Best Actor Sam Tutty in “Dear Evan Hansen”
Last night, performer Jason Manford hosted the 2020 Laurence Olivier Awards at the London Palladium. Manford was scheduled to host the ceremony April 5 at the Royal Albert Hall, but the event was postponed on March 17 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the honorees were on hand to accept their trophies in person, but the majority of the show was taped earlier at the venue. Among the evening’s top winners were the musicals Dear Evan Hansen (which won best musical, best score, and best actor) and & Juliet (which won the remaining three performance awards out of its record nine nominations). Notably, choreographer Matthew Bourne set the record last night for most Olivier wins. You can watch the entire show below.
In addition to Best New Musical winner Dear Evan Hansen, other productions honored include Playhouse Theatre’s Fiddler on the Roof as Best Musical Revival and Royal Opera House’s Billy Budd as Best New Opera Production. Writing honors went to composers Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and to orchestrator by Alex Lacamoire for the music of Dear Evan Hansen, and lyricist Don Black received a special Olivier award.
In the acting categories, Sam Tutty won Best Actor for the title role in Dear Evan Hansen and Miriam-Teak Lee won Best Actress for the title role in & Juliet, while Lee’s co-stars David Bedella and Cassidy Janson won Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress. The Children’s Ensemble were also honored for Outstanding Achievement in Opera for their performance in Noye’s Fludde at Theatre Royal Stratford East.
Other musical wins of the night include Best Theatre Choreographer to Matthew Bourne and Stephen Mear and Best Set Design to Bob Crowley, both for Mary Poppins.