NEW WEST END DARLING MATILDA GETS TEN OLIVIER AWARD NOMINATIONS
Posted on 16 March 2012
The phenomenal success of new musical Matilda based on the classic Roald Dahl book continues as it swept the board when the Olivier Awards nominations were announced earlier this week. It leads the pack with ten nominations - the maximum possible for a musical this year. This year's awards will be presented at the Royal Opera House on Sunday 11th April and will be hosted by Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton, the leads in new Adelphi show Sweeney Todd.
The Matilda nominations include a best actress nod for all four of the young girls who play the lead role. If they win it will be only the second time that an acting award has been split since the three boys who played the title role in Billy Elliot won in 2006. Julian Bird, the chief executive of SOLT (The Society Of London Theatre) said that "this year's nominations show the strength and depth of what's playing in London at the moment." He continued that both Matilda and the five-times nominated One Man, Two Guvnors were examples of the commercial sector and the subsidised sector "working well together." Matilda began life at the subsidised RSC at Stratford-upon-Avon and has since transferred to the Cambridge theatre in the West End.
RADA graduate Bertie Carvel has also been nominated as best actor for his stunning turn as ogrous headmistress Miss Trunchbull. TV funnyman Paul Kaye is nominated as best performance in a supporting role in a musical as Matilda's repellent father Mr Wormwood. The show's executive producer Andre Ptaszynsky said "We in commercial theatre do great shows often, but subsidised theatre is the developing process for great, deep theatre talent - it is one of this country's greatest assets." Matilda has already won best musical awards from the Critics' Circle, Theatre Awards UK, Evening Standard Theatre Awards and WhatsOnStage.com. The show is scheduled to transfer to Broadway in 2013.
Book Matilda The Musical tickets online now.
[posted by James, 16/03/2012]
