The winners of the 2020 Olivier Awards with Mastercard will be revealed on 25 October 2020 during a special programme broadcast from the London Palladium on ITV at 10.20pm.
Originally due to be held in April this year, the replacement for the usual Red Carpet event will be hosted as planned by Jason Manford and viewers can tune into the Official London Theatre YouTube from 9.30pm for the start of the show and then move to ITV at 10.20pm.
Listeners will be able to tune into a show highlighting the winners and key moments of the ceremony on Magic Radio from 8pm until 10pm on 26 October with extended coverage of the event across the week on digital radio station Magic at the Musicals.
Largely featuring pre-recorded content filmed in the days leading up to the broadcast, as well as celebrating the winners and nominees of 2020, the event will also honour special figures who have made significant contributions to the industry over the past 18 months.
Sharon D. Clarke will be performing and paying tribute to Don Black, this year’s recipient of the Olivier Special Recognition Award for his contribution to theatre. The legendary lyricist whose career has spanned six decades will be presented with his award by Andrew Lloyd Webber and The Duchess of Cornwall. Her Royal Highness will also be making a poignant speech about the importance of live theatre.
Ian McKellen will be honoured in his 80th year for his Ian McKellen On Stage tour which visited over 80 theatres with profits going towards different funds at each theatre ranging from repair programmes to outreach programmes and talent development.
The show will also feature performances from nominees Sam Tutty (Dear Evan Hansen) and Miriam-Teak Lee (& Juliet).
@OlivierAwards main show on @itv Sunday eve at 10.20pm – exclusive performances, special guests and the all important awards themselves. Have a sneak peak below #OlivierAwards pic.twitter.com/XuUqGe7l2w
— Julian Bird (@julianpbird) October 23, 2020
Unveiling further details of the virtual event, Julian Bird, chief executive of the Society of London Theatre and executive producer of the Olivier Awards, said: “This is not how we had originally planned to celebrate this year’s outstanding Olivier nominees, but like so many others we have adapted to these challenging times. I am thrilled that we have been able to safely pull together this programme that will hopefully engage and inspire audiences at home whilst reminding them of the talent and vibrancy within our theatre industry.
“In response to the pandemic, we have set up the Theatre Artists Fund spearheaded by Sam Mendes to help the many talented freelancers in our industry who are in financial hardship. As part of the broadcasts there will be a special feature with Sam and some of the recipients of the grant.”
Announced in early March the 2020 nominations list was topped by new British musical & Juliet which received recognition in nine categories. Illustrating the range and diversity of musical theatre which had been playing in the West End pre-Covid, the three shows that attracted the most Olivier nominations were all genre favourites with Trevor Nunn’s revival of the classic Fiddler On The Roof close behind & Juliet with a total of eight nominations and the contemporary Pasek and Paul musical Dear Evan Hansen on seven. The Richard Eyre-directed revival of Mary Poppins completed the top four with a total of six nominations including a Best Supporting Actress in a Musical nod for Petula Clark who was last nominated for an Olivier in 1981 for The Sound of Music.
Angela Thomas
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