Darren Clark, a University of Otago graduate from Wellington, has been personally nominated for two Olivier Awards — best new musical and outstanding musical contribution — for his work on the musical The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
The musical is also in the running for best actor and best actress.
The 2025 awards, named after actor Sir Laurence Olivier, will be presented by the Society of London Theatre at the Royal Albert Hall tomorrow.
They are widely considered the highest honour in British theatre.
Mr Clark said he once worked opposite the Royal Albert Hall as an administrator at the Royal College of Music, booking practice rooms for the students studying at the college.
"I could see the Albert Hall from my window. So close and yet a million miles away.
"To know that on Sunday my music will be played there in front of a TV audience of a million people with a full orchestra is just completely insane."
Growing up in New Zealand, Mr Clark said he "wasn’t even aware that it was possible to write a musical".
"I think I thought they just magically existed."
He became heavily involved in the musical theatre scene when he came to Dunedin in the early 2000s to study classics at the University of Otago, performing in more than 15 musicals while studying, and his time in the city was "utterly crucial" in developing his confidence both as a performer and as a person.
Dunedin was "where I really discovered who I was and what I loved," he said.
"It’s a real coming-of-age town.
"The people I met there, the opportunities to try things out were second to none."
He would later decide to quit his day job to pursue music fulltime and secured a year’s mentorship in central London.
Now, not only having written more than 40 shows over the past 17 years, but to have one running on the West End of London and nominated for several awards seemed "utterly ridiculous", he said.
The nominations were validating for all the time he had spent slogging away in a challenging industry, and it felt like a "pinch me" moment.
He had never specifically trained in orchestration, arrangement or songwriting — learning it through years of practical work — and it was important to recognise there were paths to high levels of achievement other than more traditional training.
"I am very humbled and honoured at the nominations.
"I’m even more humbled that I get to do something I love for a living and that people are enjoying the things that I’ve had a hand in creating.
"I don’t do it for the awards, I do it for the stories."
