Our predictions for the Olivier Awards winners

Best Play Revival

Some freshly invigorated classics – each of whom have already had a degree of love from awards nominations (the category is near-identical to the WOSAwards) as well as featuring some starry casts (quite literally in the case of Constellations). In fact, with its all-star cast and hefty number of producers on board, it's likely that the Donmar's revival will claim the top spot – though really any of A Number, The Tragedy of Macbeth or The Normal Heart may win the day – each got five stars from our critic Sarah Crompton, after all.

Best Musical Revival

It's got to be Cabaret, right? Critical clamour, glitzy stars, lots of co-producers, a radically redefined space… but this is one of the toughest years for this category – Spring Awakening won with the critics last weekend and Anything Goes grabbed the public vote at the WhatsOnStage Awards – so it really is all to play for.

Best New Play

Two former WhatsOnStage Award Best New Plays are going head-to-head in this category, with Life of Pi (an import from Sheffield Crucible) and 2:22 A Ghost Story (the starry thriller about to commence a third West End run) vying for the top spot. They couldn't be more axiomatically different – one a giant visual feast of puppetry, pathos and tigers, while the other a taut thriller with a gripping climax. But personally we think the winner might well be James Graham for Best of Enemies, orbiting a West End run after its Young Vic premiere in December. Graham has won the comedy category before but we'd love to see him take the top spot here. Finally of course is Jack Holden's Cruise – a blistering, brilliant solo show that, though an outside favourite, indicates a big, bright future for the performer.

Best New Musical

Wowee – five shows, each with their own merits – where to begin! The Oliviers has a tendency to echo the Broadway decision-making, so the Tony-winning Moulin Rouge! is perhaps, based on precedent, a strong contender. But shows like Back to the Future, Get Up, Stand Up! and The Drifters Girl haven't yet graced the New York stage –  and each have been pulling in big big audiences and critical clamour. Then, of course, there's the wonderfully dazzling Frozen – a ginormous iteration of the Disney classic that claimed the most nods at the WhatsOnStage Awards. But we think the WOSAwards voters might be signalling where the Oliviers are going, and Back to the Future may roar at 88mph to a victory.

Performance categories

We're lumping them all in and making some calls based on what we've seen thus far.

Liz Carr's blistering performance in The Normal Heart would be a fine nod, while we'd love to see Gabrielle Brooks' powerhouse Rita Marley turn get the top prize in the supporting musical category (won by the effervescent Carly Mercedes Dyer at the WhatsOnStage Awards). As for the supporting musical category on the actor side, it's really all down to the comedy with four side-splitting turns, but rising star Hugh Coles (another WOSAward winner) would be a fab recipient. Oh and yes – it'd be ace to see the Tiger win in the supporting play category – what a first!

In the leading category, Cush Jumbo seems to be the front-runner for the Actress spot following her Critics Circle win last week – while Hiran Abeysekera's athletic fulcrum of performance as Pi would be a great story for the night. Actor for a musical will be a tight race between Arinzé Kene and Eddie Redmayne (Redmayne did get a WOSAward already), while actress is anyone's game – the stately Beverley Knight as Faye Treadwell, the gritty characterisation of Jessie Buckley's Sally Bowles, Sutton Foster's dance prowess (which already has won her a Tony) and the shimmering warmth of Frozen's Stephanie McKeon. The critics adored Buckley, so we'd probably put our money there.