Paddington musical dominates Olivier Awards

The stage musical based on the popular Paddington books and films has dominated the Olivier Awards in the theatre event's 50th year, winning seven prizes in total.

The show, which features songs composed by McFly's Tom Fletcher, won best new musical and three acting prizes, plus awards for its direction, costumes and set design.

US actress Rachel Zegler was among the night's other big winners, after putting a modern spin on one of theatre's most famous roles in a new production of Evita.

Accepting the award for best new musical, Paddington writer Jessica Swale said it had been "such an honour to be trusted with a very special bear", while Fletcher said the company had become "a family".

"We tried to make a show that is all about celebrating kindness," he added, "and to be part of this group of people that is putting that out into the world at this time feels so special, thank you so much."

• Tom Hiddleston and Cate Blanchett walk Oliviers red carpet

Paddington's wins included best actor in a musical, which was awarded jointly to James Hameed, who provides the voice for the bear from the wings, and Arti Shah, an actress born with a form of dwarfism who portrays the bear in costume on stage.

Shah thanked the show's cast and crew and paid tribute to her family, telling her young son she was "going to keep making you proud, and keep showing you that being different is a good thing".

Scroll down to see the winners list in full.

Evita won two prizes including best actress in a musical for Zegler, four years after she won a Golden Globe for rebooting another famous musical character, Maria, in Steven Spielberg's movie remake of West Side Story.

In her acceptance speech, Zegler said: "Thank you so much to the city of London for making me feel so welcome here, I never could've imagined it."

Zegler made headlines for leaving the stage every night to perform Don't Cry For Me Argentina from the London Palladium's outdoor balcony to passers-by.

The stunt, masterminded by director Jamie Lloyd, drew huge crowds to the concourse outside the theatre every night, and Zegler's performance was live streamed on a big screen to the audience inside the theatre.

"It was the honour of a lifetime singing to the people on Argyll Street eight times a week, I can't believe I got so lucky to sing in front of thousands of you," Zegler said.

"It's so beautiful that Jamie Lloyd made such an accessible moment of theatre for people to walk by and witness something really really cool."

Elsewhere, Rosamund Pike won best actress in a play for legal drama Inter Alia, holding off competition from fellow film stars Cate Blanchett and Marianne Jean-Baptiste.

"I can't believe it," Pike said, accepting her award. "I haven't done any theatre for 14 years, it was a huge, exhilarating risk to come back and be invited by the National Theatre, home of so much wonderful work, to do this special play."

A new production of Arthur Miller's All My Sons won two prizes, including best supporting actor for I May Destroy You star Paapa Essiedu.

Accepting his award, Essiedu noted that he "never really went to the theatre" growing up, and only gained access to it thanks to a youth talent development programme run by theatre company Frantic Assembly.

"I remember being in that room, and even though I didn't have the vocabulary, hadn't been to the theatre, my creativity was still nurtured and valued," he said.

He added funding for such programmes "is being cut year on year, and I urge everyone in this room, at home, and at governmental level, to continue funding these organisations to make sure the next generation of theatre-makers have the opportunities that I had".

James Graham's play Punch, a true story about a young man who hit and accidentally killed a trainee paramedic in 2011, also won two prizes including best supporting actress for former Coronation Street star Julie Hesmondhalgh.

There were two prizes each for a new production of Stephen Sondheim's Into The Woods, including best musical revival, and Kenrex, a one-man play that explores the 1981 killing of Ken Rex McElroy in 1980s small-town America.

Its star Jack Holden held off big-name competition from Bryan Cranston and Tom Hiddleston to be named best actor in a play.

"Most people watching this at home won't know who I am, which is quite funny, and being in that esteemed company of nominees is crazy to me, but to have this is even crazier," Holden laughed.

"But that's the reality of our theatre ecosystem, there are thousands of people working whose names you don't know, who are the backbone of British theatre."

Dame Elaine Paige received the special award in recognition of her six-decade theatre career, which she described as a "pinch-me moment, quite wonderful".

"Music and theatre have been the major force in my life, and when I look back, I can hardly believe the journey and the logevity of it all," she said.

"Those early years were bit parts, chorus lines, lots of rejection... but my dear dad always reminded me that perseverance furthers, that was his motto."

She concluded: "[I'm] deeply grateful for every collaboration, every performance, every note that has led me here... thank you for letting me spend a lifetime doing what I love."

The Olivier Awards, which have been running since 1976, reward the best UK theatre shows and performances of the last year.

This year's event, held at the Royal Albert Hall, was hosted by actor and comedian Nick Mohammed and featured anniversary performances from West End staples Wicked and The Phantom of the Opera.

Musical numbers from Paddington, Evita, Into The Woods, The Producers, Shucked and The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry were also performed at the ceremony.

Best new musical

• WINNER: Paddington The Musical
• Here We Are
• Shucked
• The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry

Best new play

• WINNER: Punch
• 1536
• Inter Alia
• Kenrex

Best revival

• WINNER: All My Sons
• Arcadia
• Much Ado About Nothing
• The Seagull

Best musical revival

• WINNER: Into The Woods
• American Psycho
• Evita
• The Producers

Best new entertainment or comedy play

• WINNER: Oh, Mary!
• The Comedy About Spies
• Every Brilliant Thing
• Paranormal Activity

Best actress

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

Best actor

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

Best actress in a musical

• WINNER: Rachel Zegler, Evita
• Katie Brayben, Into The Woods
• Danielle Fiamanya & Georgina Onuorah, Brigadoon
• Jane Krakowski, Here We Are
• Jenna Russell, The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry

Best actor in a musical

• WINNER: James Hameed & Arti Shah, Paddington The Musical
• Marc Antolin, The Producers
• Andy Nyman, The Producers
• Jamie Parker, Into The Woods
• Diego Andres Rodriguez, Evita

Best supporting actor

• WINNER: Paapa Essiedu, All My Sons
• Hammed Animashaun, Dealer's Choice
• Zachary Hart, The Seagull
• Zachary Hart, Stereophonic
• Giles Terera, Oh, Mary!

Best supporting actress

• WINNER: Julie Hesmondhalgh, Punch
• Isis Hainsworth, Arcadia
• Lucy Karczewski, Stereophonic
• Hayley Squires, All My Sons
• Sophie Thompson, When We Are Married

Best supporting actor in a musical

• WINNER: Tom Edden, Paddington The Musical
• Trevor Ashley, The Producers
• Corbin Bleu, The Great Gatsby
• Jo Foster, Into The Woods
• Oliver Savile, Into The Woods

Best supporting actress in a musical

• WINNER: Victoria Hamilton-Barritt, Paddington The Musical
• Tracie Bennett, Here We Are
• Amy Booth-Steel, Paddington The Musical
• Kate Fleetwood, Into The Woods
• Georgina Onuorah, Shucked

Best director

• WINNER: Luke Sheppard, Paddington The Musical
• Jordan Fein, Into The Woods
• Ed Stambollouian, Kenrex
• Lyndsey Turner, 1536
• Ivo van Hove, All My Sons

Best new dance production

• WINNER: Into The Hairy
• Mimi's Shebeen
• Random Taranto
• She's Auspicious

Best new production in affiliate theatre

• WINNER: The Glass Menagerie
• Ben And Imo
• The Ministry Of Lesbian Affairs
• Miss Myrtle's Garden
• The Shitheads

Best family show

• WINNER: The Boy At The Back Of The Class
• The Boy With Wings
• The Firework Maker's Daughter
• The Three Little Pigs

Best new opera production

• WINNER: Dead Man Walking
• The Makropulos Case
• Tosca
• Die Walküre

Best sound design

• WINNER: Giles Thomas, Kenrex
• Adam Fisher, Into The Woods
• Gareth Owen, Paddington The Musical
• Ryan Rumery, Stereophonic

Outstanding musical contribution

• WINNER: Chris Fenwick & Sean Hayes, Good Night, Oscar
• Matt Brind, Paddington The Musical
• Will Butler & Justin Craig, Stereophonic
• John Patrick Elliott, Kenrex

Best lighting design

• WINNER: Aideen Malone & Roland Horvath, Into The Woods
• Robbie Butler, Punch
• Jon Clark, Evita
• Joshua Pharo, Kenrex

Best set design

• WINNER: Tom Pye & Ash J Woodward, Paddington The Musical
• Paul Tate dePoo III, The Great Gatsby - A New Musical
• Tom Scutt, Into The Woods
• David Zinn, Stereophonic

Best costume design

• WINNER: Gabriella Slade & Tahra Zafar, Paddington The Musical
• Enver Chakartash, Stereophonic
• Linda Cho, The Great Gatsby
• Tom Scutt, Into The Woods

Best theatre choreographer

• WINNER: Fabian Aloise, Evita
• Ellen Kane, Paddington The Musical
• Drew McOnie, Brigadoon
• Lynne Page, American Psycho