In 1976 I, along with the Olivier awards, were born. It was a good year. In the beginning they were called the Society of West Ends Theatre Awards and the 12 winners took home Wedgwood urns commissioned for the occasion, nicknamed Urnies. In 1979, Lord Laurence Olivier received a special honorary award from the Society for his contribution to London theatre. It wasn't until 1984 when the Society renamed the awards the Olivier Awards and a new design for the award came about.
During my recent work at Hampstead Theatre, I had the pleasure of holding an Olivier Award. The Hampstead earned one last year for Best New Musical for Sunday Afternoon. The Oliviers are heavy trophies made from bronze and featuring a bust of Olivier as his incarnation of Henry V.
Laurence Olivier is one of the greatest actors to ever grace the stage and I might add, he is a Central graduate. Go team Central! He died in 1989 but he and his contemporaries set the bar in our industry hence, the Olivier Awards.
Tonight Judi Dench made history by beating her own record. Dench has more Oliviers than anyone else. She now has 8 Olivier Awards in her curio cabinet.
Hangmen by Martin McDonagh won best play and Kinky Boots by Cyndi Lauper and Harvey Fierstein won best musical.
For a full list of winners visit: https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/2016/olivier-awards-2016-the-winners-in-full/
This coming week I hope to get out and see some of these shows. I'll let you know how I do. In the meantime, have a look in your region and see what kind of awards are available to local theatre makers.
Take care!
-m
The Olivier Award
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