Oliviers select odd ducks, leave 'Lion King' hungry
'Honk!' takes home best musical, 'Goodnight' gets best play
The big winner was the state-funded Royal National Theater, which took a hefty nine awards out of 21 nominations, including multiple prizes for its revivals of "Candide," "Money" and "The Merchant of Venice."
An edited version of the proceedings -- London's closest equivalent to Broadway's Tonys, though with much less commercial clout -- aired on BBC2 on Sunday. The awards are presented by the Society of London Theater.
Although held at the Lyceum Theater, home since last fall to "The Lion King" in London, the ceremony conferred a scant two awards on the Disney behemoth -- Julie Taymor, for best costumes, and Garth Fagan, for best choreography. The show had been up for eight prizes.
So was critics' favorite "Spend Spend Spend," the low-budget British musical that has spent the season playing David to "The Lion King's" Goliath. "Spend" came away with only one nod, for lead actress Barbara Dickson.
Abba songfest "Mamma Mia!" also took only one prize, a supporting performer trophy for the jaunty Jenny Galloway.
In context, the prevailing tone of several recipients' speeches was one of dismay or being undeserving.
"I guess the judges couldn't get tickets for 'The Lion King,' " quipped Anthony Drewe, book writer and lyricist for "Honk! The Ugly Duckling," a musical adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen story. The show won the top musical prize, which also happened to be the only category in which the National Theater production, directed by actress Julia McKenzie, was nominated.
Nelson, too, seemed amazed. "Are you sure you got that right?" the resident of Rhinebeck, N.Y., asked presenter Mal Young as he stepped to the podium.
Set in England in 1945, "Goodnight Children Everywhere" -- Nelson's ninth play for the Royal Shakespeare Co., eight of which were direct commissions -- had its world premiere in Stratford-upon-Avon late in 1997 before transferring to London's Barbican Theater last year. The same play was seen last summer in a separate staging in New York, where Nelson has had a surprise hit this season with his musical of the James Joyce story "The Dead."
Even best director of a play or musical Trevor Nunn sounded a note of self-effacement. "If I had a casting vote, I would have given (the prize) to Julie," he said, referring to fellow nominee Taymor, "because she's stunning and imaginative" and is taking theater "to some other form beyond what we recognize at the moment."
Nunn was cited for three NT productions -- "Summerfolk," "Troilus and Cressida," and "The Merchant of Venice," the last of which is expected to transfer to New York in the fall. Its lead thesp, Henry Goodman, was named best actor in a play for his rending portrayal of Shylock.
Best actress in a play went to Janie Dee as a robotic actor in Alan Ayckbourn's "Comic Potential." Dee's Olivier completed a hat trick of awards for the young actress, following the Evening Standard Drama Awards in November and the London Critics' Circle earlier this month. The last time such a feat was accomplished was in 1987 when Judi Dench played Cleopatra.
Dee's prize came at the expense of audience darling Maggie Smith, whose West End smash, "The Lady in the Van," went home empty-handed. So did the Broadway-bound revival of "The Real Thing," which was up in four major categories but was named only for Mark Henderson's lighting. (Henderson took that prize for seven different productions, of which "The Real Thing" was one.)
Less surprising were the two prizes for the National revival of "Candide," which won over weak competition in the category of best musical production. Simon Russell Beale was named best actor in a musical for his doubling as Voltaire and Pangloss.
American Rob Becker's solo show "Defending the Caveman" won in the catch-all category of best entertainment. Becker was not present to accept his award.
Unusually, five of the winning performers have taken home Oliviers before: Dickson ("Blood Brothers," 1983), Galloway ("The Boys From Syracuse," 1992), Dee ("Carousel," 1993), Goodman ("Assassins," 1993) and Beale ( "Volpone," 1996).
