Theatre News

Olivier Awards 2020 winners: Dear Evan Hansen, Sharon D Clarke, Andrew Scott, Emilia and more

The full list of 2020 Olivier Awards winners has been revealed

Alex Wood

Alex Wood

| London |

25 October 2020

Some of this year's winners
Some of this year's winners
© Dan Wooller for WhatsOnStage

This year's Olivier Awards winners have been revealed.

Notably, choreographer Matthew Bourne has now officially won more Olivier Awards than any other person for his work on Mary Poppins, alongside Stephen Mear. The show also picked up Best Set Design for Bob Crowley.

In the acting categories, Sharon D Clarke and Andrew Scott picked up the top prizes for their performances in Death of a Salesman and Present Laughter respectively. In the musical categories, Miriam-Teak Lee won for her titular turn in new jukebox show & Juliet, while Sam Tutty won an Olivier for playing Evan Hansen in Broadway import Dear Evan Hansen.

Lee was one of three performers who won awards for & Juliet, with her co-stars David Bedella and Cassidy Janson also picking up prizes for best supporting turns in the show, which will recommence its run at the Shaftesbury Theatre once feasible.

Tutty's win was one of three big nods for Hansen, which also won the Best New Musical award as well as Best Original Score or New Orchestrations (for Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, together with orchestrator Alex Lacamoire).

One big success story is Morgan Lloyd-Malcolm's smash-hit Emilia, which picked up three Oliviers (the most of any play) for Best Costume Design, Best Sound Design and Best Entertainment or Comedy Play. An archive recording of the show is being streamed from mid-November.

The Best New Play award went to Tom Stoppard for his epic piece Leopoldstadt, which had its run cut short by the pandemic, with performer Adrian Scarborough winning the award for Best Supporting Actor.

Alongside Clarke's win, Marianne Elliott and Miranda Cromwell won the Sir Peter Hall Best Director Award for Death of a Salesman, while Scott's Present Laughter co-star Indira Varma won the Best Supporting Actress statue.

Best Musical Revival went to Trevor Nunn's Fiddler on the Roof, which started at the Menier Chocolate Factory before transferring to the Playhouse, while Jamie Lloyd's reimagined Cyrano de Bergerac (which played at the same venue) won the Best Play Revival.

Richard Gadd's debut play Baby Reindeer picked up the Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre award. The piece was scheduled to run in the West End earlier this year but, as has become a common theme, saw plans disrupted by the pandemic. There are hopes for the show to return at some point in the future.

The National Theatre's production of The Ocean At The End Of The Lane (which will return next autumn) picked up one award – Best Lighting Design for Paule Constable.

See the full list of winners (in bold) and nominees below:

Best Supporting Actor in a Musical

David Bedella, & Juliet, Shaftesbury Theatre
Stewart Clarke, Fiddler on the Roof, Playhouse Theatre
Jack Loxton, Dear Evan Hansen, Noël Coward Theatre
Rupert Young, Dear Evan Hansen, Noël Coward Theatre

Best Supporting Actress in a Musical

Lucy Anderson, Dear Evan Hansen, Noël Coward Theatre
Petula Clark, Mary Poppins, Prince Edward Theatre
Cassidy Janson, & Juliet, Shaftesbury Theatre
Lauren Ward, Dear Evan Hansen, Noël Coward Theatre

Original Original Score or New Orchestration

Bill Sherman and Dominic Fallacaro, & Juliet, Shaftesbury Theatre
Musical supervisor and arrangements by Barnaby Race, Amélie the Musical, The Other Palace
Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, orchestration by Alex Lacamoire, Dear Evan Hansen, Noël Coward Theatre
New orchestrations by Jason Carr, Fiddler on the Roof, Playhouse Theatre
Music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles, Waitress, Adelphi Theatre

Best New Dance Production

La Fiesta by Israel Galván at Sadler's Wells
Ingoma by Mthuthuzeli November for Ballet Black at Royal Opera House – Linbury Theatre
Mám by Michael Keegan-Dolan for Teaċ Daṁsa at Sadler's Wells
Vessel by Damien Jalet & Kohei Nawa at Sadler's Wells

Outstanding Achievement in Dance

Sara Baras for her choreography and performance in Ballet Flamenco – Sombras at Sadler's Wells
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker for her performance in Mitten Wir Im Leben Sind/Bach6Cellosuiten at Sadler's Wells
Gisèle Vienne for her choreography of Crowd, presented by Dance Umbrella at
Sadler's Wells

Best Entertainment or Comedy Play

Emilia, Vaudeville Theatre
Fleabag, Wyndham's Theatre
Magic Goes Wrong, Vaudeville Theatre
The Upstart Crow, Gielgud Theatre

Best Theatre Choreographer

Fabian Aloise for Evita at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
Matthew Bourne and Stephen Mear for Mary Poppins at Prince Edward Theatre
Jerome Robbins and Matt Cole for Fiddler On The Roof at Playhouse Theatre
Jennifer Weber for & Juliet at Shaftesbury Theatre

Best Musical Revival

Evita, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
Fiddler on the Roof, Playhouse Theatre
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The London Palladium
Mary Poppins, Prince Edward Theatre

Best Actor in a Musical

Andy Nyman, Fiddler on the Roof, Playhouse Theatre
Charlie Stemp, Mary Poppins, Prince Edward Theatre
Sam Tutty, Dear Evan Hansen, Noël Coward Theatre
Jac Yarrow, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The London Palladium

Best Actress in a Musical

Audrey Brisson, Amélie the Musical, The Other Palace
Judy Kuhn, Fiddler on the Roof, Playhouse Theatre
Miriam-Teak Lee, & Juliet, Shaftesbury Theatre
Zizi Strallen, Mary Poppins, Prince Edward Theatre

Best Play Revival

Cyrano de Bergerac, Playhouse Theatre
Death of a Salesman, Young Vic and Piccadilly Theatre
Present Laughter, The Old Vic
Rosmersholm, Duke of York's Theatre

Best Family Show

Mr Gum And The Dancing Bear – The Musical!, National Theatre – Dorfman
Oi Frog & Friends!, Lyric Theatre
To The Moon And Back, Barbican Theatre
The Worst Witch at Vaudeville Theatre

Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre

Baby Reindeer, Bush Theatre
Blues in the Night, Kiln Theatre
Our Lady of Kibeho, Theatre Royal Stratford East
Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner, Jerwood Theatre Upstairs at the Royal Court
Warheads, Park Theatre

Best Lighting Design

Neil Austin, Rosmersholm, Duke of York's Theatre
Paule Constable, The Ocean At The End Of The Lane, National Theatre – Dorfman
Howard Hudson, & Juliet, Shaftesbury Theatre
Bruno Poet, Uncle Vanya, Harold Pinter Theatre

Best Sound Design

Gregory Clarke, Rosmersholm, Duke of York's Theatre
Emma Laxton, Emilia, Vaudeville Theatre
Ben and Max Ringham, ANNA, National Theatre – Dorfman
Ben and Max Ringham, Cyrano de Bergerac, Playhouse Theatre

Best Costume Design

Hugh Durrant, Goldilocks And The Three Bears, The London Palladium
Jonathan Lipman, Fiddler On The Roof, Playhouse Theatre
Joanna Scotcher, Emilia, Vaudeville Theatre
Paloma Young, & Juliet, Shaftesbury Theatre

Best Set Design

Bob Crowley, Mary Poppins, Prince Edward Theatre
Soutra Gilmour, & Juliet, Shaftesbury Theatre
Rae Smith, Rosmersholm, Duke of York's Theatre
Rae Smith, Uncle Vanya, Harold Pinter Theatre

Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Play

Arinzé Kene, Death Of A Salesman, Young Vic
Colin Morgan, All My Sons, The Old Vic
Adrian Scarborough, Leopoldstadt, Wyndham's Theatre
Reece Shearsmith, A Very Expensive Poison, The Old Vic

Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Play

Michele Austin, Cyrano de Bergerac, Playhouse Theatre
Sophie Thompson, Present Laughter, The Old Vic
Indira Varma, Present Laughter, The Old Vic
Josie Walker, The Ocean At The End Of The Lane, National Theatre – Dorfman

Best New Opera Production

Berenice, Royal Opera House – Linbury Theatre
Billy Budd, Royal Opera House
Hansel and Gretel, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
Noye's Fludde, Theatre Royal Stratford East

Outstanding Achievement in Opera

Jette Parker Young Artists for their performances in Berenice, Death In Venice and Phaedra at Royal Opera House
The Children's Ensemble for their performance in Noye's Fludde at Theatre Royal Stratford East
Martyn Brabbins and James Henshaw for their conducting of The Mask Of Orpheus for English National Opera at London Coliseum

Best Actor in a Play

Toby Jones, Uncle Vanya, Harold Pinter Theatre
James McAvoy, Cyrano de Bergerac, Playhouse Theatre
Wendell Pierce, Death Of A Salesman, Young Vic and Piccadilly Theatre
Andrew Scott, Present Laughter, The Old Vic

Best Actress in a Play

Hayley Atwell, Rosmersholm, Duke of York's Theatre
Sharon D Clarke, Death Of A Salesman, Young Vic and Piccadilly Theatre
Juliet Stevenson, The Doctor, Almeida Theatre
Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Fleabag, Wyndham's Theatre

Best Director

Miranda Cromwell and Marianne Elliott, Death Of A Salesman, Young Vic and Piccadilly Theatre
Jamie Lloyd, Cyrano De Bergerac, Playhouse Theatre
Trevor Nunn, Fiddler On The Roof, Playhouse Theatre
Ian Rickson, Uncle Vanya, Harold Pinter Theatre

Best New Play

A Very Expensive Poison, The Old Vic
The Doctor, Almeida Theatre
Leopoldstadt, Wyndham's Theatre
The Ocean At The End Of The Lane at National Theatre – Dorfman

Best New Musical

& Juliet, Shaftesbury Theatre
Amélie the Musical, The Other Palace
Dear Evan Hansen, Noël Coward Theatre
Waitress, Adelphi Theatre

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