Highlights of the evening included a montage celebrating the work of Olivier Special Award winner Sir Tim Rice led by Maria Friedman, Siobhan McCarthy, Elaine Paige and the cast of The Lion King, a performance by The Royal Ballet from Wayne McGregor’s Limen to mark Dame Monica Mason’s Olivier Special Award, theatrically-themed entertainment from Ronan Keating including a duet with Shrek The Musical’s Kimberley Walsh, and Brian May joining the cast of We Will Rock You for a special Bohemian Rhapsody. The BBC Concert Orchestra was conducted by David Charles Abell.

Sweeping the board with seven awards, Matilda the Musical stole the show with a joint award for Best Actress in a Musical for young actresses Cleo Demetriou, Kerry Ingram, Sophia Kiely and Eleanor Worthington-Cox (who at ten becomes the youngest ever winner of an Olivier Award).  Dennis Kelly and Tim Minchin picked up the show’s award for Best New Musical, and the musical’s other awards included Bertie Carvel for Best Actor in a Musical. James Earl Jones presented Matthew Warchus with the Best Director award via a live link to an Olivier Awards reception in New York celebrating the bond between West End theatre and Broadway. This is a new record number of wins by a single show, beating the previous best of Nicholas Nickleby, which won in six categories in 1980.

The National Theatre’s Collaborators by John Hodge was awarded MasterCard Best New Play Award by Tyne Daly. The National Theatre also celebrated wins for Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller who were awarded Best Actor for their critically acclaimed roles in Frankenstein, alternating as Frankenstein and his creature, and Bruno Poet who won Best Lighting Design for the same play.

Ruth Wilson picked up the Best Actress award for her role in Anna Christie at the Donmar Warehouse, with the play also winning Best Revival.

Following her Best Actress in a Musical award last year, Sheridan Smith marked a successful transition into straight drama by extending her winning streak with Best Performance in a Supporting Role for Flare Path at the Theatre Royal Haymarket.

Cameron Mackintosh’s spectacular musical Les Misérables beat off tough competition from Billy Elliot The Musical, Jersey Boys and Wicked to win the BBC Radio 2 Olivier Audience Award (the only award voted for by the public) thanks to its legions of devoted fans.

Edward Watson was presented with the Outstanding Achievement in Dance award for his performance in The Metamorphosis at the Linbury Studio at the Royal Opera House, and Best New Dance Production went to Desh by the Akram Khan Company at Sadler’s Wells.

English National Opera collected the award for Best New Opera Production for Castor and Pollux, and the breadth and diversity of its artistic programme was further recognized with an Outstanding Achievement in Opera award.

The evening’s show also included a live link to a free public Olivier Awards celebration in Covent Garden where hundreds enjoyed live West End performances and a big screen relay of the show.  The Covent Garden event was presented in conjunction with Magic 105.4, and hosted by breakfast presenter Neil Fox, alongside West End leading lady Louise Dearman.

For the latest news, photos and sound bites from the Olivier Awards plus a full list of winners visit www.olivierawards.com and interact at www.twitter.com/OlivierAwards and www.facebook.com/OlivierAwards.

WINNERS 2012 OLIVIER AWARDS WITH MASTERCARD

MASTERCARD BEST NEW PLAY
COLLABORATORS at the Cottesloe

• This is the first Olivier Award for John Hodge
• This was his first play
• Screenplays include Trainspotting
• Collaborators starred Simon Russell Beale and Alex Jennings. It returns to the National Theatre later this month

BEST REVIVAL

ANNA CHRISTIE at the Donmar Warehouse

• Starred Jude Law and Ruth Wilson, directed by Rob Ashford
• Nominated in four categories tonight, including Best Actor and Best Actress

BEST ENTERTAINMENT AND FAMILY

DERREN BROWN – SVENGALI at the Shaftesbury

• This is Derren Brown’s second Olivier Award win
• He first won in 2006 for Something Wicked This Way Comes
• Stage credits also include Mind Reader – An Evening Of Wonders and Derren Brown – Enigma
• Svengali returns to the Shaftesbury theatre in July

BEST ACTRESS

RUTH WILSON for Anna Christie at the Donmar Warehouse

• Second Olivier Award win (previously won for A Streetcar Named Desire at the Donmar Warehouse in 2010)
• Soon to be seen in film adaptation of Anna Karenina
• Previous stage roles include Philistines (National Theatre) and Through A Glass Darkly (Almeida).

BEST ACTOR

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH AND JONNY LEE MILLER for Frankenstein at the Olivier

• First time either has won an Olivier Award
• The pair won the Best Actor Award earlier this year at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards
• Cumberbatch: Soon to be seen in film The Hobbit
• Lee Miller:  previous on-screen roles include US TV series Eli Stone and Dexter

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

SHERIDAN SMITH for Flare Path at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket

• This is Sheridan Smith’s second Olivier Award win in two years
• Previous win: Elle Woods in Legally Blonde, 2011
• Smith was first nominated for an Olivier Award for Little Shop Of Horrors at the Menier Chocolate Factory

BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL

THE MATILDAS for Matilda The Musical at the Cambridge (Cleo Demetriou, Kerry Ingram, Sophia Kiely and Eleanor Worthington Cox)

• Youngest ever winners (aged 10 to12 years old)
• The Billy Elliots (aged 13 to 15 years old) shared the 2006 Best Actor in a Musical Award
• Each actress performs two shows a week

BEST ACTOR IN A MUSICAL

BERTIE CARVEL for Matilda The Musical at the Cambridge

• This is Carvel’s first Olivier Award win
• Won in the same category earlier this year at the Theatre Awards UK
• Previous stage credits include Rope (Almeida), The Pride (Royal Court), Parade (Donmar)
• This marks the third time the Best Actor in a Musical Award has been awarded to a cross-dressing role (previously: Douglas Hodge in 2009 for La Cage Aux Folles and Michael Ball in 2008 in Hairspray)

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MUSICAL

NIGEL HARMAN for Shrek The Musical at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

• This is Nigel Harman’s first Olivier Award win and nomination
• He won the Theatregoers’ Choice Award earlier this year for the role
• Shrek The Musical saw him reunite on stage with his Guys And Dolls co-star Nigel Lindsay
• His other credits include The Caretaker, The Common Pursuit, Public Property and Three Days Of Rain

BEST NEW MUSICAL

MATILDA THE MUSICAL at the Cambridge

• Adapted by Dennis Kelly, songs by Tim Minchin, directed by Matthew Warchus
• Nominated in 10 categories
• Opens next year on Broadway

BEST MUSICAL REVIVAL

CRAZY FOR YOU at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

• This is the third Best Musical Revival Olivier Award for Regent’s Park Open Air in three years
• Previous won in 2011’s for Into The Woods and in 2010 for Hello, Dolly!
• Crazy For You starred Sean Palmer and Clare Foster
• The show is nominated in three Olivier Awards 2012 categories

BEST DIRECTOR

MATTHEW WARCHUS for Matilda the Musical at the Cambridge

• This is the first Olivier Award win for Matthew Warchus
• Matilda The Musical has been nominated for 10 awards this year, the maximum number of nominations possible
• Warchus also directed the five-time nominated Ghost The Musical
• Warchus won a Tony Award in 2009 for God Of Carnage
• His other work in the West End includes Boeing Boeing and The Norman Conquests.

BEST THEATRE CHOREOGRAPHER

PETER DARLING for Matilda The Musical at the Cambridge

• This is the second time Peter Darling has won the Best Theatre Choreographer Award
• He won in 2006 for his work on Billy Elliot The Musical
• This award was one of 10 nominations for Matilda The Musical
• Matilda The Musical will open on Broadway next spring

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN

FRANKENSTEIN designed by Bruno Poet at the Olivier

• This was one of three nominations tonight for Frankenstein
• This is Bruno Poet’s first Olivier Award
• Poet’s work will be seen in production South Downs and The Browning Version at the Harold Pinter theatre, which begins previews next week

XL VIDEO AWARD FOR BEST SET DESIGN

MATILDA THE MUSICAL designed Rob Howell at the Cambridge

• This is Rob Howell’s third Olivier Award win
• The designer previously won in 2000 for the RSC’s Richard III, Troilus And Cressida and Vassa, and in 2006 for the Almeida theatre’s Hedda Gabler
• This is one of 10 cateogories Matilda The Musical is nominated for

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

CRAZY FOR YOU designed by Peter McKintosh at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

• This is Peter McKintosh’s first Olivier Award
• He was previously nominated in 2010 for the Regent’s Park Open Air theatre’s Hello, Dolly!
• His other work includes current productions Noises Off and The 39 Steps

BEST SOUND DESIGN

MATILDA THE MUSICAL designed by Simon Baker at the Cambridge

• This is Simon Baker’s first Olivier Award
• The Sound Designer has worked on over 70 productions
• These include West End shows The Lord Of The Rings and Brief Encounter, both of which earned him Olivier Award nominations

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN AN AFFILIATE THEATRE

Theatre Royal, Stratford East in association with the Barbican and Traverse Theatre for ROADKILL

• Conceived and directed by Cora Bissett
• This is the second time the Theatre Royal Stratford East has won the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre
• The theatre won in 2007 for Pied Piper

BEST NEW OPERA PRODUCTION

English National Opera’s CASTOR AND POLLUX at the London Coliseum

• Castor And Pollux was the first Rameau opera to be staged by the ENO
• The production marked the London operatic debut of director Barrie Kosky
• Three out of the four nominees in this category were ENO productions

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN OPERA

ENO for the breadth and diversity of its artistic programme

• The ENO was nominated against its own colleagues, Amanda Holden for Castor And Pollox and Richard Jones’ for The Tales Of Hoffmann in this category.
• Nominated for five awards in total

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DANCE

EDWARD WATSON for his performance in THE METAMORPHOSISat the Linbury Studio at the Royal Opera House

• First win for Edward Watson
• Principal dancer at the Royal Ballet
• Currently appearing in Polyphonia / Sweet Violets / Carbon Life at the Royal Opera House

BEST NEW DANCE PRODUCTION

DESH by Akram Khan Company at Sadler’s Wells, choreographed by Akram Khan

• This is Akram Khan’s first Olivier Award
• The show was inspired by Khan’s homeland Bangladesh
• Khan was the only performer in the show
• DESH featured music by Olivier Award-winning composer Jocelyn Pook

BBC RADIO 2 OLIVIER AUDIENCE AWARD

LES MISÉRABLES

• Thousands of theatregoers voted to determine this award. It’s the only award to be decided by the public
• They take the award from last year’s winner We Will Rock You
• The musical celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2010
• The musical has been seen by over 60 million people in 42 countries