Olivier Awards 2024

Quite nice cold buffet and wine!

It was a while ago but I simply answered the ad which was in the theatres on a leaflet. I sent in my application which was a letter and a list of the productions I had seen the previous year. I think they wanted to see how enthusiastic people are. That was my first application which failed then the next year I applied again , same way and was accepted after an interview. Nobody I met on the panel ‘knew anyone’, all of us ordinary punters plus the people chosen by SOLT who were industry people, a journalist, a casting agent if I recall correctly. 

I applied on their website! Had to write a few short reviews on something I'd seen recently and list everything I'd seen that past year. Then had a short video interview where they asked a few more questions about like general interest in theatre and so on. They also asked to make sure that I didn't have any connections to theatre/didn't work in a role that was related to theatre in anyway. There were maybe 10 of us on the panel and we were all a mix of careers from software engineering to publishing, none of us 'knew people'.

I think I ended up seeing about 100 shows over just under a year. It wasn't stressful because I enjoyed it so much, but I think if you weren't committed to seeing theatre it could definitely get a bit tedious. Since I worked a regular 9-5 I could only see shows in the evenings and and so I did rarely have free evenings. Also since a lot of shows are limited runs and they only want you to go in and see the show post previews, there's a limited window where you can see each show so it was a bit of work making sure I could fit everything I needed to see in before a show closed. There were a few weeks where I think I saw a different show every evening + both shows on Saturday lol.

They don't tell you when to go exactly, but like I said they have a set of dates you need to see the show between (post previews, pre closing). Also if there are scheduled alternates/understudies they want to make sure you see the original principals. Other than that though you can then specify which dates work for you and they try to book you in on your top preferred day

In the new play category, I would have had David Ireland's Ulster American ahead of Jez/California or Till the Stars Come Down, probably Jez. Prices probably didn't help.

Wild to me that the play with the most votes for revival is Shirley Valentine....we all saw how cheaply that was put together right?

It is such a shame Sunset Boulevard won't be performing. Do you think they might leave it as a surprise?
Surely Nicole will be there (she was the nominees event) and the fact the show and the team are up for several Oliviers and won't get any sort of 'highlight'.. especially with their pending Broadway run seems crazy to me.

I dunno, I’m kinda glad Sunset not performing. Musicals pulling off TV spots is rarer than them being a slight damp squib I’d say. Crowd pleasing song and dance numbers fare much better.

Sunset was such an intense experience, built up from the moment the overture started at The Savoy. And even though it does have stand alone numbers, I’m just not sure JL’s production would come across out of context.

Add in the dreadful RAH acoustics and there could be a lot of people who’ve not seen it wondering what the fuss is about. Which would be a shame.

I would be very surprised if Operation Mincemeat performed that song at the Oliviers. I would expect God That’s Brilliant but would rather it was Glitzy Finale or a shorter version of Making A Man.

Anyone have any predictions they’d like to share? I think Nicole Scherzinger and Sunset Boulevard are the obvious locks for their respective categories (although I did see The Stage predicting Marisha Wallace which while deserving I think is unlikely.)

Operation Mincemeat and Vanya I think are also pretty safe bets to win.

I don’t think I’m alone in saying that while I’d love Charlie Stemp to win for Best Actor in a Musical I think it’s going to Tom Francis. I’d bet on Amy Trigg for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical but I could see a strong argument for Grace Hodgett Young and wouldn’t be surprised if it was her.

Funnily enough it’s been Best Supporting Actor in a Musical that’s had me and my friend debating all day. We both think is going to be one of the Ja(c)ks with my money on Wolfe and her’s on Malone. Both would be deserving imo.

It’ll be live-streamed on YouTube but geo blocked so it can only be watched from outside the UK. You’ll need to use a VPN to spoof your location if you want to watch it live from the UK.