by Valirie Morgan
Theatre’s biggest and brightest stars were in London last night for the annual Olivier Awards, hosted by Gemma Arterton and Stephen Mangan at the Royal Opera House. The overall winner of the evening turned out to be the Almeida Theater, a 326-seat theatre that operates not-for-profit in North London. Almeida took home three trophies for Ghosts and five for Chimerica, the latter being the biggest haul of the night.
Ghosts, which centers around a family trying to escape the ghosts of their past, collected the accolades of Best Revival, Best Actress in a Play for Lesley Manville, and Best Supporting Actor in a Play for Jack Lowden. Chimerica is a tale of two superpowers, China and the United States, and won Best New Play, Best Director for Lyndsey Turner, Best Set Design, Best Lighting Design and Best Sound Design.
Musical comedy The Book of Mormon emerged in one of the top spots, collecting four awards including Best New Musical and Best Actor in a Musical for Gavin Creel. The show was written by raunchy TV show South Park’s creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and it has garnered rave reviews from audiences and critics alike since it opened at London’s Prince of Wales Theatre in February 2013. The Book of Mormon tells the story of two young Mormon missionaries trying to spread their message in a remote village of northern Uganda, where they face a difficult time connecting to locals.
Some big names were in attendance, including Dame Judi Dench and Tom Hiddleston, but this year’s Olivier Awards saw the film-turned-theatre stars passed over in favor of less recognizable actors. Dench lost out to Best Actress in a Play winner Lesley Manville; Hiddleston and Jude Law were beat by Rory Kinnear for Best Actor in a Play. Other celebrity guests of this year’s show were James McAvoy, Bernadette Peters and Kristin Davis.
Supermodel Kate Moss was on hand to present a special honor to impresario Michael White, whose work in the West End includes A Chorus Line and Annie. The BBC Radio 2 Audience Award, the only award decided entirely by public votes, went to long-running musical Les Misérables for the second time.
Closing out the evening was the incredible reunion of Abba’s Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, who performed the finale of Mamma Mia with the current cast in celebration of the show’s 15th year.
The full list of winners at the 2014 Olivier Awards:
New Play: Chimerica
New Musical: The Book of Mormon
New Comedy: Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense
Entertainment: The Wind in the Willows
Revival: Ghosts
Musical Revival: Merrily We Roll Along
Actress (Play): Lesley Manville, Ghosts
Actor (Play): Rory Kinnear, Othello
Actress (Musical): Zrinka Cvitesic, Once
Actor (Musical): Gavin Creel, The Book of Mormon
Supporting Actor (Play): Jack Lowden, Ghosts
Supporting Actress (Play): Sharon D. Clarke, The Amen Corner
Supporting Performer (Musical): Stephen Ashfield, The Book Of Mormon
Director: Lyndsey Turner, Chimerica
Theater Choreography: Casey Nicholaw, The Book Of Mormon
Outstanding Achievement in Music: Martin Lowe, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, Once
New Opera Production: Les Vepres Siciliennes, Royal Opera House
Outstanding Achievement in Opera: English Touring Opera
New Dance Production: Puz/zle at Sadler’s Wells
Outstanding Achievement in Dance: Michael Hulls
Set Design: Es Devlin, Chimerica
Lighting Design: (tie) Tim Lutkin and Finn Ross, Chimerica; Paul Pyant and Jon Driscoll, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory
Sound Design: (tie) Carolyn Downing, Chimerica; Gareth Owen, Merrily We Roll Along
Costume Design: Mark Thompson, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory
Audience Award for Most Popular Show: Les Miserables
Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theater: Handbagged, Tricycle Theatre
Special Awards: Michael White; Nicholas Hytner and Nick Starr