2016 Laurence Olivier Awards

Date

3 April 2016

Location

Royal Opera House

Hosted by

Michael Ball

Television/radio coverage

Network

ITV

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The 2016 Laurence Olivier Awards were held on Sunday 3 April 2016 at the Royal Opera House, London. The 40th anniversary ceremony was hosted by Michael Ball. A highlights show was broadcast on ITV shortly after the live event ended.

Eligibility

Any new production that opened between 26 February 2015 and 16 February 2016 in a theatre represented in membership of the Society of London Theatre was eligible for consideration, provided it had performed at least 30 performances.^[1]

Event calendar

13 February: Voting opens for the Audience Award for Most Popular Show^[2]
29 February: Nominations announced by Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton
11 March: Voting closes for the Audience Award
14 March: Nominations announced for the Audience Award
3 April: Award ceremony held

Winners and nominees

The nominations were announced on 29 February 2016 in 26 categories.

Best New Play	Best New Musical
Hangmen by Martin McDonagh – Jerwood Downstairs, Royal Court / Wyndham's Farinelli and the King by Claire van Kampen – Duke of York's People, Places and Things by Duncan MacMillan – National Theatre Dorfman The Father by Florian Zeller, translated by Christopher Hampton – Wyndham's	Kinky Boots – Adelphi Bend It Like Beckham – Phoenix In the Heights – King's Cross Mrs Henderson Presents – Noël Coward
Best Revival	Best Musical Revival
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom – National Theatre Lyttelton Hamlet – Barbican Les liaisons dangereuses – Donmar Warehouse The Winter's Tale – Garrick	Gypsy – Savoy Bugsy Malone – Lyric Hammersmith Guys and Dolls – Savoy Seven Brides for Seven Brothers – Regent's Park Open Air
Best New Comedy	Best Entertainment and Family
Nell Gwynn by Jessica Swale – Apollo A Christmas Carol by Patrick Barlow – Noël Coward Hand to God by Robert Askins – Vaudeville Peter Pan Goes Wrong by Henry Shields, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Lewis – Apollo	Showstopper! The Improvised Musical – Apollo Alice's Adventures Underground – Vaults I Want My Hat Back – National Theatre Temporary The Lorax – Old Vic Peter Pan – Regent's Park Open Air
Best Actor	Best Actress
*Kenneth Cranham as André in The Father* – Wyndham's** Kenneth Branagh as King Leontes in The Winter's Tale – Garrick Benedict Cumberbatch as Prince Hamlet in Hamlet – Barbican Adrian Lester as Ira Aldridge in Red Velvet – Garrick Mark Rylance as King Philippe V of Spain in Farinelli and the King – Duke of York's	*Denise Gough as Emma in People, Places and Things* – National Theatre Dorfman** Gemma Arterton as Nell Gwynn in Nell Gwynn – Apollo Nicole Kidman as Rosalind Franklin in Photograph 51 – Noël Coward Janet McTeer as Marquise de Merteuil in Les liaisons dangereuses – Donmar Warehouse Lia Williams as Clytemnestra in Oresteia – Almeida
Best Actor in a Musical	Best Actress in a Musical
*Matt Henry as Lola in Kinky Boots* – Adelphi** Ian Bartholomew as Vivian Van Damm in Mrs Henderson Presents – Noël Coward Killian Donnelly as Charlie Price in Kinky Boots – Adelphi David Haig as Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls – Savoy Jamie Parker as Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls – Savoy	*Imelda Staunton as Mama Rose in Gypsy* – Savoy** Tracie Bennett as Laura Henderson in Mrs Henderson Presents – Noël Coward Natalie Dew as Jess Bhamra in Bend It Like Beckham – Phoenix Laura Pitt-Pulford as Milly in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers – Regent's Park Open Air Sophie Thompson as Miss Adelaide in Guys and Dolls – Savoy
Best Actor in a Supporting Role	Best Actress in a Supporting Role
*Mark Gatiss as Shpigelsky in Three Days in the Country* – National Theatre Lyttelton** Michael Pennington as Antigonus in The Winter's Tale – Garrick Tom Sturridge as Bobby in American Buffalo – Wyndham's David Suchet as Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest – Vaudeville	*Judi Dench as Paulina in The Winter's Tale* – Garrick** Michele Dotrice as Nancy in Nell Gwynn – Apollo Melody Grove as Isabella Farnese in Farinelli and the King – Duke of York's Catherine Steadman as Jean Tatlock in Oppenheimer – Vaudeville
Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical	Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical
*David Bedella as Kevin Rosario in In the Heights* – King's Cross** Dan Burton Tulsa in Gypsy – Savoy Peter Davison as Herbie in Gypsy – Savoy Gavin Spokes as Nicely Nicely Johnson in Guys and Dolls – Savoy	*Lara Pulver as Gypsy Rose Lee in Gypsy* – Savoy** Preeya Kalidas as Pinky in Bend It Like Beckham – Phoenix Amy Lennox as Lauren in Kinky Boots – Adelphi Emma Williams as Maureen in Mrs Henderson Presents – Noël Coward
Best Director	Best Theatre Choreographer
*Robert Icke for Oresteia* – Almeida** Rob Ashford and Kenneth Branagh for The Winter's Tale – Garrick Matthew Dunster for Hangmen – Jerwood Downstairs, Royal Court / Wyndham's Jonathan Kent for Gypsy – Savoy	*Drew McOnie for In the Heights* – King's Cross** Carlos Acosta and Andrew Wright for Guys and Dolls – Savoy Stephen Mear for Gypsy – Savoy Jerry Mitchell for Kinky Boots – Adelphi
Best Set Design	Best Costume Design
*Anna Fleischle for Hangmen* – Jerwood Downstairs, Royal Court / Wyndham's** Hildegard Bechtler for Oresteia – Almeida Es Devlin for Hamlet – Barbican Jonathan Fensom for Farinelli and the King – Duke of York's	*Gregg Barnes for Kinky Boots* – Adelphi** Hugh Durrant for Nell Gwynn – Apollo Jonathan Fensom for Farinelli and the King – Duke of York's Katrina Lindsay for Bend It Like Beckham – Phoenix
Best Lighting Design	Best Sound Design
*Mark Henderson for Gypsy* – Savoy** Neil Austin for The Winter's Tale – Garrick Natasha Chivers for Oresteia – Almeida James Farncombe for People, Places and Things – National Theatre Dorfman	*Tom Gibbons for People, Places and Things* – National Theatre Dorfman** George Dennis for The Homecoming – Trafalgar Studios 1 Christopher Shutt for The Father – Wyndham's Christopher Shutt for Hamlet – Barbican
Outstanding Achievement in Music
*Alex Lacamoire and Bill Sherman for arranging and orchestrating and Lin-Manuel Miranda for lyricising and scoring In the Heights* – King's Cross** Kuljit Bhamra and Howard Goodall for orchestrating, Howard Goodall for scoring and Charles Hart for lyricising Bend It Like Beckham – Phoenix Iestyn Davies, the Musicians and the Singers for performing and Claire van Kampen for arranging Farinelli and the King – Duke of York's Cyndi Lauper for lyricising and scoring and Stephen Oremus for arranging, orchestrating and music supervising Kinky Boots – Adelphi
Outstanding Achievement in Dance	Best New Dance Production
*Alessandra Ferri in Chéri* and Woolf Works – Royal Opera House** Javier de Frutos for choreographing Anatomy of a Passing Cloud – Linbury Studio, Royal Opera House Sasha Waltz for choreographing Sacre – Sadler's Wells	Woolf Works, Wayne McGregor – Royal Opera House He Who Falls (Celui Qui Tombe), Compagnie Yoann Bourgeois – Barbican Roméo et Juliette, Les Ballets de Monte Carlo – London Coliseum
Outstanding Achievement in Opera	Best New Opera Production
*English National Opera Chorus and Orchestra of The Force of Destiny, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk* and The Queen of Spades – London Coliseum** Felicity Palmer in The Queen of Spades – London Coliseum Antonio Pappano for conducting Cavalleria rusticana / Pagliacci, Guillaume Tell and Król Roger – Royal Opera House Tamara Wilson in The Force of Destiny – London Coliseum	Cavalleria rusticana / Pagliacci – Royal Opera House Morgen und Abend – Royal Opera House The Force of Destiny – London Coliseum
Outstanding Achievement in Affiliate Theatre
*Pat Kinevane for Fishamble for Silent* – Soho** Barbarians – Clare, Young Vic Phil Dunster in Pink Mist – Bush Violence and Son – Jerwood Upstairs, Royal Court
Audience Award
The Phantom of the Opera – Her Majesty's Jersey Boys – Piccadilly Les Misérables – Queen's Matilda – Cambridge

Productions with multiple nominations and awards

The following 20 productions, including three operas and one dance, received multiple nominations:

8: Gypsy
7: Kinky Boots
6: Farinelli and the King, Guys and Dolls, The Winter's Tale
5: Bend It Like Beckham
4: Hamlet, In the Heights, Mrs Henderson Presents, Nell Gwynn, Oresteia, People, Places and Things
3: The Father, The Force of Destiny, Hangmen
2: Cavalleria rusticana / Pagliacci, Les liaisons dangereuses, The Queen of Spades, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Woolf Works

The following six productions, including one dance, received multiple awards:

4: Gypsy
3: In the Heights, Kinky Boots
2: Hangmen, People, Places and Things, Woolf Works

References

^ "Frequently Asked Questions". olivierawards.com.
^ "The Home of London Theatre".

External links

Olivier Awards official website

v t e Laurence Olivier Awards
Drama	New Play Entertainment or Comedy Play Revival Actor Actress Actor in a Supporting Role Actress in a Supporting Role
Musical	New Musical Musical Revival Actor in a Musical Actress in a Musical Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical Original Score or New Orchestrations
Production/Creatives	Director Theatre Choreographer Set Design Costume Design Lighting Design Sound Design
Dance/Opera	New Dance Production New Opera Production Achievement in Dance Achievement in Opera
Special/Other	Special Award Family Show Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre
Retired	Actor of the Year in a New Play Actress of the Year in a New Play Actor of the Year in a Revival Actress of the Year in a Revival Comedy Performance Performance in a Musical Supporting Artist of the Year Performance in a Supporting Role Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical Newcomer in a Play Most Promising Performer Company Performance Director of a Play Director of a Musical Most Promising Playwright Achievement in a Musical Audience Award
Ceremonies	1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 ~~1989 (see 1989/90)~~ 1989/90 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 ~~2021 (COVID-19)~~ 2022 2023

This page was last edited on 20 January 2024, at 15:55