Do Olivier Awards Have Any Impact On Broadway

[BETTY22]

Posted: 4/3/23 at 6:22pm

I noticed the press office for Prima Facie sent out a release this morning highlighting the wins.

On the other hands I wonder if TONY's mean much in the UK. 

[JoeW4]

Posted: 4/3/23 at 6:32pm

I'd say the Oliviers, like many other factors, can be an important piece of the puzzle to help build up buzz. Plus I guess it can encourage potential producers/investors that a show could be an awards contender across the pond. But is a tourist going to see a Broadway show JUST because it won some Oliviers? Usually not. Hell, they hardly do that with the Tonys anymore.

Can't really speak to the impact of the Tonys in the UK, except a very small piece of anecdotal evidence from my recent London trip, where I noticed on the Oklahoma marquis that the mention of their Tony win was in surprisingly small font.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 4/3/23 at 6:53pm

They have an impact in that they can raise the profile of a show for U.S. producers, theatre owners, and media, and it's a thing that can be advertised. Maybe the top .1% of ticketbuyers care if something won a bunch of Oliviers. But for the most part, no, they do not matter one bit. They certainly don't predict the Tonys (hello, Groundhog Day) or have an impact on the length of a show's run.

But the Oliviers practically beg industry people not to take them seriously, with their strange category names and large swaths of eligible productions.

[Wick3]

Posted: 4/4/23 at 9:42am

Not really. I don't think I've ever seen any banners with OLIVIER AWARD WINNER outside any Broadway theater.

This season it will be interesting to see which show will win the Tony Award for Best Play. Both LEOPOLDSTADT and PRIMA FACIE won the Olivier for best new play. 

[Dylan Smith4]

Posted: 4/4/23 at 9:55am

Don't forget Life of Pi as well. The top 3 contenders this season are London imports which is crazy! Has there ever been a Broadway season with this many critically acclaimed London productions in the same season?

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 4/4/23 at 10:12am

As for the Tony's meaning anything to the Olivier's, I'd say no. Just look at some of the Best Musical winners/nominees

[DCS]

Posted: 4/4/23 at 10:14am

Besides the 3 most recent Olivier Award winning plays you mentioned, this season also has 2 Pulitzer winners...Fat Ham and Between Riverside and Crazy...as possible Best Play nominees.  This looks to be a very competitive season for plays at the Tony Awards!

[Dylan Smith4]

Posted: 4/4/23 at 10:22am

I am so excited to see Prima Facie later this month! The hype for this show is real! Especially after two big wins at the Oliviers! That being said, Best Actress in a Play is gonna be EXTREMELY competitive between Jodie Comer & Jessica Chastain. I'm still rooting for Jodie all the way!

[DaveyG]

Posted: 4/4/23 at 10:27am

The show that baffles me is Hadestown.

Zero Oliver nominations in 2019.

14 Tony nominations in 2019.

[Kad]

Posted: 4/4/23 at 10:51am

Oliviers make productions look more attractive to investors for transfers, particularly plays. But American audiences by and large don’t know or care about them. 

[Broadway61004]

Posted: 4/4/23 at 11:26am

DaveyG said: "The show that baffles me is Hadestown.

Zero Oliver nominations in 2019.

14 Tony nominations in 2019."

Look at the competition at the Oliviers that year, though. I think if Hadestown had opened on Broadway the same season as Come From Away, Fun Home, Six and the revivals of Company, King and I and Caroline or Change, there's a good chance it would not have gotten many nominations here either (likely at least a couple, but certainly nowhere near 14).

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 4/4/23 at 11:36am

Sometimes London embraces a show that Broadway doesn't care for. LEGALLY BLONDE, SISTER ACT, GROUNDHOG DAY, BACK TO THE FUTURE, etc. Or vice versa.

[JSquared2]

Posted: 4/4/23 at 11:43am

DCS said: "Besides the 3 most recent Olivier Award winning plays you mentioned, this season also has 2 Pulitzer winners...Fat Ham and Between Riverside and Crazy...as possible Best Play nominees. This looks to be a very competitive season for plays at the Tony Awards!"

Cost of Living also won the Pulitzer -- so 3 Pulitzer winners this season.

 

[Dylan Smith4]

Posted: 4/4/23 at 12:06pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Sometimes London embraces a show that Broadway doesn't care for. LEGALLY BLONDE, SISTER ACT, GROUNDHOG DAY, BACK TO THE FUTURE, etc. Or vice versa."

I’m sure Back To the Future will do pretty well on Broadway. The film is an American classic. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 4/4/23 at 12:13pm

Dylan Smith4 said: "I’m sure Back To the Future will do pretty well on Broadway. The film is an American classic."

ROCKY, GROUNDHOG DAY, TOOTSIE, AMERICAN PSYCHO, SHREK, LITTLE MERMAID, CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, KING KONG, MRS. DOUBTFIRE, and FROZEN are also American classic films. I'm not ruling it out at this early stage, but let's see what happens. Big film title does not a hit show make. This is a huge-scale musical, and the title doesn't scream "adapt it into a musical."

Updated On: 4/4/23 at 12:13 PM

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 4/4/23 at 12:17pm

If this counts for anything, the last 9 Olivier-winning Best New Plays have eventually come to Broadway. 

[sinister teashop]

Posted: 4/4/23 at 12:19pm

Sonia Friedman would probably say they do. It's just another element attached to a property that producers and investors might consider attractive. Certain types of money might need to invest just to be able to acknowledge itself as associated with an "Olivier Award Winner" or "Tony Award Winner". 

[PianoMann]

Posted: 4/4/23 at 12:49pm

JSquared2 said: "DCS said: "Besides the 3 most recent Olivier Award winning plays you mentioned, this season also has 2 Pulitzer winners...Fat Ham and Between Riverside and Crazy...as possible Best Play nominees. This looks to be a very competitive season for plays at the Tony Awards!"

Cost of Living also won the Pulitzer -- so 3 Pulitzer winners this season.

"

If all three get in, it will be the first time in Tony history that three Pulitzer winners are nominated for Best Play in the same year. They've only nominated two together in the past, and even that has only ever happened twice.