# 2017 Laurence Olivier Awards

The 2017 Laurence Olivier Awards were held on 9 April 2017 at the Royal Albert Hall, London. The ceremony was hosted by comedian Jason Manford. A highlights show was shown on ITV shortly after the live event ended.

## Eligibility

Any new production that opened between 17 February 2016 and 21 February 2017 in a theatre represented in membership of the Society of London Theatre was eligible for consideration, provided it had performed at least 30 performances.

## Event calendar

* 2 March: Kenneth Branagh announced as the recipient of the Society Special Award
* 6 March: Nominations announced by Denise Gough and Matt Henry on Facebook Live
* 10 March: Nominations party held; Jason Manford announced as the host of the ceremony
* 9 April: Award ceremony held

## Winners and nominees

The nominations were announced on 6 March 2017 in 26 categories.
| Best New Play | Best New Musical |
| Harry Potter and the Cursed Child script and story by Jack Thorne, story by J. K. Rowling and John Tiffany – Palace Elegy by Nick Payne – Donmar Warehouse The Flick by Annie Baker – National Theatre Dorfman One Night in Miami by Kemp Powers – Donmar Warehouse | Groundhog Day – The Old Vic Dreamgirls – Savoy The Girls – Phoenix School of Rock – New London |
| Best Revival | Best Musical Revival |
| Yerma – Young Vic The Glass Menagerie – Duke of York's This House – Garrick Travesties – Apollo | Jesus Christ Superstar – Regent's Park Open Air Funny Girl – Savoy Show Boat – New London Sunset Boulevard – London Coliseum |
| Best New Comedy | Best Entertainment and Family |
| Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour by Lee Hall – National Theatre Dorfman The Comedy about a Bank Robbery by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields – Criterion Nice Fish adapted by Mark Rylance, based on text by Louis Jenkins – Harold Pinter The Truth by Florian Zeller, translated by Christopher Hampton – Wyndham's | The Red Shoes – Sadler's Wells Cinderella – London Palladium David Baddiel – My Family: Not the Sitcom – Vaudeville Peter Pan – National Theatre Olivier |
| Best Actor | Best Actress |
| Jamie Parker as Harry Potter in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – Palace Ed Harris as Dodge in Buried Child – Trafalgar Studios 1 Tom Hollander as Henry Carr in Travesties – Apollo Ian McKellen as Spooner in No Man's Land – Wyndham's | Billie Piper as Yerma in Yerma – Young Vic Glenda Jackson as Lear in King Lear – The Old Vic Cherry Jones as Amanda Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie – Duke of York's Ruth Wilson as Hedda Gabler Tesman in Hedda Gabler – National Theatre Lyttelton |
| Best Actor in a Musical | Best Actress in a Musical |
| Andy Karl as Phil Connors in Groundhog Day – The Old Vic David Fynn as Dewey Finn in School of Rock – New London Tyrone Huntley as Judas Iscariot in Jesus Christ Superstar – Regent's Park Open Air Charlie Stemp as Arthur Kipps in Half a Sixpence – Noël Coward | Amber Riley as Effie White in Dreamgirls – Savoy Glenn Close as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard – London Coliseum Debbie Chazen, Sophie-Louise Dann, Michele Dotrice, Claire Machin, Claire Moore and Joanna Riding as Ruth, Celia, Jessie, Cora, Chris and Annie in The Girls – Phoenix Sheridan Smith as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl – Savoy |
| Best Actor in a Supporting Role | Best Actress in a Supporting Role |
| Anthony Boyle as Scorpius Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – Palace Freddie Fox as Tristan Tzara in Travesties – Apollo Brian J Smith as Jim O'Connor in The Glass Menagerie – Duke of York's Rafe Spall as Judge Brack in Hedda Gabler – National Theatre Lyttelton | Noma Dumezweni as Hermione Granger in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – Palace Melissa Allan, Caroline Deyga, Kirsty Findlay, Karen Fishwick, Kirsty MacLaren, Frances Mayli McCann, Joanne McGuinness and Dawn Sievewright as Orla, Chell, Understudy Chell/Fionnula/Kay, Kay, Manda, Kylah, Understudy Kylah/Manda/Orla and Fionnula in Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour – National Theatre Dorfman Clare Foster as Cecily Carruthers in Travesties – Apollo Kate O'Flynn as Laura Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie – Duke of York's |
| Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical | Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical |
| Adam J. Bernard as James "Thunder" Early in Dreamgirls – Savoy Ian Bartholomew as Chitterlow in Half a Sixpence – Noël Coward Ben Hunter as Danny in The Girls – Phoenix Andrew Langtree as Ned Ryerson in Groundhog Day – The Old Vic | Rebecca Trehearn as Julie LaVerne in Show Boat – New London Haydn Gwynne as Celia Peachum in The Threepenny Opera – National Theatre Olivier Victoria Hamilton-Barritt as The Narrator in Murder Ballad – Arts Emma Williams as Helen Walsingham in Half a Sixpence – Noël Coward |
| Best Director | Best Theatre Choreographer |
| John Tiffany for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – Palace Simon Stone for Yerma – Young Vic John Tiffany for The Glass Menagerie – Duke of York's Matthew Warchus for Groundhog Day – The Old Vic | Matthew Bourne for The Red Shoes – Sadler's Wells Peter Darling and Ellen Kane for Groundhog Day – The Old Vic Steven Hoggett for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – Palace Drew McOnie for Jesus Christ Superstar – Regent's Park Open Air |
| Best Set Design | Best Costume Design |
| Christine Jones for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – Palace Bob Crowley for Aladdin – Prince Edward Bob Crowley for The Glass Menagerie – Duke of York's Rob Howell for Groundhog Day – The Old Vic | Katrina Lindsay for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – Palace Gregg Barnes for Dreamgirls – Savoy Hugh Durrant for Cinderella – London Palladium Rob Howell for Groundhog Day – The Old Vic |
| Best Lighting Design | Best Sound Design |
| Neil Austin for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – Palace Lee Curran for Jesus Christ Superstar – Regent's Park Open Air Natasha Katz for The Glass Menagerie – Duke of York's Hugh Vanstone for Groundhog Day – The Old Vic | Gareth Fry for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – Palace Paul Arditti for Amadeus – National Theatre Olivier Adam Cork for Travesties – Apollo Nick Lidster for Autograph for Jesus Christ Superstar – Regent's Park Open Air |
| Outstanding Achievement in Music ||
| The three children's bands for playing instruments live every night in School of Rock – New London Henry Krieger for composing Dreamgirls – Savoy Imogen Heap for composing and arranging Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – Palace The band and company for creating the gig-like rock vibe of the original concept album of Jesus Christ Superstar – Regent's Park Open Air ||
| Outstanding Achievement in Dance | Best New Dance Production |
| English National Ballet for expanding the variety of their repertoire with Akram Khan's Giselle and She Said – Sadler's Wells Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater for their Dance Consortium-presented London season – Sadler's Wells Luke Ahmet in The Creation by Rambert – Sadler's Wells | Betroffenheit by Crystal Pite and Jonathon Young – Sadler's Wells Blak Whyte Gray by Boy Blue Entertainment – Barbican Giselle by Akram Khan and the English National Ballet – Sadler's Wells My Mother, My Dog and CLOWNS! by Michael Clark – Barbican |
| Outstanding Achievement in Opera | Best New Opera Production |
| Mark Wigglesworth for conducting Don Giovanni and Lulu – London Coliseum Renée Fleming in Der Rosenkavalier – Royal Opera House Stuart Skelton in Tristan and Isolde – London Coliseum | Akhnaten – London Coliseum 4.48 Psychosis – Lyric Hammersmith Così fan tutte – Royal Opera House Lulu – London Coliseum |
| Outstanding Achievement in Affiliate Theatre ||
| Rotterdam – Trafalgar Studios 2 Cuttin' It, Young Vic / Royal Court – Young Vic, Maria The Government Inspector – Theatre Royal Stratford East The Invisible Hand – Tricycle It Is Easy to Be Dead – Trafalgar Studios 2 ||
| Society Special Award ||
| Kenneth Branagh ||

## Productions with multiple wins and nominations
### Multiple wins

The following productions received multiple awards:
* 9: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
* 2: Dreamgirls, Groundhog Day, The Red Shoes, Yerma
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child broke the record for winning the most awards by a single production, overtaking Matilda (2012) and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (2013) both winning seven.

### Multiple nominations

The following 18 productions, including one opera and two dances, received multiple nominations:
* 11: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
* 8: Groundhog Day
* 7: The Glass Menagerie
* 6: Jesus Christ Superstar
* 5: Dreamgirls, Travesties
* 3: The Girls, Half a Sixpence, School of Rock, Yerma
* 2: Cinderella, Funny Girl, Giselle, Hedda Gabler, Lulu, Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour, The Red Shoes, Show Boat, Sunset Boulevard
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child tied for most nominations by a single production with Hairspray at the 2008 ceremony.

## Guest performers

* Gary Barlow, Tim Firth and the cast of The Girls performing 'Yorkshire' (featuring an appearance from the original Calendar Girls)
* Amber Riley from Dreamgirls performing 'And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going'
* Tim Minchin and the cast of Groundhog Day performing 'Hope'
* Tyrone Huntley and the cast of Jesus Christ Superstar performing 'Heaven On Their Minds'
* David Fynn and the child cast of School of Rock performing 'Stick It To The Man'
* Sam Archer and Ashley Shaw performing a dance section from The Red Shoes
* Audra McDonald and choir of the Arts Education School performing 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow' during the In Memoriam section