Paddington: The Musical Reigns Supreme at 2026 Olivier Awards; Read the Full List Here

The 2026 Olivier Award winners were revealed in a starry April 12 ceremony at Royal Albert Hall, with Nick Mohammed hosting.

England's favorite bear took home the highest total of trophies, with seven awards won out of 11 nominations for Paddington: The Musical, including the coveted categories of Best Musical, Best Director, and Best Actor in a Musical. This success will no doubt sharpen eyes on a potential Broadway transfer for Paddington, which has set the internet ablaze since revealing the innovative stagecraft behind bringing the beloved children's book character to the live musical stage, a feat which involves a very diminutive performer and cutting-edge animatronic puppetry.

Aside from Paddington's big win, the awards were quite broadly dispersed across categories, with all the remaining contenders receiving one or two awards in total. Bridge Theatre's revival of Into the Woods was the most-nominated production (along with Paddington), but ultimately only took home two titles: the nonetheless illustrious Best Musical Revival, as well as Best Lighting Design. Jamie Lloyd's hit revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Evita (starring the United States's very own Rachel Zegler) took home two nods: for Best Actress in a Musical and Best Theatre Choreographer.

Zegler wasn’t the only American who fared well at the Oliviers. Cole Escola’s Broadway, and now London, hit Oh, Mary received the prize for Best New Entertainment or Comedy Play. Sean Hayes won an Olivier, not for performance but for Outstanding Musical Contribution, alongside Chris Fenwick, for Good Night, Oscar (the same play Hayes won an acting Tony for).

The Olivier Awards, the West End's top theatrical honors, were established in 1976 as the Society of West End Theatre Awards. Renamed for the British actor Laurence Olivier in 1984, they are considered the equivalent of Broadway's Tony Awards. Past hosts of the Olivier ceremony have included Michael Ball, Imelda Staunton, Clive Anderson, Gemma Arterton, Stephen Mangan, Hugh Bonneville, Sheridan Smith, Lenny Henry, Catherine Tate, and Hannah Waddingham.

See the full list of winners below:

Best New Musical
Here We Are
WINNER - Paddington The Musical
Shucked
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

Best Musical Revival
American Psycho
Evita
WINNER - Into the Woods
The Producers

Best New Play
1536
Inter Alia
Kenrex
WINNER - Punch

Best Revival
WINNER - All My Sons
Arcadia
Much Ado About Nothing
The Seagull

Best New Entertainment or Comedy Play
The Comedy About Spies
Every Brilliant Thing
WINNER - Oh, Mary!
Paranormal Activity

Best Actress
Cate Blanchett, The Seagull
Marianne Jean-Baptiste, All My Sons
Julia McDermott, Weather Girl
WINNER - Rosamund Pike, Inter Alia
Rosie Sheehy, Guess How Much I Love You?

Best Actor
Bryan Cranston, All My Sons
Sean Hayes, Good Night, Oscar
Tom Hiddleston, Much Ado About Nothing
WINNER - Jack Holden, Kenrex
David Shields, Punch

Best Actor in a Musical
Marc Antolin, The Producers
WINNER - James Hameed & Arti Shah, Paddington The Musical
Andy Nyman, The Producers
Jamie Parker, Into the Woods
Diego Andres Rodriguez, Evita

Best Actress in a Musical
Katie Brayben, Into the Woods
Danielle Fiamanya & Georgina Onuorah, Brigadoon
Jane Krakowski, Here We Are
Jenna Russell, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
WINNER - Rachel Zegler, Evita

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Isis Hainsworth, Arcadia
WINNER - Julie Hesmondhalgh, Punch
Lucy Karczewski, Stereophonic
Hayley Squires, All My Sons
Sophie Thompson, When We Are Married

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Hammed Animashaun, Dealer’s Choice
WINNER - Paapa Essiedu, All My Sons
Zachary Hart, The Seagull
Zachary Hart, Stereophonic
Giles Terera, Oh, Mary!

Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical
Trevor Ashley, The Producers
Corbin Bleu, The Great Gatsby – A New Musical
WINNER - Tom Edden, Paddington The Musical
Jo Foster, Into the Woods
Oliver Savile, Into the Woods

Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical
Tracie Bennett, Here We Are
Amy Booth-Steel, Paddington The Musical
Kate Fleetwood, Into the Woods
WINNER - Victoria Hamilton-Barritt, Paddington The Musical
Georgina Onuorah, Shucked

Best Director
Jordan Fein, Into the Woods
WINNER - Luke Sheppard, Paddington The Musical
Ed Stambollouian, Kenrex
Lyndsey Turner, 1536
Ivo van Hove, All My Sons

Best Theatre Choreographer
WINNER - Fabian Aloise, Evita
Ellen Kane, Paddington The Musical
Drew McOnie, Brigadoon
Lynne Page, American Psycho

Best Costume Design
Enver Chakartash, Stereophonic
Linda Cho, The Great Gatsby – A New Musical
Tom Scutt, Into the Woods
WINNER - Gabriella Slade (Costume Design), Tahra Zafar (Paddington Design), Paddington The Musical

Best Set Design
Paul Tate dePoo III (Scenic & Projection Design), The Great Gatsby – A New Musical
WINNER - Tom Pye (Set Design) & Ash J Woodward (Video Design), Paddington The Musical
Tom Scutt, Into the Woods
David Zinn, Stereophonic

Best Lighting Design
Robbie Butler, Punch
Jon Clark, Evita
WINNER - Aideen Malone (Lighting Design) & Roland Horvath (Video Design), Into the Woods
Joshua Pharo, Kenrex

Best Sound Design
Adam Fisher, Into the Woods
Gareth Owen, Paddington The Musical
Ryan Rumery, Stereophonic
WINNER - Giles Thomas, Kenrex

Outstanding Musical Contribution
Matt Brind (Orchestrations and Arrangements), Paddington The Musical
Will Butler (Original Songs and Orchestrations) & Justin Craig (Orchestrations), Stereophonic
John Patrick Elliott (Composition), Kenrex
WINNER - Chris Fenwick (Musical Supervision and Arrangements) & Sean Hayes (Live Piano Performance), Good Night, Oscar

Best Family Show
WINNER - The Boy at the Back of the Class, adapted by Nick Ahad
The Boy With Wings, adapted by Arvind Ethan David
The Firework-Maker’s Daughter, adapted by Jude Christian
The Three Little Pigs; music by George Stiles, book & lyrics by Anthony Drewe

Best New Production in Affiliate Theatre
Ben and Imo, Mark Ravenhill
WINNER - The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams
The Ministry of Lesbian Affairs, Iman Qureshi
Miss Myrtle’s Garden, Danny James King
The Shitheads, Jack Nicholls

Best New Dance Production
WINNER - Into the Hairy, Sharon Eyal for S-E-D
Mimi’s Shebeen, Alesandra Seutin & KVS
Random Taranto, María del Mar Suárez (La Chachi) as part of Dance Umbrella: Change Tempo
She’s Auspicious, Mythili Prakash

Best New Opera Production
WINNER - Dead Man Walking, English National Opera
The Makropulos Case, The Royal Opera
Tosca, The Royal Opera
Die Walküre, The Royal Opera

Additional honors included a Special Award granted to Elaine Paige, an Outstanding Contribution to Dance award granted to Wayne McGregor, an Outstanding Contribution to Opera award granted to Danielle de Niese, and Industry Recognition Awards for Betty Laine, Linda Tolhurst, and David Wood.