BBC Radio 2 Olivier Audience Award Announces Shortlist; Vote Now!

The Society of London Theatre has today announced the shortlist for the BBC Radio 2 Olivier Audience Award. The public will vote for the overall winner.

The shortlisted shows are BILLY ELLIOT, JERSEY BOYS, LES MISÉRABLES and WICKED.

Based on the Oscar nominated film, BILLY ELLIOT THE MUSICAL is an inspirational story of one boy's dream to realise his ambitions against the odds. Set in the North East of England against the background of the historic 1984/85 miners' strike, Billy pursues his passion for dance in secret to avoid disapproval of his struggling family. 

Billy Elliot the Musical features music by Elton John, book and lyrics by Lee Hall, is directed by Stephen Daldry with choreography by Peter Darling. The production features scenic design by Ian MacNeil, the associate director is Julian Webber, costume design is by Nicky Gillibrand, lighting design by Rick Fisher and sound design by Paul Arditti. Musical supervision and orchestrations are by Martin Koch.

JERSEY BOYS is the remarkable true story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and their rise to stardom from the wrong side of the tracks. These four boys from New Jersey became one of the most successful bands in pop history, were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and sold 100 million records worldwide, all before they turned 30.

JERSEY BOYS is written by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, with music by Bob Gaudio and lyrics by Bob Crewe. The London production is staged by the entire original Broadway creative team, led by director Des McAnuff and choreographer Sergio Trujillo. JERSEY BOYS has scenic design by Klara Zieglerova, costume design by Jess Goldstein, lighting by Howell Binkley, sound by Steve Canyon Kennedy and projections design by Michael Clark. The orchestrations are by Steve Orich and the music supervision and vocal arrangements by Ron Melrose.

LES MISÉRABLES originally opened in London at the Barbican Theatre on 8 October 1985, transferred to the Palace Theatre on 4 December 1985 and moved to its current home at the Queen’s Theatre on 3 April 2004. When LES MISÉRABLES celebrated its 21st London birthday on 8 October 2006, it became the World’s Longest Running Musical, surpassing the record previously held by CATS in London’s West End. In January 2010, the West End production broke another record by celebrating its historic 10,000th performance.

Seen by nearly 60 million people worldwide in 42 countries and in 21 languages, LES MISÉRABLES is undisputedly one of the world’s most popular musicals ever written, with new productions continually opening around the globe, with seven more currently scheduled. There have been 36 cast recordings of LES MISÉRABLES, including the multi-platinum London cast recording, the Grammy Award-winning Broadway cast and complete symphonic albums and the recently released live recording of the New 25th Anniversary Production. 

Shooting for the film of “LES MISÉRABLES” starts in March and stars Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Eddie Redmayne, Amanda Seyfried, Aaron Tveit and Samantha Barks. It is produced by Cameron Mackintosh with Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan of Working Title and Universal Studios and is directed by Tom Hooper.

Winner of the 2010 Laurence Olivier Award for ‘Most Popular Show', the Whatsonstage.com Award for 'Best West End Show' and the BroadwayWorld.com UK Award for ‘Best Long-Running West End Show', WICKED currently stars Rachel Tucker (Elphaba), Gina Beck (Glinda), Matt Willis (Fiyero), Desmond Barrit (The Wizard), Julie Legrand (Madame Morrible), Lillie Flynn (Nessarose), Christopher Howell (Doctor Dillamond), Adam Pettigrew (Boq), Nikki Davis-Jones (Standby Elphaba) and Chloe Taylor (Standby Glinda).

Based on the acclaimed novel by Gregory Maguire that re-imagined the stories and characters created by L. Frank Baum in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Wicked tells the incredible untold story of an unlikely but profound friendship between two girls who first meet as sorcery students. Their extraordinary adventures in Oz will ultimately see them fulfil their destinies as Glinda The Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.

The Olivier Awards with MasterCard will take place at the Royal Opera House on Sunday 15 April 2012.

The prestigious awards began in 1976 as The Society of West End Theatre Awards, becoming the Laurence Olivier Awards in 1984. Run by the Society of London Theatre (SOLT,) the Olivier Awards with MasterCard 2011 re-established the ceremony as a key theatre event in the UK’s cultural calendar.

You can vote for your favourite here: http://www.olivierawards.com/vote/