Since its inception in 1978, The Olivier Awards have recognized distinguished artistic achievement in London theatre. Spiegel said: "This year's event was a resounding success and the live music and sound was particularly enjoyed by all those attending. We were very grateful to the Orbital team for doing such an excellent job."
For the first time, a new awards category for Best Sound Design was introduced and awarded to Mike Walker for his work on Jerry Springer - The Opera - finally recognizing sound design as an artistic discipline in its own right, alongside others such as lighting design and set design.
Orbital's Chris Headlam commented: "We put our reputation on the line knowing that seated in the 900 strong audience was a considerable proportion of our client base! Awards ceremonies are traditionally very challenging for sound, but as it transpired our team headed by Sebastian Frost, Giles Rowland and freelancer Keith Barnes," - mixing the awards and the Rat Pack band on a Midas Heritage 3000, through a d&b Q7 loudspeaker system - "excelled themselves." He added: "Mike is a great talent and we've had a fantastic time working with him on the current UK tour of The Full Monty - he richly deserves the Best Sound Designer award."
(Lee Baldock)
