Backstage at the Laurence Olivier Awards
- Posted on February 18, 2007 10:50 PM
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"Welcome to the biggest night in any actor's diary. Actually, probably the only night in an actor's diary..."
And so began, the 2007 Laurence Olivier Awards.
The red carpet was rolled out at the London Grosvenor House Hotel last night, where the Laurence Olivier Awards took place in a flurry of glitz and glamour. Following close behind the West End Theatre buffs was the Seatwave theatre crew. Dressed to the nines we devoured cheese platters, marveled at the dresses, top hats and smiling winners as they received their statue of glory.
It will come as no surprise that the press area at an awards ceremony is a completely different kettle of journo fish than glamour of the main arena. Last year, I wielded my press pass like a sword in battle. This year, I used the back door entry to save time and a crowd crushing entry.
Now, I've seen my fair share of press gatherings... daredevil camera men usually perch atop ladders in an attempt to grab that perfect shot of a young diva's cleavage. Pushing, shoving, yelps of "over here!", "no... over HERE", "perfect, that's the shot of the year", and mutterings of "stupid un-photogenic cow" are all part of the deal. Not however, at the Oliviers. Last night there was a glorious sense of calm. Maybe the sight of Sir Ian McKellen's name on the guest list was enough to put us all in our place. After all, who wants to misbehave when Gandalf is there to set you on the straight and narrow?
In 2006 we were led like cattle to the slaughter, to our designated 'standing zones'. The caution was to "get your shots then step away". This year, the tone was different. One could even say 'nice'. No-one pushed, no-one shoved and the award winners had the chance to chat to the press. I guess they've realised that journos have to make a living and the average photographer is usually prepared to die clicking for that perfect snap. It's best to keep the peace.
Let's head back to the main event though. As the orchestra picked up their shining instruments, the lights zoned in and cast a mysterious shade of blue over the stage. Our host for the evening was 'One Foot in the Grave's' Richard Wilson (aka Victor Meldrew). Unlike his famous character, there was no sign of grumpiness when to be seen. Beside him, hostess 'The Royal Family's' Sue Johnston scrubbed up particularly well. Unlike her alter ego Barbara, she glammed up to the nines; no signs of scrunchies, leggings or a fag between her chompers to be seen. Witty and delightfully grand, they made a nice change from the mouthy commentary by Paul O'Grady last year. Not a chance they'd match his 2006 post-show rant to journalists pretending to be his new best mate. The press room was delightfully free of 'ranting and raving' actually (unless you count one particularly gobby photographer. But we won't...).
Avenue Q actors and their puppets provided the opening tune - 'Everyone's a Little Bit Racist' a song introduced with a reference or two to Jade Goody. A pity the woman even gets a mention in theatre world's night of nights. The technical awards are announced first... to the talent behind the scenes. 'Sunday In The Park With George's' Natasha Chivers and Mike Robertson snapped up the first award for 'Best Lighting Design'.
I've never been on a movie set before but I suspect awards nights are much the same - just with more alcohol and fancy costumes. Kim Cattral could be seen making a dash for the safety of her table but as the night wore on it became obvious that walking anywhere without ten 'cheek kissing pit stops' was going to be a mission for her. She looked stunning in an off the shoulder red dress. There were jokes made about Claire Sweeney wearing the same one. Ouch. It's a major award ceremony no-no but luckily, to the not-so-blind eye, both women were dressed differently.
As Kim chatted to us backstage I couldn't help but feel for Sir Trevor Nunn. Although charming, his black suit just didn't quite have the 'ooooh' factor as the scarlet clad lady beside him. He'd just accepted the award for 'Best Actor' on behalf of Rufus Sewell . "Lucky it's me collecting it" he told us. "Because Rufus would be bouncing around the room in excitement right now."
'The Best Sound Design' award went to Gareth Fry for 'Waves'. Well deserved... the play was an absolute visual masterpiece. Well done to the National Theatre and all involved. 'Best Costume Design' went to Alison Chitty for 'The Voysey Inheritance'. Speaking of costumes, Tamzin Outhwaite (from Boeing-Boeing) presented and it has to be said, green is definitely her color.
In the dance department, The Royal Ballet's 'Chroma' won 'Best New Dance Production' whilst Carlos Acosta scooped the 'Outstanding Achievement In Dance' award. Samantha Janus (Guys and Dolls) presented these. She's a stunning woman and obviously went for the understated look last night. It was black all the way with trousers and hair straight back in a pony-tail. I guess when you dress up for the stage every night, the novelty of a gown probably just isn't there.
Other performances included 'Sound of Music's' Lesley Garret with 'Climb Every Moutain' and the highlight of the night for me, Elena Rogers performing Evita's 'You Must Love Me' . There's something moving about watching a pint-sized songstress belt forth musical magic. From my spot up on the balcony I felt like I had top price seats at an exclusive show. A black dress for Elena proved that simple and classic works; especially when your main accessory is your voice.
The production with the biggest collection of statues this year was 'Sunday in the Park With George'. They'll have no shortage of paper weights in their offices from now on... they cleaned up with awards for Jenna Russell - 'Best Actress In A Musical' and Daniel Evans who nabbed 'Best Actor In A Musical'. After adding 'Best Set Design' and 'Best Lighting Design' to their collection it seemed fitting when the 'Outstanding Musical Production' finished their sweep of the statue storage closet.
The Society's special award for 2007 went to John Tomlinson, who collected it from Dame Janet Baker; A fitting award for an Opera legend.
Sheila Hancock from 'Cabaret' - won 'Best Supporting Actress'. Talk about a sparkling, sexy grandma. Some actresses are a pleasure to be around; Helen Mirren was one screen legend I found myself enchanted by in the flesh (no, not at this event); Sheila Hancock was another. She was delightfully chatty backstage and candid about award ceremonies in general. She said that although she loves dressing up in Armani "I still have to go to work tomorrow". She commented that eighty per-cent of actors are out of work and joked that it gets easier to win awards after seventy years... "Just for making it onto the stage".
According to Hancock, she'll be 'rooting for the Brits' in the upcoming Oscars, but said it's essentially the part that has the most award winning impact. Good news for women in acting then - more realistic parts means better performances and greater recognition. After "playing a ditzy bottle blonde" throughout her earlier years, this was obviously a relief.
At this point my cameraman took the opportunity to comment that 'Wicked' wasn't nominated for 'Best New Musical'. Yes, we've heard it all before so we won't go into it again. I did notice a big cheer from the 'green contingent' when the 'Best Director' nominees were announced. They didn't scoop it though... Dominic Cooke scooped it for 'The Crucible' at the Gielgud.
A well deserved 'Caroline or Change 'won 'Best New Musical' and Tonya Pinkins performed 'Lot's Wife' from the stunning production at the Lyttelton. She then proceeded to charm the socks off us backstage. As she widened her smile and repositioned her sequin endowed boobs the balding rabble of photographers sprang to life and put their trigger happy testosterone levels to the test. Forget fast cars and viagra... these guys are driven by cameras and deadlines. The woman is utterly charming and wowed us with more than cleavage as she told us how special the performance was to her. "I won't do a musical next" she told us. "How can I possibly beat one as amazing as 'Caroline or Change'?".
My own personal 'star of the night' award had to go to Tamsin Greig, winner of 'Best Actress'. Her acceptance speech was an absolute gem. Either she's a fantastic actress at award ceremonies as well on stage, or she truly was shell shocked. As she accepted the award from Don Johnson (Guys and Dolls) she stood behind the microphone with a look of disbelief. This soon turned to elation and an excitement-induced slip of the bladder. "I think I just did a little wee... and it's not my dress!". The quote of the night and a terrific awards ceremony ice breaker.
She proved to be a hit with the press too. Later on, backstage she whispered... "I didn't actually do a wee... but what a line hey?!" It just goes to show... at the Olivier Awards, anything goes. Last year the 'Billy Elliot' boys charmed our socks of, this year, the erratic and surprising comments of Tamsin kept the smiles on our dials.
As we said goodbye to the stars of the evening and made our way out into the crisp London evening it was hard not to look forward to next year's ceremony. Getting a little ahead of myself? Definitely... but with a year full of celeb and talent packed theatre ahead, the 2008 awards look set to be a big 'un. I want to see Gollum and a hoard of hobbits present next year. Now that, theatre buffs will be worth a million press room moments.
See you next year.
See the full list of winners here.
Watch this space... we have exclusive video footage coming soon.
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