No need to stare too hard as Paddington: The Musical wins at the Olivier Awards | Olivier Awards

It was a night of sweet victory for Michael Bond’s jam-loving bear, as Paddington: The Musical dominated the Olivier Awards on Sunday. Amid the tuxedos and gowns of a glittering ceremony at London’s Royal Albert Hall, the raincoat-wearing bear on his sticky paws took home seven awards including Best New Musical.

The award for Best Actor in a Musical went to the duo who play Paddington: James Hamid provides the voice of the beloved hero and is a remote puppeteer, while Aarti Shah performs his furry costume. The show’s villains, Tom Eden (as Mr. Curry) and Victoria Hamilton-Barrett (as Millicent Clyde, who wants Paddington to become a literal stuffed animal), won Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress in a Musical respectively. Luke Sheppard won Best Director for this production, which also received awards for costume design (Gabriella Slade and Tahira Zafar) and set design (Tom Pye and Ash J. Woodward).

Paddington: The Musical, which has music and lyrics by McFly’s Tom Fletcher and a book by Jessica Sowell, shared the most nominations (11) with Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s In the Woods. This show, at the Bridge Theatre, took home two awards: Best Musical Revival and Best Lighting Design (Aiden Malone and Roland Horvath).

The party was hosted by actor, comedian and Celebrity Traitors finalist Nick Muhammad, who joked that he was repeatedly asked by people (including his own agent) how he got such a gig. He even brought in candidate Tom Hiddleston to raise his tickets.

There were performances on stage from stars including Rachel Ziegler who won Best Actress in a Musical for Evita, one of the most talked about performances of last year as it included a scene in which Ziegler sang from the balcony of the London Palladium to huge crowds in the street below. Ziegler praised director Jamie Lloyd for creating such an “accessible theatrical moment” for passers-by and thanked Londoners for “making me feel welcome here.”

Fabien Alloise won the award for best stage choreographer for Evita, while Elaine Page, who played Eva Peron in the first production of the musical in 1978, won the special award for her stage career, presented to her by Evita composer Andrew Lloyd Webber. Paige said it was a “tough time” and praised her father for encouraging a spirit of perseverance that helped her through her “wonderful adventure” in the industry.

Dramas dealing with the theme of justice have won many awards. Rosamund Pike beat nominees including Cate Blanchett and Marianne Jean-Baptiste for Best Actress for her performance in Inter Alia as a karaoke-loving crown court judge whose personal and professional life is rocked by a shocking discovery. Pike, whose performance also won Best Actress at the Critics’ Circle Theater Awards last month, originally performed the role at the National Theatre, reprized it in a West End run and will take the play to Broadway in November. The play is written by Susie Miller, who earned Jodie Comer her Olivier Best Actress award in 2023. Pike said it had been 14 years since her last appearance on stage, and she felt it was too much of a risk to return to the stage. Praising her fellow nominees in this category, she said that they moved her to tears.

Inter Alia lost to James Graham’s Punch in the Best New Play category. Graham’s play is based on the true story of death by one punch. Julie Hesmondhalgh won Best Supporting Actress for her role as Joan Scurfield, who seeks restorative justice after her son James Hodgkinson died when he was beaten by Jacob Dunne. He joined Graham Dunne and Scurfield on stage and the playwright described their “extraordinary journey” towards healing. Hesmondhalgh said the play carries a message of hope, mercy, tolerance and love in a world of division, violence and conflict.

Ivo van Hove’s production of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons won the Best Revival award, presented by Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen, who joked that he would have to improvise a Shakespearean speech during the overture because he couldn’t read Autocue. All My Sons also won Best Supporting Actor for Baba Essiedu who spoke about the importance of youth theaters and called for funding access programs to ensure access for the next generation of actors and audiences.

In one of the biggest upsets of the night, Breaking Bad’s All My Sons star Bryan Cranston lost out on Best Actor to Jack Holden for Kenrex. Holden played all the roles in the drama, which he also co-wrote, about the citizens of a small American town who take the law into their own hands. He praised his “respectable” fellow nominees, joked that most people don’t know who he is, and encouraged audiences to take a chance on new talent when choosing what they want to see in the theater. Kenrex also won second prize for sound design for Giles Thomas. The Olivier Awards honor London productions, but Kenricks and Punch were regional theatrical triumphs: the former was a transfer to Sheffield theaters and Punch originated at Nottingham Playhouse.

There were no awards (from six nominations) for the transfer of the stereotypical Broadway hit, which in 2024 became the most nominated play in Tony Awards history. Another American import, Oh, Mary!, won Best New Entertainment or Comedy Play. The award for best family show went to Guardian journalist Nick Ahad’s The Boy at the Back of the Class, based on Onjali Rauf’s novel, which was shown at the Rose Theatre.

The Outstanding Musical Contribution Award went to Chris Fenwick (for musical supervision and arrangements) and Sean Hayes (for his live piano performance of Rhapsody in Blue) for Good Night, Oscar at the Barbican. The award for Best New Production in an Affiliated Theater went to The Glass Menagerie, the final production at the Yard in Hackney Wick before the theater reopens in a new home. Best New Dance Production was Sharon Eyal’s Into the Hairy for SED at Sadler’s Wells and Best New Opera Production was Dead Man Walking for English National Opera at London Coliseum. This year, Wayne MacGregor won the Outstanding Contribution to Dance Award, and Danielle De Nis was honored for Outstanding Contribution to Opera. Industry awards went to children’s playwright David Wood. Betty Lane, founder of the Lane College of Performing Arts; and Linda Tolhurst, stage keeper at the National Theater for nearly half a century.

But it will go down in history as Paddington’s big night – the musical’s seven awards tally is the same as Olivier’s previous successes Matilda the Musical, Hamilton, Cabaret and Sunset Boulevard.

This year’s gala included special performances to celebrate the 40th anniversary of The Phantom of the Opera in the West End and the 20th anniversary of Wicked.

The Olivier Awards, which celebrated their 50th anniversary this year, are administered by the London Theater Society. The winners were selected by a team of industry figures, theater stars and theater-loving audience members.