LONDON: Cate Blanchett, Bryan Cranston and Paddington Bear are among the contenders on Sunday at London’s Olivier Awards, which celebrate achievements in theater, opera and dance.
“Ted Lasso” star Nick Mohammed hosts the 50th anniversary edition of the awards at a star-studded ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall, where Ian McKellen, Helen Mirren, Vanessa Williams and Andrew Lloyd Webber will be among the trophy presenters.
Leading the nominations for Britain’s equivalent of Broadway’s Tony Awards, with 11 apiece, are homegrown heart-warmer “Paddington: The Musical” and a much-praised revival of Stephen Sondheim’s twisted fairy tale journey “Into the Woods.”
Acting nominees include Marianne-Jean Baptiste, Paapa Essiedu, Rosamund Pike, Tom Hiddleston, Blanchett — for playing a vain actor in Anton Chekhov’s “The Seagull” — and Cranston for his performance as a troubled patriarch in Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons.”
The category of best actor in a musical includes a joint nomination for James Hameed and Arti Shah, who together play the titular marmalade-loving Peruvian bear in “Paddington.” Hameed provides the voice and remote puppetry, while Shah inhabits the bear costume onstage.
The ceremony will include performances from nominated musicals and numbers marking two significant anniversaries: 40 years of Lloyd Webber’s “Phantom of the Opera,” and 20 years of “Wicked” in the West End.
Stage star Elaine Paige, who is known for her leading roles in hit musicals including “Cats,” “Evita,” “Sunset Boulevard” and “Piaf,” will receive this year’s Special Award.
The Olivier Awards were founded in 1976 and named after the late actor-director Laurence Olivier. The winners are chosen by voting groups of stage professionals and theatergoers.
London’s West End is celebrating a strong post-pandemic return, buoyed by new musicals such as “Paddington” and “The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry,” and revivals including director Jamie Lloyd’s bold staging of “Evita.”
The Society of London Theatre, an industry umbrella group, says ticket sales have surpassed the levels seen before the COVID-19 pandemic. Shows in the West End — the collective name for London’s theaterland — attracted 17.6 million visitors in 2025, 3 million more than Broadway.
But there are concerns about rising ticket prices and soaring production budgets, fueled by higher costs for labor, materials and energy.
“Theaters are busier than ever, but many are operating with far less financial headroom,” the society said in a report published last month.