The 2024 Olivier Awards provided the shock of old and put a smile on Andrew Lloyd Webber's face. A whopping seven awards for Sunset Boulevard confirmed that - at the age of 76 and more than 50 years after Jesus Christ Superstar stormed the palace - the world's most successful musical composer still has what it takes to rule the West End and the to show children how it's done, even with a musical from 1993.
Of course, the credit for Sunset Boulevard flooding the boards - the take that equals the record for a musical set from Matilda, and matched by Hamilton and Cabaret - must go to Jamie Lloyd. His visionary direction dared to reverse Lloyd Webber's adaptation (with Don Black and Christopher Hampton) of Billy Wilder's classic 1950 film noir. Particular reliance on busy choreography and video wizardry - as opposed to palatial Hollywood opulence - was the perfect revitalizing touch, fusing theatrical imagination with an austere sense of cinematic surprise.
Lloyd also got it right by casting Nicole Scherzinger as the reclusive silent film star Norma Desmond. The singer initially seemed too flawless for the femme fatale, but as with Lloyd's noseless Cyrano, he had had a revealing idea: Norma's capriciousness was in the eyes of others, her aging a product of the industry.
The primary justification, however, lies with Lloyd Webber himself - who suffered brickbats and setbacks when Sunset was in the West End for the first time, requiring early rewrites and no Olivier Awards. When you compare this year's returns to Lloyd Webber's previous wins (even Phantom only picked up a few) you realize that not only does this production now have the wind in its sails as it heads to Broadway, but the show stands have been confirmed as one of ALW's best.
A bonanza is good for headlines, and there's certainly a sense that the industry is giving their man a pat on the back for all his past good works. But people don't pay lip service to his status; As we've seen over the past decade with Lloyd's Evita and Timothy Sheader's Jesus Christ Superstar, both radical takes on Regent's Park, the next generation wants to reimagine that gilded catalog and embrace its legacy.
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Yet there is no shortage of British talent lining up behind him. The award for Best New Musical deservedly went to runaway sensation Operation Mincemeat, a resilient account of wartime subterfuge by SpitLip, with Jak Malone given a well-deserved supporting role for delivering the show's most poignant notes as an MI5 secretary Hester Leggatt (who now has a plaque in the Fortune Theater).
Elsewhere, there were strong contenders for Best New Play. Jack Thorne's The Motive and the Cue was an obvious contender, but with Mark Gatiss taking home the Best Actor award for his perfect evocation of John Gielgud, that left the target open for James Graham's Dear England, which was the friendly restart of Gareth Southgate's tenure turned around. as England manager in a smooth, fun, state-of-the-nation epic. Nice for Harry Kane - in the guise of Will Close (Best Actor in a Supporting Role) - to finally win something.
If Close's teasing impersonation raises a smile, it's hard not to look misty-eyed at the award for the actress's counterpart, which went to the late Haydn Gwynne: Stanley Baldwin in Jack Thorne's play about Churchill, Reith and the general strike. Nominated four times before, what a shame she didn't see her late win. That puts into perspective the fact that Sheridan Smith - battered after those early closing announcements for Opening Night - didn't walk away with the best actress award for Shirley Valentine. Shezza will live to see another day and will surely amaze fans again in her own inimitable way.
The winners of the Olivier Award 2024 in full
Best New Musical
WINNER: Operation Mincemeat, music, lyrics and book by David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha
Hodgson and Zoe Roberts
The Little Big Things, music by Nick Butcher, lyrics by Nick Butcher & Tom Ling, book by Joe
White
Next To Normal, music by Tom Kitt, book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey
A Strange Loop, music, lyrics and book by Michael R. Jackson
Best set design
WINNER: Miriam Buether for set design and 59 productions for video design for Stranger
Things: The first shadow
Bunny Christie for set design for boys and dolls
Es Devlin for set design and Ash J Woodward for video design for Dear England
Soutra Gilmour for set design and Nathan Amzi & Joe Ransom for video design for Sunset
Boulevard
Outstanding Achievement in Dance
WINNER: Isabela Coracy for her performance in NINA: By What Means, part of Ballet
Black: Pioneers at the Barbican Theatre
Jonzi D for his artistic direction of Breakin' Convention 2023 International Festival Of Hip Hop
Dance Theater in Sadler's Wells
Rhiannon Faith for her community-focused concept of Lay Down Your Burdens at The Pit at
Barbican
