper for Yerma at the Young Vic
Nominees:
Glenda Jackson for King Lear at The Old Vic
Cherry Jones for The Glass Menagerie at the Duke of York’s Theatre
Ruth Wilson for Hedda Gabler at the Lyttelton, National Theatre
Best Revival Winner: Yerma at the Young Vic
Nominees:
The Glass Menagerie at the Duke of York’s Theatre
This House at the Garrick Theatre
Travesties at the Apollo Theatre
Best Actor In A Musical: Andy Karl for Groundhog Day at the Old Vic
Nominees:
David Fynn for School of Rock the Musical at the New London Theatre
Tyrone Huntley for Jesus Christ Superstar at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Charlie Stemp for Half A Sixpence at the Noël Coward Theatre
Best New Musical: Groundhog Day at the Old Vic
Nominees:
Dreamgirls at the Savoy Theatre
The Girls at the Phoenix Theatre
School of Rock the Musical at the New London Theatre
Best Actress In A Musical: Amber Riley for Dreamgirls at the Savoy Theatre
Nominees:
Glenn Close for Sunset Boulevard at London Coliseum
Debbie Chazen, Sophie-Louise Dann, Michele Dotrice, Claire Machin, Claire Moore and Joanna Riding for The Girls at the Phoenix Theatre
Sheridan Smith for Funny Girl at the Savoy Theatre
Best Actor In A Supporting Role: Adam J Bernard for Dreamgirls at the Savoy Theatre
Nominees:
Ian Bartholomew for Half A Sixpence at the Noël Coward Theatre
Ben Hunter for The Girls at the Phoenix Theatre
Andrew Langtree for Groundhog Day at the Old Vic
Now that we are breaking down these awards there were also plenty of unsung heroes that finally have recognition in the theatre world. To finally break that nervous tension, here are the rest of the Olivier Award winners for 2017:
Best New Comedy Winner: Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour at the Dorfman at the National Theatre
Nominees:
The Comedy About a Bank Robbery at the Criterion Theatre
Nice Fish at the Harold Pinter Theatre
The Truth at Wyndham’s Theatre
Outstanding Achievement To An Affiliate Theatre Winner: Rotterdam at Trafalgar Studios 2
Nominees:
Cuttin’ It at the Maria at the Young Vic
The Government Inspector at Theatre Royal Stratford East
The Invisible Hand at Tricycle Theatre
It Is Easy To Be Dead at Trafalgar Studios 2
Outstanding Achievement In Music Winner: School of Rock the Musical at the New London Theatre (Three childrens bands who play instruments live every night)
Nominees:
Dreamgirls at Savoy Theatre (Henry Krieger)
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at Palace Theatre (Imogen Heap)
Jesus Christ Superstar at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre (the band and company creating a rock atmosphere for the original concept album of Jesus Christ Superstar)
Best New Opera Production Winner: Akhnaten at London Coliseum
Nominees:
4.48 Psychosis at the Lyric Hammersmith
Così Fan Tutte at Royal Opera House
Lulu at London Coliseum
Outsanding Achievement In Opera Winner: Mark Wigglesworth for his conducting of Don Giovanni and Lulu at London Coliseum
Nominees:
Renée Fleming for her performance in Der Rosenkavalier at the Royal Opera House
Stuart Skelton for his performance in Tristan and Isolde at London Coliseum
Best New Dance Production Winner: Betroffenheit by Crystal Pite and Jonathon Young at Sadler’s Wells
Nominees:
Blak Whyte Gray by Boy Blue Entertainment at Barbican Theatre
Giselle by Akram Khan and English National Ballet at Sadler’s Wells
My Mother, My Dog and Clowns! by Michael Clark at Barbican Theatre
Outstanding Achievement In Dance Winner: English National Ballet for expanding the variety of its repertoire with Giselle and She Said at Sadler’s Wells
Nominees:
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater for its London season at Sadler’s Wells
Luke Ahmet for The Creation by Rambert at Sadler’s Wells
Best Theatre Choreographer Winner: Matthew Bourne for The Red Shoes at Sadler’s Wells
Nominees:
Peter Darling and Ellen Kane for Groundhog Day at the Old Vic
Steven Hoggett for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Palace Theatre
Drew McOnie for Jesus Christ Superstar at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Best Entertainment For Family: The Red Shoes at Sadler’s Wells
Nominees:
Cinderella at London Palladium
David Baddiel – My Family: Not The Sitcom at the Vaudeville Theatre
Peter Pan at the Olivier, National Theatre
Best Actress For Supporting Role In A Musical: Rebecca Trehearn for Show Boat at the New London Theatre
Nominees:
Haydn Gwynne for The Threepenny Opera at the Olivier, National Theatre
Victoria Hamilton-Barritt for Murder Ballad at the Arts Theatre
Emma Williams for Half A Sixpence at the Noël Coward Theatre
Best Musical Revival: Jesus Christ Superstar at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Nominees:
Funny Girl at the Savoy Theatre
Show Boat at the New London Theatre
Sunset Boulevard at London Coliseum
