Two-times Olivier Award winner Philip Quast has done it again by picking up the Best Actor In A Musical award for South Pacific at today's Laurence Olivier Award ceremony, making this a hat-trick for the actor who won in 1998 for The Fix at the Donmar and in 1991 for Sunday In The Park With George at the National’s Lyttelton Theatre.
Quast’s triumph means that The National can also lay claim to a 2002 triple whammy with their production of My Fair Lady picking up Best Actress In A Musical thanks to Martine McCutcheon’s winning performance, and, only moments ago, the coveted Hilton Award for Outstanding Musical Production. My Fair Lady, which beat both Kiss Me, Kate and South Pacific to the prize, found its way to the West End after its sell-out run at the Lyttleton. Director, Trevor Nunn, who also found himself with an Outstanding Achievment Award this year, gave a special mention in his acceptance speech to the musical’s leading man:
“The leader in many ways of this production was the wonderful Jonathan Pryce whose skill, determination and patience, and his genius in that part have been fundamental to the show’s success.”
Lerner and Loewe's musical adaptation of Bernard Shaw's 'Pygmalion', which follows Professor Henry Higgins as he sets out to prove that he could turn anyone into a lady (even cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle) is still running at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
