Olivier Award Winners 2012

Olivier Awards 2012

The Society of London’s annual award ceremony, The Olivier Awards, took place in a star studded ceremony at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, April 15th 2012. After much anticipation, Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton were on hand to present the evening that included an array of performances from the great and the good of the London theatrical world. With all eyes on London ahead of the coming Olympic Games, The Olivier Awards were a chance to show the world what a successful industry the West End has been this past year. Producers finally pushed the boat out, upgrading the ceremony to the 2250 seater, as well as providing audience members with an opportunity to get involved, watching the event live in the Covent Garden Piazza. Performers from long running musicals such as Billy Elliot, Wicked, Les Miserables and Jersey Boys took to the stage to entertain the crowds whilst presenter Anneka Rice reported live on BBC Radio 2 and BBC’s red button service.

In the main auditorium the evening was opened by the current cast of We Will Rock You led by Noel Sullivan and Brian May performing ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. Performances from the nominees for Best New Musical included Sharon D Clarke and Company of ‘Ghost’ singing ‘I’m Outta Here’, the four Matilda’s singing ‘Naughty’, the company of Shrek waving their ‘Freak Flag’ and Sarah Lancashire and company from Betty Blue Eyes. Ronan Keeting took to the stage to perform ‘I’ll Never Fall in Love Again’ from ‘Promises, Promises’ and was later joined by Kimberly Walsh to sing the Whistle Down the Wind classic ‘No Matter What’. After the interval came performances from Best Musical Revival categories, including ‘Good Morning’ from Singin’ in the Rain, ‘I Got Rhythm’ from Crazy for You, ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ from The Wizard of Oz and ‘There is Nothing Like a Dame’ from South Pacific.

Matilda the Musical took home a record number of awards, including performance awards for all four of the Matildas and Bertie Carvel as Miss Trunchbull. The Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre made it a hattrick of wins for Best Musical Revival, with Crazy for You beating off stiff competition from Singin in the Rain. Peter Darling and Matthew Warchus won for Best Choreographer and Best Director, once again for Matilda, although Warchus’s other musical Ghost didn’t fare so well. One of the biggest shocks of the evening was the National Theatre’s production of ‘One Man, Two Guvnors’ losing out on Best New Play to Collaborators (also at the National Theatre) and James Cordon losing Best Actor award to Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller for Frankenstein at the Olivier theatre.

A full list of award winners and nominees follows below:

Best New Play:
WINNER: Collaborators at the Cottesloe theatre
Jumpy at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court
The Ladykillers at the Gielgud theatre
One Man, Two Guvnors at the Lyttelton theatre

Best Revival

WINNER: Anna Christie at the Donmar Warehouse
Flare Path at the Theatre Royal Haymarket
Much Ado About Nothing at the Wyndham’s theatre
Noises Off at the Old Vic theatre

Best Entertainment and Family

WINNER: Derren Brown – Svengali at the Shaftesbury theatre
Midnight Tango at the Aldwych theatre
Potted Panto at the Garrick theatre
The Tiger Who Came To Tea at the Vaudeville theatre

Best Actress

WINNER: Ruth Wilson for Anna Christie at the Donmar Warehouse
Celia Imrie for Noises Off at the Old Vic theatre
Lesley Manville for Grief at the Cottesloe theatre
Kristin Scott Thomas for Betrayal at the Harold Pinter theatre
Marcia Warren for The Ladykillers at the Gielgud theatre

Best Actor

WINNER: Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller for Frankenstein at the Olivier theatre
David Haig for The Madness of George III at the Apollo theatre
Douglas Hodge for Inadmissible Evidence at the Donmar Warehouse
Jude Law for Anna Christie at the Donmar Warehouse
James Corden for One Man, Two Guvnors at the Lyttelton theatre

Best Performance in a Supporting Role

WINNER: Sheridan Smith for Flare Path at the Theatre Royal Haymarket
Mark Addy for Collaborators at the Cottesloe theatre
Oliver Chris for One Man, Two Guvnors at the Lyttelton theatre
Johnny Flynn for Jerusalem at the Apollo theatre
Bryony Hannah for The Children’s Hour at the Harold Pinter theatre


Best Actress in a Musical

WINNER: The Matildas for Matilda The Musical at the Cambridge theatre
Kate Fleetwood for London Road at the Cottesloe theatre
Sarah Lancashire for Betty Blue Eyes at the Novello theatre
Scarlett Strallen for Singin’ In The Rain at the Palace theatre

Best Actor in a Musical
WINNER: Bertie Carvel for Matilda The Musical at the Cambridge theatre
Nigel Lindsay for Shrek The Musical at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Reece Shearsmith for Betty Blue Eyes at the Novello theatre
Paulo Szot for South Pacific at the Barbican theatre

Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical

WINNER: Nigel Harman for Shrek The Musical, at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Sharon D Clarke for Ghost The Musical at the Piccadilly theatre
Sophie-Louise Dann for Lend Me A Tenor The Musical at the Gielgud theatre
Paul Kaye for Matilda The Musical at the Cambridge theatre
Katherine Kingsley for Singin’ In The Rain at the Palace theatre

Best New Musical

WINNER: Matilda The Musical at the Cambridge theatre
Betty Blue Eyes at the Novello theatre
Ghost The Musical at the Piccadilly theatre
London Road at the Cottesloe theatre
Shrek The Musical at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane

Best Musical Revival

WINNER: Crazy For You at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Singin’ In The Rain at the Palace theatre
South Pacific at the Barbican theatre
The Wizard Of Oz at the London Palladium

Best Director

WINNER: Matthew Warchus for Matilda The Musical at the Cambridge theatre
Sean Foley for The Ladykillers at the Gielgud theatre
Nicholas Hytner for One Man, Two Guvnors at the Lyttelton theatre
Rufus Norris for London Road at the Cottesloe theatre

Best Theatre Choreographer
WINNER: Peter Darling for Matilda The Musical at the Cambridge theatre
Javier de Frutos for London Road at the Cottesloe theatre
Stephen Mear for Crazy For You at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Andrew Wright for Singin’ In The Rain at the Palace theatre

Best Lighting Design

WINNER: Frankenstein designed by Bruno Poet at the Olivier theatre
Anna Christie designed by Howard Harrison at the Donmar Warehouse
Ghost The Musical designed by Hugh Vanstone at the Piccadilly theatre
Matilda The Musical designed by Hugh Vanstone at the Cambridge theatre

Best Set Design

WINNER: Matilda The Musical designed Rob Howell at the Cambridge theatre
Ghost The Musical designed by Rob Howell at the Piccadilly theatre
The Ladykillers designed by Michael Taylor at the Gielgud theatre
One Man, Two Guvnors designed by Mark Thompson at the Lyttelton theatre

Best Costume Design
WINNER: Crazy For You designed by Peter McKintosh at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Matilda The Musical designed by Rob Howell at the Cambridge theatre
Shrek The Musical designed by Tim Hatley at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane
South Pacific designed by Catherine Zuber at the Barbican theatre

Best Sound Design

WINNER: Matilda The Musical designed by Simon Baker at the Cambridge theatre
Ghost The Musical designed by Bobby Aitken at the Piccadilly theatre
Frankenstein designed by Underworld and Ed Clarke at the Olivier theatre
The Ladykillers designed by Ben and Max Ringham at the Gielgud theatre


Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre

WINNER: Theatre Royal Stratford East in association with the Barbican and Traverse Theatre for Roadkill
Donmar Warehouse for Salt, Root And Roe at the Trafalgar Studios 2
The Royal Court for The Village Bike at the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester for Mogadishu at the Lyric Hammersmith

Best New Opera Production

WINNER: English National Opera’s Castor And Pollux at the London Coliseum
English National Opera’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the London Coliseum
English National Opera’s The Passenger at the London Coliseum
ROH2’s Clemency (in association with Scottish Opera) at the Linbury Studio, Royal Opera House

Outstanding Achievement in Opera

WINNER: ENO for the breadth and diversity of its artistic programme
Amanda Holden for her translation of Castor And Pollux at the London Coliseum
Richard Jones for his direction of Anna Nicole and  Il Trittico at the Royal Opera House and The Tales Of Hoffmann at the London Coliseum
Mark-Anthony Turnage for his composition of Anna Nicole at the Royal Opera House and Twice Through The Heart at Sadler’s Wells.

Outstanding Achievement in Dance

WINNER: Edward Watson for his performance in The Metamorphosis at the Linbury Studio at the Royal Opera House
The Design Team for their work on the Royal Ballet’s Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland at the Royal Opera House
Sylvie Guillem for her performance in her production of 6000 Miles Away at Sadler’s Wells
Tommy Franzen for his performance in ZooNation’s Some Like It Hip Hop at the Peacock theatre

Best New Dance Production

WINNER: DESH by Akram Khan Company at Sadler’s Wells, choreographed by Akram Khan
Gardenia by Les Ballets C de la B at Sadler’s Wells, directed by Alain Platel and Frank van Laecke
The Metamorphosis by ROH2 at the Linbury Studio, choreographed by Arthur Pita
Some Like It Hip Hop by ZooNation at the Peacock, choreographed by Kate Prince, Tommy Franzen and Carrie-Anne Ingrouille