By Edward Baran
LONDON (Reuters) – A revived version of “Sunset Boulevard,” the musical based on the 1950s film, and its leading actress Nicole Scherzinger were among the big winners at the Olivier Awards on Sunday, picking up seven prizes at Britain’s top theatre ceremony.
The show’s lead duo of U.S. singer Scherzinger, who rose to fame with pop band The Pussycat Dolls, and Britain’s Tom Francis were named best actress and actor in a musical, while Jamie Lloyd won the award for best director.
The Broadway-bound show, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, also clinched the musical revival category, along with the best lighting design, musical contribution and sound design awards at the ceremony at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
Scherzinger, who was born in Hawaii and raised in Kentucky, portrays Norma Desmond, a one-time film star who longs for a comeback, in the 1993 reinvention of the 1950 film, which featured Gloria Swanson.
Australia’s Sarah Snook followed up on her recent success starring in the television series “Succession” by winning the award for best actress for her role in “The Picture Of Dorian Gray,” which also claimed best costume design.
London’s National Theatre won three awards, including best new play for “Dear England,” a portrayal of the English national soccer team’s perennial heartbreak, and best actor for Mark Gatiss in “The Motive And The Cue,” as director John Gielgud in a difficult professional relationship with actor Richard Burton.
“Stranger Things, The First Shadow,” a stage adaptation of part of the hit Netflix series “Stranger Things,” won the best new entertainment or comedy play and set design categories.
The best new musical prize went to “Operation Mincemeat,” which tells the story of British military subterfuge during World War Two.
(Writing by William Schomberg; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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