The Olivier Awards 2016 with MasterCard takes place this Sunday and we – the awards’ official news channel – invite you to follow all the action as it unfolds with our extensive coverage.
Hosted by two-time Olivier Award winner Michael Ball, the ceremony will take place on Sunday from 18:30 at London’s iconic Royal Opera House where presenters including Vanessa Redgrave, Kit Harington and Lesley Manville will announce who has won one of this year’s coveted prizes.
This year there are more ways than ever for theatre fans to get involved and follow the most prestigious theatre awards in the UK.
If you are London based, head to Covent Garden Piazza from 17:00 for the return of the ITV Stage. Musical theatre stars Carrie Hope Fletcher and Daniel Boys will present an evening of performances from all four Magic Radio Audience Award nominees – Jersey Boys, Matilda The Musical, Les Misérables and The Phantom Of The Opera – and productions including American Idiot, Breakin’ Convention Hip Hop Festival, West End Blend Choir and the recently announced Murder Ballad starring Kerry Ellis. If you’re not in London, you can watch all the Piazza action live streamed right here.
From 18:30 the ITV Stage will become the only place the public can watch the ceremony live, with a big screen relay of all the action from the Royal Opera House.
If you want to catch a glimpse of your favourite theatre performers and nominees including Alfred Enoch, Shirley Bassey, David Gandy, Amber Riley and Uzo Aduba, take your place alongside the red carpet from 17:00 to watch the star-studded arrivals. Fans who want to line the red carpet will be issued with wristbands, which will be handed out on a first come first served basis so do come early.
If you’re following from home, we’ll be tweeting throughout the night so follow us @O_L_T for the latest news and the Olivier Awards on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr for peeks backstage during the ceremony. You can also listen live on your radio on Magic FM’s newest radio station, Mellow Magic.
Shortly after the ceremony, you can watch highlights including many of the show’s incredible performances and winners’ speeches on ITV1 at 22:15. You can then watch the ceremony in full on 4 April at 23:00 on ITV3, with both broadcasts available on ITV Hub for the following 30 days.
International audiences will be able to watch both performances from the Piazza streamed live on the Olivier Awards’ YouTube channel live and the ceremony in full at 22:00 (BST).
As always, we’ll also we bringing you extensive news coverage right here on Official London Theatre during and after the ceremony so be sure to check back for exclusive galleries and video interviews with the stars.