The 50th Olivier Awards by the numbers

Hit musicals Paddington and Into The Woods lead the nominations with 11 nods each, as the Olivier Awards celebrate 50 years of excellence.

Summary

• The 50th Olivier Awards take place on 12 April 2026
• Paddington and Into The Woods have earned 11 nominations each
• Three shows feature castmates competing in the same category
• Zachary Hart is nominated twice as Best Actor in a Supporting Role

There’s one very special night every year in London's Theatreland: the Olivier Awards. The event takes place this year on Sunday 12 April and it’s sure to be an extra special ceremony as 2026 marks the event’s 50-year anniversary.

This season, the musicals Paddington and Into The Woods have received the most nominations with 11 each, followed by the plays All My Sons, Stereophonic and Kenrex, with six apiece. Several starry performances and big productions have been honoured, as well as some smaller-scale hits.

Read on to learn more about this year’s nominations in numbers. Which shows are you rooting for?

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50 years of the Olivier Awards

The first Olivier Awards took place in December 1976 at the Café Royale (they were then known as the Society of West End Theatre Awards and were renamed in honour of the great actor Laurence Olivier in 1984). There are sure to be many memorable speeches and performances at this year’s ceremony, hosted by Nick Mohammed at the Royal Albert Hall.

106 nominations in 24 categories

The full gamut of theatre is represented, with plays, musical, opera, dance, and family shows, as are seasoned actors and creatives and those at an earlier stage in their careers. Of the 24 categories, which include Best Musical, Best Play, Best Revival, and Best Musical Revival, as well as Best New Entertainment or Comedy Play, there are approximately four or five nominations per category.

11 nominations for Paddington and Into The Woods

Two musicals lead the way – clearly we can’t get enough of loveable anthropomorphic bears from Peru and dark fairy tales! Paddington and Into The Woods have earned 11 nominations apiece. However, Fiddler on the Roof last year still holds the record for the most nominations, with 13 nods.

Six nods for All My Sons, Stereophonic, and Kenrex

Ivo van Hove’s production of Arthur Miller's All My Sons was one of the starriest of the year and there’s little surprise that it’s done well with six nominations, including Best Play, Best Revival, and three nods for its cast.

Two plays with music have also earned six nominations each. On Broadway, David Adjmi’s music industry-set play Stereophonic was nominated for 13 Tonys and won five. Curiously, it isn’t nominated for Best New Play or for Daniel Aukin’s direction (both of which were among its Tony wins).

The other play to have earned six nods (including Best New Play, Best Director, and Best Actor) is something of an underdog: the true crime-themed play with music Kenrex, which is performed by one actor and one musician. First performed at Sheffield Playhouse and Southwark Playhouse, LondonTheatre.co.uk’s reviewer gave the show a five-star rave at The Other Palace, and the show will shortly be seen Off Broadway. It’s become something of a cult favourite.

Five for Evita (but none for Jamie Lloyd)

One of the most talked about and critically acclaimed shows of 2025 has earned five nods, with Rachel Zegler the favourite to take Best Actress in a Musical for her West End debut. However, Jamie Lloyd hasn’t been nominated in the Best Director category for Evita or his joyous Much Ado About Nothing. In any case, Much Ado is set for Broadway and perhaps Evita will follow?

Five stars but zero nominations

On the subject of “snubs”, Intimate Apparel, Burlesque, and The Weir all earned five-star reviews from LondonTheatre.co.uk’s reviewers but didn’t receive any nominations. Burlesque, however, will be returning to London and touring in a revised form and a film version of The Weir with the cast from the recent production is in the works.

However, a five-star “underdog” production that has been recognised is the one-woman show Weather Girl, which played at Soho Theatre for a short run in spring 2025. LondonTheatre.co.uk’s reviewer commented that Best Actress nominee Julia McDermott “transmits a star quality worthy of Nicole Kidman, amongst others”.

Five special awards

Choreographer and director Wayne McGregor will receive the Outstanding Contribution to Dance Award and soprano Danielle De Niese will be presented with the Outstanding Contribution to Opera Award. The Industry Recognition Awards, presented by the Society of London Theatre, will be presented to three figures acknowledged for their work behind the scenes and in theatre education: Betty Laine, founder and Principal Emerita of Laine Theatre Arts; Linda Tolhurst, who has served as Stage Door Keeper at the National Theatre for over 50 years, and playwright David Wood for his contributions to children’s theatre.

Three Oscar nominees and one winner

Bryan Cranston, nominated for Best Actor for All My Sons, is an Oscar nominee for Trumbo. Rosamund Pike and Marianne Jean-Baptiste, who are up for Best Actress for Inter Alia and All My Sons, have been Oscar-nominated for Gone Girl and Secrets & Lies respectively. And Cate Blanchett, nominated for Best Actress for The Seagull, is a double Oscar winner for The Aviator and Blue Jasmine — and has been nominated on a further six occasions.

Three productions with castmates nominated in the same category

Andy Nyman and Marc Antolin are nominated for Best Actor in a Musical for their performances as Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom respectively in The Producers (an iconic double act if ever there was one).

Victoria Hamilton-Barritt and Amy Booth-Steel are up for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a musical for their turns in Paddington as villain Millicent Clyde and Lady Sloane/Mr Brown’s Boss/Train Conductor.

And, across the river in Into The Woods, Jo Foster and Oliver Savile are both nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical for their roles as Jack and Cinderella’s Prince/Wolf. Hopefully these twin nominations have inspired friendly rivalry!

Three nods for The Great Gatsby (two more than on Broadway)

On Broadway, The Great Gatsby had a 100% success rate at the Tonys, being nominated for and winning one award (Best Costume Design in a Musical for Linda Cho). Despite mixed reviews, it has nabbed three nominations here: Best Costume Design for Cho, Best Set Design for Paul Tate dePoo III, and Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical for Corbin Bleu.

Two nods for Shakespeare

Last year was unusual in that there were no nominations for productions of Shakespeare plays. The Bard fares slightly better this year with two nominations for Jamie Lloyd’s staging of Much Ado About Nothing (Best Revival and Best Actor for Tom Hiddleston). A surprising omission was Jonathan Bailey's staggering performance in Richard II at the Bridge Theatre.

Two nominations for one actor in a single category

Zachary Hart appears twice in the Best Actor in a Supporting Role category for his performances in The Seagull and Stereophonic. Last year, Romola Garai competed against herself for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Play for The Years and Giant and was victorious for the former. Will Hart pull off the same feat?

One role, two actors jointly nominated (x2)

There are two situations this year in which two actors share a nomination for the same role. Firstly, Danielle Fiamanya and Georgina Onuorah alternated in the role of Fiona in the enchanting Brigadoon at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and share a nomination for Best Actress in a Musical (Onuorah has also been nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for Shucked at the same venue).

Secondly, in Paddington, James Hameed (voice/remote puppeteer) and Arti Shah (on-stage Paddington) perform the role simultaneously and have been jointly nominated for Best Actor in a Musical. It’s a beautiful example of teamwork.

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Photo: Courtesy of the Olivier Awards. Inset: Paddington, Evita, The Seagull, Much Ado About Nothing. (Courtesy of productions)