The winners of the 2022 Olivier Awards were announced Sunday, in a ceremony held at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
The West End revival of Cabaret was the night’s biggest winner, scooping seven awards, including acting prizes for Eddie Redmayne and Jessie Buckley, who played the Emcee and Sally Bowles, respectively. Their co-stars Elliot Levey and Liza Sadovy also received gongs, along with director Rebecca Frecknall.
Accepting his award, Redmayne said, “This is the dream…. This was the part that I played when I was a kid in school. It was the thing that got my passion for theatre really fuelled.”
Other big winners included the stage adaptation of Life of Pi, based on Yann Martel’s award-winning novel, which took home five statuettes. These included Best Actor in a Play for its star, Hiran Abeysekera, while the seven performers who play the puppet tiger in the production were collectively named Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Play.
Why Jessie Buckley Doesn’t Mind Auditioning, Even After Her Oscar Nomination The Donmar’s West End production of Nick Payne’s two-hander Constellations won Best Revival, for which Sheila Atim also won Best Actress; Pride And Prejudice* (*Sort Of) was named Best Entertainment or Comedy; and Get Up Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical won Best Original Score or New Orchestrations.
Liz Carr was named best supporting actress for her role in The Normal Heart, about the 1980s AIDS crisis in New York, at the National Theatre. Carr, who is disabled, called for theatres to hold special performances for those who still need to wear masks. “Theatre should remain accessible even to those of us who have health conditions,” she told BBC News following her win.
Best Theatre Choreographer went to American Kathleen Marshall for the revival of the Tony Award-winning production of Anything Goes at the Barbican. And Best New Musical went to the screen-to-stage show Back To The Future:The Musical at the Adelphi Theatre. Its producer Colin Ingram neatly summed up the jubilant mood when he said, “To all the nominees: Congratulations! It’s been a hell of a year.”
The ceremony, which was hosted by comedian Jason Manford, included a musical tribute to composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, who died in November at the age of 91.
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