The winners of the 2020 Olivier Awards with Mastercard will be announced on 25 October 2020 during a special programme broadcast from the London Palladium on ITV and Magic Radio.
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 but will largely feature pre-recorded content filmed in the days leading up to the broadcast. Different areas of the iconic London venue will be used for the show.
The unveiling of this year’s special award ceremony was accompanied by the not entirely unexpected news that due to the minimal amount of new productions in 2020, next year’s Oliviers are unlikely to go ahead. Plans are currently being developed to replace the 2021 Olivier Awards with a special celebration of the theatre industry.
Announcing the revised 2020 event, Julian Bird, chief executive of the Society of London Theatre and executive producer of the Olivier Awards, said: “We are excited to be able to honour this year’s nominees and winners during a very difficult time for our industry, and demonstrate the outstanding talent we have in our theatre sector in the UK.
“Coming together to celebrate their achievements feels more poignant now than ever before as we all fight collectively to save our theatre industry. I hope that everyone working in, or simply missing the theatre, will join us on the 25 October to celebrate last year’s achievements and remain hopeful for our future.”
Along with announcements of the high-profile winners, the show will be screened on ITV will feature unique performances, interviews and special moments with additional awards being shown in a pre-show broadcast on the Official London Theatre’s YouTube channel.
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. Extended coverage of the event will feature across the week on digital radio station Magic at the Musicals.
Details of performances and guests will be announced soon.
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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