Olivier Awards – shocks, surprises and delightful moments from the nominations

The Olivier Awards nominations are in, bringing the customary thrills, spills and surprises!

We all had a strong feeling that Paddington The Musical would perform admirably, and its 11 nominations (tying with Into the Woods) are far from unexpected. But there were some truly magnificent additions to the shortlist we want to shine a light on.

Fantastic surprises

As always, there were some delightful curveballs in proceedings – it was fantastic to see Jack Holden and Ed Stambollouian’s Western thriller Kenrex enjoying a sublime haul of nominations. It proves the power of both regional and off-West End spaces – the show opened in Sheffield before moving to Southwark Playhouse and ending at The Other Palace.

Other delightful inclusions come in the form of Julia McDermott’s terrific solo turn in Weather Girl, now due to be turned into a TV series, Rosie Sheehy picking up a second nomination in a row with her performance in Guess How Much I Love You? and Marc Antolin and Andy Nyman making it two for two for producers from The Producers. 

Equally fabulous is the shared nomination for Danielle Fiamanya and Georgina Onuorah for their leading performance in Brigadoon, with Onuorah then also nominated for her supporting turn in Shucked. 

In general, supporting performance categories are always a source of joy – and this year is no exception. It’s marvellous to see Tracie Bennett included for her multi-rolling masterclass in Here We Are, Oliver Savile for his two roles in Into the Woods (less expected than Jo Foster‘s hilariously wonderful Jack) or soon-to-be SNL UK star Hammed Animashaun for his turn in the solid Dealer’s Choice.

Who’s missing? 

Let’s face it – there’s only a finite number of slots and a lot of good shows this year. There will always be a few disappointments. With that in mind, it was a real surprise to see the five-star revival of Conor McPherson’s The Weir completely shut out, largely in favour of the Old Vic’s production of Arcadia – with Brendan Gleeson’s masterful performance also unacknowledged.

Also cut out completely is Cynthia Erivo’s Dracula – while the show itself divided opinion, Erivo herself was universally applauded, so an acting nod was perhaps expected. No joy either for director Kip Williams’ other play – The Maids at Donmar Warehouse.

Another performer we expected to make the cut was the sensational Hayley Atwell, with one of the most commanding understandings of Shakespeare’s text in Much Ado About Nothing, missing out for Best Actress where her co-star Tom Hiddleston was recognised. It was also a shame not to see love for Jasper Talbot for his complex, riveting performance in Inter Alia. 

Two of the Bridge Theatre’s big 2025 revivals – Lady from the Sea and Richard II – were also completely missing: we were sad not to see Lizzie Clachan not present under Best Set Design giving her swimming pool trick in the former of the two shows.

While Stereophonic matched All My Sons and Kenrex for most nominations for plays (six), including some brilliant nods for performer Lucy Karczewski, it missed out on the biggie – Best New Play.

On the musical side, Evita received a solid five nominations, but nothing for director Jamie Lloyd – the team also likely lost out due to the absence of a dedicated category for video design, given star Rachel Zegler’s headline-making outdoor performance at The London Palladium.

Someone else we were expecting to see was the wonderful Mark Addy for his tireless performance in The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. 

Ultimately though – the Olivier Awards have yet again done what they do best, shining a spotlight on the best stage talent by mixing established names with rising stars that might be the biggest creative forces of tomorrow. Long may that continue.