The Olivier Awards are seen, rightly or wrongly by the public, as the Oscars of London Theatre. Here's part 2 of the nominations in each category and who I'd like to see pick up the prizes.
BEST ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
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
Andy Karl for Groundhog Day at the Old Vic
Charlie Stemp for Half A Sixpence at the Noël Coward Theatre.
In an ideal world they’d split this award and give it to Andy Karl for Groundhog Day AND Charlie Stemp for Half a Sixpence.
Stemp, with the formidable help of the Cameron Macintosh publicity machine, achieved the classic "chorus boy to star" transformation which is the stuff of legend but which happens very rarely in real life. And his performance lived up to the hype. He’s charismatic, loveable, and a consummate actor and singer and dancer. A star really was born and that should be recognised.
Andy Karl’s performance in Groundhog Day however really was an extraordinary achievement. On stage for almost the entire show and called upon to display extraordinary stamina and concentration to deliver the repetitious journey of a man trapped in a time warp, he made a potentially unlikable smart-alec character someone we could really care about and he brought premier league Broadway talent to the London stage.
BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
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
Amber Riley for Dreamgirls at the Savoy Theatre
Sheridan Smith for Funny Girl at the Savoy Theatre.
Sheridan Smith has attracted much acclaim for eclipsing Barbara Streisand’s performance in the title role of Funny Girl, her acting, singing, dancing and comedy were spot on but something extraordinary happened when Glenn Close walked on to the London Coliseum stage as washed up silent movie star, Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard. Amazingly, despite the fact she couldn’t really hit the notes, she had such charisma that you never doubted for a minute that you were in the presence of a mega-star. That, for me, was the must see performance of the year.
BEST REVIVAL
The Glass Menagerie at the Duke of York’s Theatre
This House at the Garrick Theatre
Travesties at the Apollo Theatre
Yerma at the Young Vic
This House enriched the West End. Here was an intelligent, uncompromising, big play that was funny, poignant and taught us about the world we live in through the prism of a 1970's political crisis. It was beautifully written staged and acted. A genuine masterpiece.
BEST NEW COMEDY
The Comedy About a Bank Robbery at the Criterion Theatre
Nice Fish at the Harold Pinter Theatre
Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour at the Dorfman, National Theatre
The Truth at Wyndham’s Theatre.
In my opinion comedy is about laughing out-load in a cathartic experience which blows all your troubles away. Although all the nominations succeeded in making us smile wryly at the idiosyncrasies of life, Our Ladies and Bank Robbery were the ones which made me actually guffaw. However I found the first formulaic so I’d like to see the second take the prize for its audacity and panache.
The Olivier Awards are seen, rightly or wrongly by the public, at the Oscars of London Theatre. Here's the nominations in each category and who I'd like to see pick up the prizes.