Rosamund Pike wins best actress and Paddington Bear gets best set design at London's Olivier Awards

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.”

“Paddington” won the prize for its set design early in the ceremony, before the show turned to acting awards. Pike was named best actress in a play for playing a judge forced to question the justice system and her own ethics in “Inter Alia.” Jack Holden took the best actor prize for playing multiple roles in small-town murder mystery “Kenrex.”

They beat a star-studded list of acting nominees that included Cate Blanchett, Bryan Cranston, Marianne-Jean Baptiste and Tom Hiddleston.

Supporting performer prizes went to Paapa Essiedu for Arthur Miller's classic drama “All My Sons” and Julie Hesmondhalgh for crime and redemption story “Punch.”

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 included 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,” received 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.