The Olivier Awards 2026 with Cunard ceremony has just finished with a beautiful performance of For Good, by the company of Wicked, celebrating their 20th anniversary in the West End.
It was a night for anniversaries, as the ceremony celebrated the 50th anniversary of the awards which recognise the best of London theatre. The show was opened by Phantom Of The Opera, celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Their performance began with Masquerade, performed on the green carpet steps outside the Royal Albert Hall, followed by the musical’s composer, Andrew Lloyd Webber, playing the show’s title theme on the Albert Hall’s Grand Organ, nicknamed the Voice of Jupiter.
You can watch all the performances, as well as seeing the winners’ speeches from the evening, on BBC iPlayer and listen back on BBC Sounds.
The night’s big winner was Paddington The Musical, which took home seven awards including the coveted award for Cunard Best New Musical. It was a big night for the national treasure, who walked the Green Carpet and, along with the company, performed Marmalade from the sensational new musical.
James Hameed & Arti Shah, who jointly play the role of Paddington, won Best Actor in a Musical, with awards for Victoria Hamilton-Barritt and Tom Edden in the roles of Best Actress and Actor in a Supporting Role. There were also awards for the creative team including the Sir Peter Hall Award for Best Director, Best Set Design, Best Costume Design.
Paddington The Musical has been a huge success with both audiences and critics. If you want to see the bear from deepest, darkest Peru we recommend booking early as most upcoming performances are sold out. The best availability is from October onwards.
While Paddington was the hit of the new musicals, the Best Musical Revival Award went to Into The Woods. The hugely popular Stephen Sondheim musical is currently running at the Bridge Theatre until the end of May. The show, which asks what happens after happily ever after, also won the Best Lighting Design Award.
Over in plays, the hilariously irreverent Oh, Mary! won the Noël Coward Award for Best New Entertainment or Comedy Play. The historically inaccurate dark comedy currently stars Mason Alexander Park, with Catherine Tate taking over the lead role from 27 April.
Rosamund Pike, the star of Saltburn and Gone Girl, won the Best Actress Award for her leading performance in Inter Alia, the legal drama written by Prima Facie writer Suzie Miller. The production, which was originally staged at the National Theatre, has just transferred to the West End for a limited run until 20 June.
A number of shows won two awards. Jamie Lloyd’s Evita won the Gillian Lynne Award for Best Theatre Choreographer, while Rachel Zegler, who stunned the crowd with her rendition of Don’t Cry For Me Argentina, won Best Actress in a Musical.
Ivo Van Hove’s All My Sons won Best Revival, with Paapa Essiedu winning Best Actor in a Supporting Role. Punch, the hard-hitting play from James Graham which opened in the West End and on Broadway at the same time, won Best New Play (Graham’s second in three years after Dear England). Punch star Julie Hesmondhalgh won Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Kenrex actor Jack Holden won the Best Actor Award, having already picked up Best Performance in a Play for the same role at last year’s UK Theatre Awards. The show also won Best Sound Design.
You can watch the ceremony back on BBC iPlayer or listen on BBC Sounds, including performances from award winners Evita, Into The Woods & Paddington The Musical, nominees Shucked, The Producers & The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and the anniversary performances of Phantom Of The Opera & Wicked.
