No need for hard stares as Paddington: The Musical triumphs at Olivier awards | Olivier awards
It was a night of sweet triumph for Michael Bond’s marmalade-loving bear as Paddington: The Musical dominated the Olivier awards on Sunday. Among tuxedos and dresses at London’s Royal Albert Hall, the wool coat-wearing bear got his sticky paws on seven awards, including best new musical.
The award for best actor in a musical went to the duo playing Paddington: James Hameed provides the voice of the lovable hero and acts as a remote puppeteer, while Arti Shah performs in her feathered costume. Series villains Tom Edden (as the busybody Mr. Curry) and Victoria Hamilton-Barritt (as Millicent Clyde, who literally wants Paddington to fill in) won best supporting actor and best supporting actress in a musical, respectively. Luke Sheppard was named the production’s best director and also received awards for costume design (Gabriella Slade and Tahra Zafar) and set design (Tom Pye and Ash J Woodward).
Paddington: The Musical, with music and lyrics by McFly’s Tom Fletcher and a book by Jessica Swale, shared the most nominations (11) with Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Into the Woods. This show, performed at the Bridge Theatre, won two awards: best musical revival and best lighting design (Aideen Malone and Roland Horvath).
The ceremony was hosted by actor, comedian and Celebrity Traitors finalist Nick Mohammed, who joked that he’s been asked many times by people (including his own manager) how he got such a job. He even persuaded candidate Tom Hiddleston to put away the cue cards.
Performances of stars, including Rachel Zegler, who won the best actress award in the musical Evita, one of the most talked-about shows of last year, took place on stage; for there was a scene in which Zegler sang from the balcony of the London Palladium to a large crowd on the street below. Zegler praised director Jamie Lloyd for creating such an “accessible theatrical moment” for passersby and thanked Londoners “for making me feel so welcome here.”
Fabian Aloise won best theater choreographer for Evita, while Elaine Paige, who played Eva Perón in the first production of the musical in 1978, won the stage career Special award, given to her by Evita composer Andrew Lloyd Webber. Paige said it was a “pinch me moment” and praised her father for encouraging the spirit of perseverance that helped her during her “remarkable adventure” in the industry.
Dramas dealing with the theme of justice have received many awards. Rosamund Pike beat out nominees including Cate Blanchett and Marianne Jean-Baptiste for the best actress award with her performance in Inter Alia as a karaoke-loving royal court judge whose personal and professional life is shaken by a shocking revelation. Pike, who won the best actress award for her performance at the Critics’ Circle theater awards last month, first played this role at the National Theatre, played it once again in the West End, and will take the play to Broadway in November. The play was written by Suzie Miller, whose Prima Facie brought Jodie Comer the best actress award at the Oliviers in 2023. Pike said it had been 14 years since he last performed on stage and he felt returning was a big risk. He praised his fellow nominees in the category, saying they brought him to tears.
Inter Alia lost out to James Graham’s Punch in the best new game category. Graham’s play is based on the true story of one-punch death. Julie Hesmondhalgh won best actress in a supporting role for her portrayal of Joan Scourfield, who seeks restorative justice after her son James Hodgkinson is shot and killed by Jacob Dunne. Graham was joined on stage by Dunne and Scourfield as the playwright described their “remarkable journey” towards recovery. Hesmondhalgh said the play conveys a message of hope, compassion, forgiveness and love in a world full of division, violence and conflict.
Ivo van Hove’s production of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons won the award for best revival, presented by Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen, who said he would have to improvise with a Shakespearean speech during the introduction because he couldn’t read Autocue. All My Sons also won best supporting actor for Paapa Essiedu, who spoke about the importance of youth theater and called for funding for outreach programs to enable the next generation of actors and audiences to thrive.
In one of the biggest upsets of the night, All My Sons star Bryan Cranston from Breaking Bad was awarded the best actor award, losing to Jack Holden on behalf of Kenrex. Holden played every role in the drama, which he also co-wrote, about the citizens of a small US town taking the law into their own hands. Praising her “worthy” fellow nominees, she joked that most people won’t know who she is and encouraged audiences to give new talent a chance when deciding what to see in the theater. Kenrex also won second prize for sound design by Giles Thomas. The Olivier awards honor London productions, but Kenrex and Punch were regional theater triumphs: the former transferred from Sheffield Theaters and Punch had its origins at Nottingham Playhouse.
There were no awards (out of six nominations) for the transfer of the Broadway hit Stereophonic, which became the most nominated play in Tony awards history in 2024. Another US import, the raucous Oh, Mary!, won best new entertainment or comedy play. Best family show went to the Rose theatre’s staging of Guardian journalist Nick Ahad’s rambunctious yet touching adaptation of Onjali Q Raúf’s novel The Boy at the Back of the Class.
The award for outstanding musical contribution went to Chris Fenwick (for musical supervision and arrangements) and Sean Hayes (for a live piano performance of Rhapsody in Blue) for Good Night at the Barbican. The award for best new production from an affiliated theater went to The Glass Menagerie, the closing production of the Yard in Hackney Wick before the theater reopens in a new home. Best new dance production was Sharon Eyal’s production of Into the Hairy for the HIA at Sadler’s Wells, and best new opera production was English National Opera’s Dead Man Walking at the London Coliseum. This year, Wayne McGregor received the award for his outstanding contributions to dance, while Danielle de Niese was awarded for her outstanding contributions to opera. Industry recognition awards went to children’s playwright David Wood; Betty Laine, founder of Laine College of Theater Arts; and Linda Tolhurst, who was a stage door keeper at the National Theater for almost half a century.
But this will go down in history as Paddington’s big night; The musical’s tally of seven awards is the same as the Oliviers’ past successes Matilda the Musical, Hamilton, Cabaret and Sunset Boulevard.
This year’s ceremony included special performances to mark the 40th anniversary of Phantom of the Opera in the West End and the 20th anniversary of Wicked.
Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, the Olivier awards London Theater Company. The winners were chosen by a team of industry luminaries, stage stars and theatre-loving members of the public.
