The 2011 Laurence Olivier Awards, the premiere accolades in British theatre, are to receive extensive coverage by the BBC via television, radio and online when they return to the Theatre Royal Drury Lane next year.
The awards, which will be staged at London’s largest and oldest playhouse on 13 March 2011, will celebrate a fabulous year in London theatre, sharing the festivities, which will be attended by international stars of stage and screen, with theatre fans across the UK and the world through the BBC.
The 2011 ceremony will also include unique theatrical entertainment created specifically for the event and music from the BBC Concert Orchestra, which will perform live on stage.
Following the success of 2010’s Audience Award, in which 55,000 theatregoers voted via Official London Theatre to crown Wicked the Most Popular Show, the award will return in 2011, when it will again be supported by BBC Radio 2.
The Audience Award for Most Popular Show is the only Laurence Olivier Award decided entirely by the voting of members of the public. The awards’ other shortlists and winners are selected by a panel comprising theatre professionals and theatregoers who spend their year attending every show eligible for an award to ensure the cream of London theatre gets recognised.
Speaking about the 2011 event, Nica Burns, the President of the Society of London Theatre (SOLT), which runs the Laurence Olivier Awards, said: “We are thrilled that the Oliviers are back in such a beautiful and historic theatre, which is symbolic of the central part that theatre has played in the life of the capital since Shakespeare’s day. When all seems doom and gloom, London’s theatre goes from strength to strength. I am delighted that the BBC is giving the Awards the major coverage they truly deserve. British theatre is the envy of the world and we expect the 2011 Awards to be a triumph!”
The build up to the highlight of the theatrical year will begin in the new year, when voting opens for the Audience Award. Full nominations for the Laurence Olivier Awards will be announced in early February, followed by a nominees’ lunch at the Haymarket Hotel on 22 February when all those in the running for one of the coveted statuettes can get together without the nerves and pressure of the award-giving ceremony.
Official London Theatre will be on hand during the run up to the Laurence Olivier Awards and at all the awards events to bring you the very best news and coverage.
MA
