By Ray Bennett
LONDON – Chiwetel Ejiofor and Kristin Scott Thomas (left) and the Broadway smash “Hairspray” won top honors Sunday at the Laurence Olivier Awards, Britain’s equivalent of the Tony Awards.
Ejiofor was named best actor for his title performance in “Othello,” while Scott Thomas took the actress prize for “The Seagull.”
With a record-breaking 11 nominations, “Hairspray” picked up with four prizes, including best new musical.
Ejiofor, whose film credits range from Steven Spielberg’s “Amistad” in 1997 to Ridley Scott’s “American Gangster” last year, triumphed over competition that included Ian McKellen in “King Lear” and Patrick Stewart in “Macbeth.”
Ewan McGregor, who co-starred as Iago in the Donmar Warehouse’s hit production of “Othello,” was not nominated. Tom Hiddleston, who also was nominated for playing Cassio in “Othello,” won as best newcomer for “Cymbeline” at the Barbican.
Rupert Goold, who directed Stewart in “Macbeth,” was named best director, and Rory Kinnear won for best performance in a supporting role for the National’s revival of George Etherege’s restoration comedy “The Man of Mode,” which also won for Vicki Mortimer’s costume design.
“Hairspray” also won for best actor in a musical for West End veteran Michael Ball, best actress in a musical for newcomer Leanne Jones, and best performance in a supporting role in a musical for Tracie Bennett.
Richard E. Grant hosted the ceremony at Grosvenor House, where Andrew Lloyd Webber received a lifetime achievement award. Presented by the Society of London Theatre since 1976, the prizes were named the Laurence Olivier Awards in 1984.
This story appeared in The Hollywood Reporter.
Olivier Awards performances rock the joint
By Ray Bennett
LONDON – The joint was jumping at the Olivier Awards Sunday night with performances from the nominated musicals and a tribute to the works of lifetime achievement honouree Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Most unforgettable was the reaction of the young cast of “The Magic Flute – Impempe Yomlingo” (pictured) who had performed earlier. They were watching from the balcony of the ballroom at Grosvenor House and when the show was named best musical revival, boy, did they sing out in triumph!
It was exhilarating, and a grand advertisement for the Young Vic production, which sets the Mozart classic in South Africa, and is playing at the Duke of York’s Theatre through April 12.
But the one who had the industry crowd standing in applause was Elena Roger (above). The petite Argentine star of the 2006 revival of “Evita” performed “As If We Never Said Goodbye” from “Sunset Boulevard” and blew the roof off.
Richard E. Grant was the droll host of the evening, dripping with sarcasm over many of the corny lines he had to deliver. Presenters included Kevin Spacey and his “Speed-the-Plow” costar Jeff Goldblum who was paired with a delighted Barbara Windsor.
All the winners were gracious although I didn’t hear best actor Chiwetel Ejiofor (“Othello”) name-check his Iago, Ewan McGregor. The best acceptance speech was by surprised choreography winner Toby Sedgwick, who devised the motion of the puppets in the National’s hit “War Horse”, which returns at the end of the year.
Sedgwick observed that working with the faux equines for so long didn’t necessarily turn a person into a horse and then began to snort and stamp his foot.