14x09 The Olivier Nominations with Julian Bird

Due the recent government advice the Olivier Awards has sadly been cancelled, the Society of London Theatre are currently trying to find a way to properly honour and announce this year’s winners. We still wanted to honour the nominees so on this weeks episode of the Olivier Awards Podcast – the official podcast of The Olivier Awards with Mastercard, Alice Arnold is sitting down with Chief Executive of the Society of London Theatre and producer of The Olivier Awards Julian Bird to talk about the biggest news story of the awards in the Plays and Opera categories. They are chatting about the three top nominated plays Death of Salesman, Rosmersholm and Cyrano de Bergerac all which received 5 nominations plus many more brilliant productions.

As the Olivier Awards approach, Alice Arnold sits down with Chief Executive of the Society of London Theatre and Producer of the Olivier Awards Julian Bird to get an in depth look at this years musical and dance nominations. The pair talk about the biggest news story of the awards, 9 time nominated musical & Juliet, as well as taking a look at choreography from Evita and the wonderful orchestration of Amélie the Musical. They also hear from stars of the nominated productions, including Jason Donovan, Miriam Teak Lee and Sara Barellis, as we count down to the big night. Don't miss next week's episode where Alice and Julian will be taking a look at the plays and operas nominated in the 2020 Olivier Awards.

This week Alice was joined in the studio by Matthew Morrison, star of Glee, numerous Broadway productions and a judge on The Greatest Dancer. They chatted about his career from the stage to screen and his new album Disney Dreamin’.

In a special Musicals and Theatre podcast Alex Baker has taken over and is chatting to Peter Cattaneo, director of The Full Monty about his latest film Military Wives. Peter talks about making the film, working with Kirstin Scott-Thomas and Sharon Horgan and his other career highlights.

As the Olivier Awards nominations were announced yesterday Alice Arnold sat down with Julian Bird the Chief Executive of the Society of London Theatre and Producer of the Olivier awards to get an instant reaction to the nominations in this little bonus podcast. They chatted about the most nominated show, & Juliet, as well as other top-nominated musicals such as Dear Evan Hansen, Amélie, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and Evita. They also unpicked the play nominations, including Tom Stoppard’s Leopoldstadt, Death of a Salesman – which earned nominations for its two leads Wendell Pierce and Sharon D. Clarke – and Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s nomination for her one-woman show Fleabag. We will be chatting more about the awards as they get closer and chatting with some of the nominees as well!

This week Alice is immersed in the world of the new hit musical Be More Chill when she was joined in the studio by two of the lead members of the cast, Scott Follan who plays Jeremy and Miracle Chance who plays Christine. They chatted about this new musical phenomenon that sees a young boy implant a super computer in his head in an attempt to be cool! Be More Chill is currently on at The Other Palace

This week Alice was joined in the studio by actress Michelle Collins. They chatted about her career on screen including her time in EastEnders and Coronation Street and her time on the stage starring in musicals like Daddy Cool and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. They also talked about the tour of Pinters The Birthday Party which she is about to embark on.

This week on the Musicals and Theater Podcast Alice is joined in the studio by the legendary lyricist and composer Stephen Schwartz. They chat about his career inducing, his work on Pippin, Godspell, Rags, Wicked, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame as well as Prince of Egypt which is had just been turned into a musical and is currently on in London’s Westend.

This week on the Musicals and Theatre podcast Alice is onstage at the Adelphi Theatre where Waitress the Musical is currently on. What is she doing there? Well she went to interview two stars who have come from America to perform in the show a limited run. She chatted with Grammy Award winner Sara Bareilles who wrote the musical and is playing Jenna and Tony award winner Gavin Creel who is playing Dr Pomatter. They chatted about their careers, Waitress the musical and what it is like performing in London’s West End.

The Musicals and Theatre podcast is back for 2020 with a new season! This week Alice is joined in the studio by Matt Henry, they chatted about his reprisal of his Olivier Winning Role in Kinky Boots which was filmed for cinema release, how he is juggling his career with being a Dad and his plans for the future.