In 2012 the prestigious 36^th annual Lawrence Olivier Awards ceremony, complete with red carpet, pomp and pageantry, stars and press frenzy will be held at the Royal Opera House. Its date has also been moved later in the year to 15^th April, with the announcement of nominations being move to the 15^th March too.

The awards (originally known as the Society of West End Theatre Awards) have for many years been the highest accolade available in professional theatre. Internationally it is regarded as the highest award for British Theatre and is essentially, the equivalent of the Oscars for theatre.

Why the Move?

The move has come on the back of a re-launch of the Olivier Awards which took place in 2011 after MasterCard came on board as a major sponsor. The very successful event at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane was also supported by BBC Radio 2 and was shown on the BBC via the red button.

“Following the huge success of last year’s event under the inspired direction of our Chief Executive Julian Bird, we are delighted to be hosting the 36th Olivier Awards with MasterCard at the beautiful Royal Opera House. We look forward to welcoming the finest theatrical talent to the industry’s premier awards.” – Mark Rubenstein, President of the Society of London Theatre

The Olivier Awards have been held in many locations over the years, including most notably the Grosvenor House Hotel which has hosted the event on 4 occasions and the after-show reception 9 times. It has also been held at Victoria Palace, Shaftesbury, London Palladium, Café Royal, The Park Lane Hilton and Piccadilly. The Royal Opera House is currently the home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet and is arguably the most elegant of all London venues, holding the fabulous Grade 1 listed main auditorium.

Who Won Last Year?

As mentioned last year’s event was a massive success. The biggest winner was possibly the winner of the much coveted BBC Radio 2 Audience Award, ‘We Will Rock You’.  The smash hit created by Ben Elton and Queen has been wowing audiences every night, had people snapping up theatre tickets in London and thoroughly deserved the honour. In other categories, Roger Allam won Best Actor for his role in ‘Henry IV’ parts 1 and 2, ‘Legally Blonde’ won Best New Musical and Best Director went to Howard Davies for ‘The White Guard’.

Who’s Going to Win in 2012?

This is the million dollar question, but in my opinion, keeping an eye on Kevin Spacey for his role in Richard III would certainly not be time wasted. If this has put you in the theatre mood, why not check out the range of discount theatre tickets available from Seatchoice now!