Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard sweeps Oliviers with record haul
West End revival picks up seven awards at ceremony where Hollywood and TV stars also triumphed
A REVIVAL of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard swept the board at the Oliviers, winning a joint-record number of awards for a musical.
The West End show, featuring music by Lord Lloyd-webber, 76, was recognised with seven Olivier awards, putting it on a par with Hamilton, Matilda and Cabaret.
Singer and former X Factor judge Nicole Scherzinger, who plays the leading role, was named best actress in a musical. Her performance marked her first return to the West End since her debut in Lord Lloyd-webber’s Cats in 2015, for which she received an Olivier nomination.
Scherzinger plays Norma Desmond, the silent screen goddess who yearns for a comeback while holed up in an LA mansion, in a revival of the musical first staged in 1993 and inspired by the 1950 Billy Wilder film. The musical won best musical revival, best actor in a musical for Scherzinger’s co-star Tom Francis, and best director for Jamie Lloyd, among other awards.
Hollywood and TV stars who triumphed at the annual awards for excellence in the West End also include Succession star Sarah Snook, who took home best actress for her performance in The Picture of Dorian Gray. She said it was a “dream come true”.
Snook played 26 characters in the stage adaptation, during which she was followed by a camera crew with her performance beamed onto overhead screens.
She beat competition from actresses including Sarah Jessica Parker, who had received her first Olivier nomination for Plaza Suite, in which she starred opposite her husband Matthew Broderick. Elsewhere, Mark Gatiss won best actor for The Motive and The Cue,
directed by Sam Mendes at the National Theatre. Other nominees for the award had included stars Andrew Scott, James Norton and David Tennant.
Dear England, a production by British playwright James Graham about the England football manager Gareth Southgate, won the Londoner award for the best new play. It also scored a win for Will Close as best actor in a supporting role for his portrayal of Harry Kane. Haydn Gwynne, the actress who died last year after a cancer diagnosis, received a posthumous award. She was best known for her roles in comedy series Drop the Dead Donkey and as the Queen in royal satire The Windsors.
The awards ceremony was first held in 1976, when it was known as the Society of West End Theatre Awards. It is run by the Society of London Theatre (Solt), a not-for-profit membership organisation for London theatre producers, managers, owners and operators.
This year’s ceremony was hosted by Hannah Waddingham, the Ted Lasso and musical theatre star, who opened the awards with a performance of Anything Goes from the musical of the same name. Co-presenters included actor Dominic West, who recently complained that West End audiences included “a lot of tourists” and people in London who “are not necessarily there because they want to be there”.
The line-up of presenters also included the actress and model Cara Delevingne, former Vogue editor Edward Enninful, and comedian Sir Lenny Henry.
Eleanor Lloyd, president of Solt said: “The Olivier Awards have once again showcased the best of London theatre and the huge talent of this incredible sector. Congratulations to all of the worthy winners and every nominee for your immense and valued contribution.”