Rattigan play wins four Oliviers

National Theatre’s revival of 1939 drama is night’s biggest success, alongside Legally Blonde and Stephen Sondheim A Terence Rattigan play that closed early and was largely neglected for 70 years until it was revived at the National Theatre has emerged as the biggest winner at the 2011 Olivier theatre awards. After the Dance, which portrays a group of ageing bright young things still drinking and partying as the nation slides to war, won four awards including best revival. The National was the biggest winner with seven prizes overall. This is Rattigan’s centenary year and there are revivals of his plays across the country, including the wartime tearjerker Flare Path , which opened to loud audience cheers last week. The other big winners at an unashamedly showbizzy ceremony in the West End were Legally Blonde the Musical and Stephen Sondheim. After the Dance opened in June 1939 to good reviews but closed early as the nation’s mood changed and has been staged only rarely since. Its four awards included best actress for Nancy Carroll, whose portrayal of the socialite Joan Scott-Fowler was described as “magnificent” by the Guardian and “almost unbearably moving” by the Telegraph. Adrian Scarborough won best actor in a supporting role for his performance as a drunken hanger-on and Hildegard Bechtler won for best costume design. The National won three awards for its production of The White Guard including best director for Howard Davies, best lighting for Neil Austin and best set design for Bunny Christie. One of the strongest categories was best actor, with Derek Jacobi nominated for King Lear and Rory Kinnear for Hamlet. The winner – from a shortlist that also included Mark Rylance and David Suchet – was Roger Allam as Falstaff in Henry IV Parts 1 and 2 at Shakespeare’s Globe. Sheridan Smith’s portrayal of the pink-obsessed Elle in Legally Blonde won her best actress in a musical. Jill Halfpenny, who played hairdresser Paulette, won best supporting performer in a musical while the production itself won best new musical. It was also a good night for Stephen Sondheim, who turned 80 last year. He was presented with the equivalent of a lifetime achievement award, while productions of his work also took prizes. Into The Woods, at the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park, was named best musical revival and David Thaxton won best actor in a musical for Passion at the Donmar Warehouse. As widely tipped, Bruce Norris’s Clybourne Park, which opened at the Royal Court before transferring to the West End, won best new play. The theatre won three prizes in total with Michelle Terry named best supporting actress in a play for Tribes and Leon Baugh taking the theatre choreography award for Sucker Punch. Organisers of this year’s ceremony have tried to give it more pizzazz. It was held in the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, rather than a hotel ballroom, with performances by entertainers including Barry Manilow. It was also broadcast live for the first time, via the BBC’s red button. The awards were decided by panels apart from an audience prize voted by Radio 2 listeners which pitted long-running musicals against each other. We Will Rock You emerged as the winner from a list that included Jersey Boys, Les Miserables and Billy Elliot the Musical. The Railway Children, which was performed at Waterloo station, won best entertainment from a shortlist that also included Beauty and the Beast, Ghost Stories and Potted Panto. There had been annoyance in the dance community that the shortlist for outstanding achievement contained no actual dance performances and the winner last night was the artist Antony Gormley, for his set designs for Babel (Words) at Sadler’s Wells, a show that also won best new dance production. The German baritone Christian Gerhaher won an outstanding achievement award for his performance in Tannhäuser at the Royal Opera House, while OperaUpClose’s La Bohème at the Soho Theatre sprang a surprise by winning best new opera production. The Lyric Hammersmith’s revival of Sarah Kane’s Blasted won outstanding achievement in an affiliate theatre, while the Donmar’s King Lear won for sound design. Julian Bird, the chief executive of the Society of London Theatre, said it had been a good year. “The strength can be seen throughout the nominations across both drama and musicals. There were some very hard choices for the panels to make.” Olivier awards Awards and prizes Theatre Musicals Terence Rattigan Stephen Sondheim London Mark Brown guardian.co.uk

Posted by on March 13, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.