The 2014 Olivier Awards have been announced. For some reason, the London ceremony, this year held at the Royal Opera House, manages--despite all the "best of" bits from musicals (some of them performed live in the Covent Garden Plaza) and some imaginative use of the auditorium--to be so much less enjoyable than the corresponding Tonys in New York.
I think it has to do with the natural outgoing nature of Americans, also there are still pacing issues with the London event (there always were), quite a few of the speeches were simply dull lists of thank yous, and the Tonys is just a lot bigger in terms of media attention, general glitz and, of course, budget.
Anyway, though, here are the main winners for 2014. Big night for Ghosts and Chimerica from the Almeida, and for Book of Mormon...
Best New Musical - The Book of Mormon
Best Actress in a Musical - Zrinka Cvitesic for Once
Best Actor in a Musical - Gavin Creel for The Book of Mormon
Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical - Stephen Ashfield for The Book of Mormon
Autograph Sound Award for Outstanding Achievement in Music - Once
Best Director - Lyndsey Turner for Chimerica
Best Theatre Choreographer - Casey Nicholaw for The Book of Mormon
Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre - Handbagged at the Tricycle Theatre
Outstanding Achievement in Opera - English Touring Opera for its touring productions at the Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House
Best New Opera Production - Verdi's Les Vepres Siciliennes, at the Royal Opera House
Best Musical Revival - Merrily We Roll Along
Best New Comedy - Jeeves & Wooster In Perfect Nonsense
BBC Radio 2 - Les Miserables
American Airlines Best New Play - Chimerica
Best Actress - Lesley Manville for Ghosts
Best Actor - Rory Kinnear for Othello
Outstanding Achievement in Dance - Michael Hulls for his body of lighting work including Ballet Boyz -- The Talent
Best New Dance Production - Eastman
XL Video Award for Best Set Design - Es Devlin for Chimerica
Best Costume Design - Mark Thompson for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Best Entertainment & Family - The Wind In The Willows
Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Sharon D Clarke for The Amen Corner
Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Jack Lowden for Ghosts
Best Revival - Ghosts
Special awards went to the great impresario Michael White (the man behind The Rocky Horror Show, Oh! Calcutta!, Sleuth, the London versions of A Chorus Line and Annie and the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail) and to the National Theatre team Nicholas Hytner and Nick Starr.
