From green-skinned witches to ballet dancing boys, representatives from the shows nominated for the BBC Radio 2 Audience Award put away their witch’s hats and tutus to join in the nominees’ celebration at the Haymarket Hotel, where they told us how it felt to be nominated for the only Olivier Award voted for by the theatregoing public.
Wicked star Louise Dearman, who attended the event with co-star Gina Beck, said that the BBC Radio 2 Audience Award made the musical’s nomination even more special. “It’s the people who watch and support the show who are voting, it’s not just a panel of people deciding what their opinion is of the show and who they want to win.”
Dearman, who last year became the first actress to star as both pink-loving Glinda and green-tinged Elphaba in the production, expressed her pride at being associated with the Oz-based musical. “We’re aware of how popular Wicked is with the fans, but things like this – being nominated for an Olivier Award – are hugely important and it makes us all really proud to be part of the show.”
The Phantom Of The Opera’s Marcus Lovett expressed similar sentiments at performing in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s popular production. “It’s a real honour to get to play this show for 1160 people eight times a week, and that they like us enough to make us one of the top four audience favourites is very flattering.”
While stars of Billy Elliot The Musical were equally “thrilled” about their nomination, their minds had been on an altogether different vote the previous night, following the news of Margaret Thatcher’s death. Audience members watching the hit show on 8 April were asked to decide whether the song Merry Christmas, Maggie Thatcher, which features the line “We all celebrate today ’cause it’s one day closer to your death” should be included in the show. Talking about the historic moment, Deka Walmsley, who plays Billy’s dad in the 1980s-set musical, agreed that “in the tradition of the show, it was a really good idea to ask the audience to vote and they voted overwhelmingly to do the song so we did. We were just very honest with them and it was a pretty emotional night. I think people were very professional and did the show as it should be done.”
