Broadway-bound 'Sunset Boulevard' and star Nicole Scherzinger win big at London's Olivier awards

LONDON (AP) — A radical restaging of Hollywood film noir musical “Sunset Boulevard” was the big winner on Sunday at the London stage Olivier Awards, taking seven trophies including best musical revival and best actress for American star Nicole Scherzinger.

Soccer-themed state-of-the-nation drama “Dear England” was named best new play, while Sarah Snook and Mark Gatiss were among the acting winners.

Scherzinger was rewarded for her performance as fading silver screen star Norma Desmond in a flashy revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Sunset Boulevard,” three decades after the musical’s 1990s debut. Her co-star Tom Francis won the corresponding best actor prize as a struggling screenwriter fatefully drawn into Desmond’s orbit.

Jamie Lloyd took the directing trophy for the technically innovative production, which melds live video with the onstage action and also won Oliviers for sound and lighting design. It’s due to open in New York later this year, and Lloyd predicted it would “take Broadway by storm.”

Scherzinger said that when she was growing up in Kentucky, “I always wanted to be a singer and do musicals.”

“I dreamed of so many roles I wanted to do — and honestly this role, Norma Desmond, was not one of those roles,” she said. “But God works in mysterious ways.”

The prize for best new musical went to “Operation Mincemeat,” a word-of-mouth hit based on an audacious real-life espionage operation that deceived the Nazis during World War II. The show began life in a tiny theater in 2019 and has moved to progressively larger venues, gathering accolades along the way.

“Stranger Things: The First Shadow,” a dazzlingly staged prequel to the Netflix supernatural series, was named best new entertainment or comedy.

The Oliviers — the U.K. equivalent of Broadway’s Tony Awards — are celebrating a bumper year for new shows in the West End, finally bouncing back from the COVID-19 pandemic. Several winners lamented the soaring cost of theater tickets, and cuts to arts education that are squeezing working-class talent out of theatrical careers and theater audiences.

“If you don’t tell a kid to go and see a show … they’re not going to develop that habit, they’re not going to get that experience,” said “Dear England” playwright James Graham, who grew up in a small mining town. “So I am really worried.”

But the mood was largely celebratory as “Ted Lasso” star Hannah Waddingham presided over an exuberant ceremony at London’s Royal Albert Hall, opening the show by belting out “Anything Goes” alongside the London Community Gospel Choir. The show was peppered with performances from several of the nominated musicals, including “Guys and Dolls,” “Hadestown” and homegrown hit “The Little Big Things.”

The prizes, which recognize achievements in theater, opera and dance, were founded in 1976 and named for the late actor-director Laurence Olivier. Winners are chosen by voting groups of stage professionals and theatergoers.

Snook – the scheming Shiv Roy in “Succession” – beat a talented field including Sarah Jessica Parker and Sophie Okonedo to be named best actress in a play for “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” an adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s cautionary fable in which Snook plays more than two dozen characters.

Backstage, the Emmy Award-winning Australian performer said the solo stage show was “so much harder” than doing TV.

“I’ve never done anything harder than this,” said Snook, who said she’d asked herself “why am I doing a 60,000-word monologue with an 8-month-old baby?” She revealed she’d learned her lines for the play during filming of the final series of “Succession,” at night while breastfeeding her daughter.

Gatiss — co-creator of the BBC TV series “Sherlock” — won the best actor trophy for playing theater great John Gielgud in “The Motive and the Cue,” Jack Thorne’s play about the struggle to mount a 1964 production of “Hamlet” with Richard Burton.

Gatiss recalled that Gielgud had considered awards ceremonies “vulgar.”

“I’m very, very thrilled to be in such wonderfully vulgar company,” he said.

Gatiss beat “Dear England” star Joseph Fiennes and Andrew Scott, who had been the favorite to win for the solo show “Vanya.” The Anton Chekhov adaptation by Simon Stephens took the prize for best revival.

Will Close was named best supporting actor in a play for his performance as footballer Harry Kane in “Dear England.”

Haydn Gwynne, who died in October, was posthumously awarded the best supporting actress prize for her final stage role in “When Winston Went to War with the Wireless," about the early days of radio in Britain.

Awards for supporting performances in musicals were Amy Trigg for “The Little Big Things” and Jak Malone for “Operation Mincemeat.”

The show ended with a tribute to the National Theatre, which turned 60 in 2023 — culminating in a star-studded cast singing the anthem “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”

Nicole Scherzinger, winner of the best actress in a musical award for "Sunset Boulevard", poses for photographers in the winner's room during the Olivier Awards on Sunday, April 14, 2024, in London. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Nicole Scherzinger, winner of the best actress in a musical award for "Sunset Boulevard", poses for photographers in the winner's room during the Olivier Awards on Sunday, April 14, 2024, in London. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Daniel Mays poses for photographers upon arrival at the Olivier Awards on Sunday, April 14, 2024, in London. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Andy Serkis, left, and Lorraine Ashbourne pose for photographers upon arrival at the Olivier Awards on Sunday, April 14, 2024, in London. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Billy Crudup, left, poses for a selfie upon arrival at the Olivier Awards on Sunday, April 14, 2024, in London. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Laura Donnelly poses for photographers upon arrival at the Olivier Awards on Sunday, April 14, 2024, in London. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Freddie Fox poses for photographers upon arrival at the Olivier Awards on Sunday, April 14, 2024, in London. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Patricia Clarkson poses for photographers upon arrival at the Olivier Awards on Sunday, April 14, 2024, in London. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Don Black, left, and Christopher Hampton pose for photographers upon arrival at the Olivier Awards on Sunday, April 14, 2024, in London. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

David Tennant, left, and Georgia Tennant pose for photographers upon arrival at the Olivier Awards on Sunday, April 14, 2024, in London. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Janie Dee, from left, Joanna Riding and Bonnie Langford pose for photographers upon arrival at the Olivier Awards on Sunday, April 14, 2024, in London. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Andrew Scott poses for photographers upon arrival at the Olivier Awards on Sunday, April 14, 2024, in London. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Tanya Reynolds poses for photographers upon arrival at the Olivier Awards on Sunday, April 14, 2024, in London. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Meera Syal poses for photographers upon arrival at the Olivier Awards on Sunday, April 14, 2024, in London. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Joseph Fiennes poses for photographers upon arrival at the Olivier Awards on Sunday, April 14, 2024, in London. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Sophie Okonedo poses for photographers upon arrival at the Olivier Awards on Sunday, April 14, 2024, in London. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Hannah Waddingham poses for photographers upon arrival at the Olivier Awards on Sunday, April 14, 2024, in London. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Andrew Scott poses for photographers upon arrival at the Olivier Awards on Sunday, April 14, 2024, in London. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Mark Gatiss, winner of the best actor award for "The Motive and The Cue", poses for photographers in the winner's room during the Olivier Awards on Sunday, April 14, 2024, in London. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Sarah Snook, winner of the best actress award for "The Picture Of Dorian Gray", poses for photographers in the winner's room during the Olivier Awards on Sunday, April 14, 2024, in London. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Nicole Scherzinger poses for photographers upon arrival at the Olivier Awards on Sunday, April 14, 2024, in London. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Actor Andrew Scott is at the National Board of Review awards gala at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York on Thursday, January 11, 2024. Andrew Scott, Sarah Jessica Parker and Sarah Snook are among the stars batting for accolades at the Olivier Awards. The Oliviers are Britain’s equivalent of Broadway’s Tony Awards and celebrate work on the London stage. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

FILE - Sarah Snook, winner of the award for outstanding lead actress in a drama series for "Succession," poses in the press room during the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards on Monday, Jan. 15, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. Sarah Snook, Sarah Jessica Parker and Andrew Scott are among the stars batting for accolades at the Olivier Awards. The Oliviers are Britain’s equivalent of Broadway’s Tony Awards and celebrate work on the London stage. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, File)

Six people have been arrested and suspensions have been issued to seven students who participated in demonstrations at Tulane University, the school in New Orleans said in a message to the university community early Wednesday. One more suspension was pending, officials said.

The university was also looking into reports of university employees participating in the demonstration.

“We value free speech and have supported numerous lawful demonstrations throughout this year,” the university said in the statement. “But we remain opposed to trespassing, hate speech, antisemitism and bias against religious or ethnic groups.”

Four buildings on campus would remain closed Wednesday as the demonstration continued, with classes scheduled in those buildings going remote, officials said.

When several dozen protesters camped in about a dozen small tents on a grassy area near an administration building Monday, police “moved in immediately to attempt to stop the encampment,” the administration said Tuesday. There were arrests and students were suspended after a confrontation with police Monday and the Students for a Democratic Society organization also was suspended, the university said.

Currently:

— Police clear pro-Palestinian protesters from Columbia University while clashes break out at UCLA

— Student protesters reach a deal with Northwestern University that sparks criticism from all sides

— Trump’s comparison of student protests to Jan. 6 is part of effort to downplay Capitol attack

Here's the latest:

Dueling groups of protesters clashed Wednesday at the University of California, Los Angeles, grappling in fistfights and shoving, kicking and using sticks to beat one another.

Hours earlier, police carrying riot shields burst into a building at Columbia University that pro-Palestinian protesters took over and broke up a demonstration that had paralyzed the school while inspiring others.

After a couple of hours of scuffles between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli demonstrators at UCLA, police wearing helmets and face shields formed lines and slowly separated the groups. That appeared to quell the violence.

Police have swept through campuses across the U.S. over the last two weeks in response to protests calling on universities to stop doing business with Israel or companies that support the war in Gaza. There have been confrontations and more than 1,000 arrests. In rarer instances, university officials and protest leaders struck agreements to restrict the disruption to campus life and upcoming commencement ceremonies.

Officers with the New York Police Department arrest pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. The protesters had seized the administration building, known as Hamilton Hall, more than 20 hours earlier in a major escalation as demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war spread on college campuses nationwide. (Marco Postigo Storel via AP)

Officers with the New York Police Department arrest Pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. The protesters had seized the administration building, known as Hamilton Hall, more than 20 hours earlier in a major escalation as demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war spread on college campuses nationwide. (Marco Postigo Storel via AP)

Officers with the New York Police Department raid the encampment by pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. The protesters had seized the administration building, known as Hamilton Hall, more than 20 hours earlier in a major escalation as demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war spread on college campuses nationwide. (Marco Postigo Storel via AP)

Officers with the New York Police Department raid the encampment by pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. The protesters had seized the administration building, known as Hamilton Hall, more than 20 hours earlier in a major escalation as demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war spread on college campuses nationwide. (Marco Postigo Storel via AP)

Pro-Palestianian protesters gather near a main gate at Columbia University in New York, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, just before New York City police officers cleared the area after a building was taken over by protesters earlier in the day. The building and a tent encampment were cleared during the operation. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)