In just 10 days’ time, stars will gather on the paparazzi-lined red carpet, performers including Nicole Scherzinger and Beverley Knight will take to the Royal Opera House stage to showcase their incredible Olivier Award nominated performances and, most importantly, this year’s nominees will discover whether they’re crowned the winner of one of London theatre’s most coveted prizes.
We are, of course, as we have been for the past few weeks, talking about the impending excitement of the Olivier Awards 2015 with MasterCard.
While no one yet knows who will walk off the stage clutching one of those sought-after bronze statuettes, after catching up with the class of 2015 at the annual Nominees Lunch we do know which actor has prize-worthy amounts of self-deprecation, which actress boasts award-winning dedication and which two musical stars form the best blossoming bromance.
Seeing as we’re in the accolade-giving spirit, we decided to dish out awards for such deserving, but often unrecognised, behaviour. Read on to find out who we crowned the worthy recipients.
The award for… Most Self-Deprecating Nominee… goes to:
Richard Goulding, nominated for his performance as Prince Harry in King Charles III
“I didn’t have to do anything. Harry’s done all the work for me. I just walked on stage and they laughed. That’s nothing to do with me, it’s all to do with him. He is so loved in this country so I’ve got a lot to thank him for.”
The award for… Most Nervous Nominee… goes to:
Jon Jon Briones, nominated for his performance as The Engineer in Miss Saigon
“From a distance, from just watching [the ceremony], it’s great. Now that you’re nominated it’s kind of scary because if you’ve never done it before you don’t know how to handle it. You don’t know how to act. You don’t know what do you do on the red carpet, how do you walk? Luckily my family’s going to be there so they can walk with me. Can they walk with me?”
The award for… Nominee Most Dedicated To Getting To The Ceremony… goes to:
Tanya Moodie, nominated for her performances in Intimate Apparel and The House That Will Not Stand
“Unfortunately I’m going to be doing a show [Moodie will be in King John at Shakespeare’s Globe] on the same night as the Oliviers so I’m going to get a nice frock on, come and do the red carpet, take all my make up off, take off my nice frock, go and do my show, put my frock back on, put a bit of make-up back on and come back. I might get there just by the end of it.”
The award for… Most Confusing Statement By A Nominee… goes to:
Jason Pennycooke, nominated for his performance in Memphis The Musical
“I’m going to see Memphis on Thursday” [He’s going to watch his understudy]
The award for… Best ‘How Did You Find Out You Were Nominated?’ Story… goes to:
Juma Sharkah, nominated for her performance in Liberian Girl
“We were filming in school. We were on location filming and when we went on lunch break my teacher Caroline came up to me and said she’d just had a call saying that I’d been nominated for an Olivier Award. I just started crying. She started crying. The rest of my year group ran up to me and were hugging each other. It’s amazing. I wasn’t expecting it at all.”
The award for… Best Bromance… goes to:
John Dagleish and George Maguire, nominated for their performances in Sunny Afternoon
Dagleish: “I can’t take my eyes off George. He’s like this explosion of incredible infectious charming energy. It’s a joy to work with you every night.”
Maguire: “It’s a joy to support you. I think, just adding to that very accurate comment of John’s, I’d like to think that the judges saw that we just had a really good connection as performers and as characters and hopefully that’s something genuine to watch and something enjoyable for everyone. We still love doing it every day now. We hope that comes across.”
The award for Performer Most Willing To Risk Their Life In The Name Of Theatre goes to:
Phoebe Thomas, star of Best Entertainment And Family nominated show Hetty Feather
“I think it’s one of the things that keeps the show fresh, the fact that there is this risk every night that you could fall on to the stage from a great height. It keeps you on your toes and I think that’s one of the reasons you cannot get complacent in a show like this.”
The award for Nominee Most Likely To Be Pictured Hugging His Mum goes to:
Rolan Bell, nominated for his performance in Memphis The Musical
“My mum is over the moon. She doesn’t stop calling me and telling me how much she’s loving what’s going on right now.”
And [because we couldn’t just choose one]
Ian McIntosh for his performance in Beautiful – The Carole King Musical
“The night is going to be something special. I’m so happy, so pleased to be part of it. I’m bringing my mum. That’s an added bonus for all the support she’s given me in my life.”