‘Paddington’ and ‘Into the Woods’ lead the London theatre shows nominated in the 2026 Olivier Awards

London’s biggest and glitziest theatre awards ceremony the Oliviers are barely a month away – and the nominations have just dropped.

It will come as no surprise to anybody that Paddington the Musical is out in front of the nomination pack, with 11 in total, including the prestigious Best New Musical award – if ever there was a show expected to ratchet up nominations it’s this one, and expect it to win big, including (probably) its slightly confusing nomination for best lead (male) actor in a musical – the role (and nomination) is shared by James Hameed and Arti Shah (who is female). Whatever: the remarkable live Paddington deserves to win awards, and this is about as good a fit for a category as you’re likely to get.

The expected usual host of celebrities are nominated for their stage roles, including Cate Blanchett, Tom Hiddleston, Rachel Zegler, Bryan Cranston and Rosamund Pike, with some very deserving non-slebs mixed in there including Rosie Sheehy for this year’s Guess How Much I Love You? and Jack Holden for his excellent true crime monologue KENREX. 

Other shows to have done well include All My Sons, Stereophonic and KENREX again with six nominations apiece, and joint with Paddington on 11 the Bridge Theatre’s luxuriant revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods.

This does lead us onto an interesting point: Into the Woods was great, but it feels somewhat wacky that it scored six more nominations than Jamie Lloyd’s revival of Evita – probably the most talked about musical in the entire world last year.

Meanwhile Lloyd’s ecstatically received Much Ado About Nothing is left floundering with just two nominations, for best revival and best actor (Hiddleston). If Lloyd was just some guy who happened to have a good 2025 you’d shrug and move on, but it does seem odd that the most successful theatre director in the world, who is also British, hasn’t scored a single director nomination for two of the best reviewed and most talked about West End shows of 2025, with snubs for Much Ado designer Soutra Gilmour and Hiddleston’s co-star Hayley Atwell particularly perplexing.

Does the Society of London Theatre – which operates and votes for the Oliviers – have a Jamie Lloyd problem? Let’s actually see what wins eh.

The 2026 Olivier Awards take place at the Royal Albert Hall on Sunday April 12. They will be broadcast on BBC Two and iPlayer with highlights on BBC Radio 2. 

Full list of 2026 Olivier Award nominations

Best New Musical 

• Here We Are – National Theatre, Lyttelton 
• Paddington the Musical – Savoy Theatre 
• Shucked – Regent's Park Open Air Theatre 
• The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry – Theatre Royal Haymarket 

Best Musical Revival 

• American Psycho – Almeida Theatre 
• Evita – London Palladium 
• Into the Woods – Bridge Theatre 
• The Producers – Garrick Theatre 

Best New Play 

• 1536 – Almeida Theatre 
• Inter Alia – National Theatre, Lyttelton 
• KENREX – The Other Palace 
• Punch – Young Vic and Apollo Theatre 

Best Revival 

• All My Sons – Wyndham's Theatre 
• Arcadia – The Old Vic 
• Much Ado About Nothing – Theatre Royal Drury Lane 
• The Seagull – Barbican Theatre 

Best New Entertainment or Comedy Play 

• The Comedy About Spies – Noël Coward Theatre 
• Every Brilliant Thing – @sohoplace 
• Oh, Mary! – Trafalgar Theatre 
• Paranormal Activity – Ambassadors Theatre 

Best Actress 

• Cate Blanchett for The Seagull – Barbican Theatre 
• Marianne Jean-Baptiste for All My Sons – Wyndham's Theatre 
• Julia McDermott for Weather Girl – Soho Theatre 
• Rosamund Pike for Inter Alia – National Theatre, Lyttelton 
• Rosie Sheehy for Guess How Much I Love You? – Royal Court Theatre 

Best Actor 

• Bryan Cranston for All My Sons – Wyndham's Theatre 
• Sean Hayes for Good Night, Oscar – Barbican Theatre 
• Tom Hiddleston for Much Ado About Nothing – Theatre Royal Drury Lane 
• Jack Holden for KENREX – The Other Palace 
• David Shields for Punch – Young Vic and Apollo Theatre 

Best Actor in a Musical 

• Marc Antolin for The Producers – Garrick Theatre 
• James Hameed & Arti Shah for Paddington The Musical – Savoy Theatre 
• Andy Nyman for The Producers – Garrick Theatre 
• Jamie Parker for Into The Woods – Bridge Theatre 
• Diego Andres Rodriguez for Evita – London Palladium 

Best Actress in a Musical 

• Katie Brayben for Into The Woods – Bridge Theatre 
• Danielle Fiamanya & Georgina Onuorah for Brigadoon – Regent's Park Open Air Theatre 
• Jane Krakowski for Here We Are – National Theatre, Lyttelton 
• Jenna Russell for The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry – Theatre Royal Haymarket 
• Rachel Zegler for Evita – London Palladium 

Best Actress in a Supporting Role 

• Isis Hainsworth for Arcadia – The Old Vic 
• Julie Hesmondhalgh for Punch – Young Vic and Apollo Theatre 
• Lucy Karczewski for Stereophonic – Duke of York’s Theatre 
• Hayley Squires for All My Sons – Wyndham’s Theatre 
• Sophie Thompson for When We Are Married – Donmar Warehouse 

Best Actor in a Supporting Role 

• Hammed Animashaun for Dealer's Choice – Donmar Warehouse 
• Paapa Essiedu for All My Sons – Wyndham's Theatre 
• Zachary Hart for The Seagull – Barbican Theatre 
• Zachary Hart for Stereophonic – Duke of York's Theatre 
• Giles Terera for Oh, Mary! – Trafalgar Theatre 

Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical 

• Trevor Ashley for The Producers at Garrick Theatre 
• Corbin Bleu for The Great Gatsby - A New Musical at London Coliseum 
• Tom Edden for Paddington The Musical at Savoy Theatre 
• Jo Foster for Into The Woods at Bridge Theatre 
• Oliver Savile for Into The Woods at Bridge Theatre 

Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical 

• Tracie Bennett for Here We Are at National Theatre – Lyttelton 
• Amy Booth-Steel for Paddington The Musical at Savoy Theatre 
• Kate Fleetwood for Into The Woods at Bridge Theatre 
• Victoria Hamilton-Barritt for Paddington The Musical at Savoy Theatre 
• Georgina Onuorah for Shucked at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre 

Best Director 

• Jordan Fein for Into The Woods at Bridge Theatre 
• Luke Sheppard for Paddington The Musical at Savoy Theatre 
• Ed Stambollouian for KENREX at The Other Palace 
• Lyndsey Turner for 1536 at Almeida Theatre 
• Ivo van Hove for All My Sons at Wyndham's Theatre 

Gillian Lynne Award for Best Theatre Choreographer 

• Fabian Aloise for Evita at The London Palladium 
• Ellen Kane for Paddington The Musical at Savoy Theatre 
• Drew McOnie for Brigadoon at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre 
• Lynne Page for American Psycho at Almeida Theatre 

Best Costume Design 

• Enver Chakartash for Stereophonic at Duke of York's Theatre 
• Linda Cho for The Great Gatsby - A New Musical at London Coliseum 
• Tom Scutt for Into The Woods at Bridge Theatre 
• Gabriella Slade (Costume Design) & Tahra Zafar (Paddington Design) for Paddington The Musical at Savoy Theatre 

Best Set Design supported by Blue-i Theatre Technology 

• Paul Tate dePoo III (Scenic & Projection Design) for The Great Gatsby - A New Musical at London Coliseum 
• Tom Pye (Set Design) & Ash J Woodward (Video Design) for Paddington The Musical at Savoy Theatre 
• Tom Scutt for Into The Woods at Bridge Theatre 
• David Zinn for Stereophonic at Duke of York's Theatre 

Best Lighting Design 

• Robbie Butler for Punch at Young Vic & Apollo Theatre 
• Jon Clark for Evita at The London Palladium 
• Aideen Malone (Lighting Design) & Roland Horvath (Video Design) for Into The Woods at Bridge Theatre 
• Joshua Pharo for KENREX at The Other Palace 

Best Sound Design supported by d&b audiotechnik 

• Adam Fisher for Into The Woods at Bridge Theatre 
• Gareth Owen for Paddington The Musical at Savoy Theatre 
• Ryan Rumery for Stereophonic at Duke of York's Theatre 
• Giles Thomas for KENREX at The Other Palace 

Outstanding Musical Contribution 

• Matt Brind (Orchestrations & Arrangements) for Paddington The Musical at Savoy Theatre 
• Will Butler (Original Songs & Orchestrations) & Justin Craig (Orchestrations) for Stereophonic at Duke of York's Theatre 
• John Patrick Elliott (Composition) for KENREX at The Other Palace 
• Chris Fenwick (Musical Supervision & Arrangements) & Sean Hayes (Live Piano Performance of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue) for Good Night, Oscar at Barbican Theatre 

Best Family Show 

• The Boy At The Back Of The Class, adapted by Nick Ahad at Rose Theatre 
• The Boy With Wings, adapted by Arvind Ethan David at Polka Theatre 
• The Firework-Maker’s Daughter, adapted by Jude Christian at Polka Theatre 
• The Three Little Pigs, music by George Stiles, book & lyrics by Anthony Drewe at Unicorn Theatre  

Best New Production in Affiliate Theatre 

• Ben And Imo by Mark Ravenhill at Orange Tree Theatre 
• The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams at The Yard Theatre 
• The Ministry Of Lesbian Affairs by Iman Qureshi at Kiln Theatre 
• Miss Myrtle’s Garden by Danny James King at Bush Theatre 
• The Shitheads by Jack Nicholls at Jerwood Theatre Upstairs at Royal Court Theatre 

Best New Dance Production 

• Into The Hairy by Sharon Eyal for S-E-D at Sadler's Wells 
• Mimi’s Shebeen by Alesandra Seutin & KVS at Sadler's Wells East 
• Random Taranto by María del Mar Suárez (La Chachi) as part of Dance Umbrella: Change Tempo at The Pit at Barbican 
• She’s Auspicious by Mythili Prakash at Sadler’s Wells East 

Best New Opera Production

• Dead Man Walking by English National Opera at London Coliseum 
• The Makropulos Case by The Royal Opera at Royal Opera House 
• Tosca by The Royal Opera at Royal Opera House 
• Die Walküre by The Royal Opera at Royal Opera House 

The best new London theatre shows to book for in 2026.

Review: Michael Sheen stars in Our Town.

Get the latest and greatest from the Big Smoke – from news and reviews to events and trends. Just follow our Time Out London WhatsApp channel.

Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out London newsletter for the best of the city, straight to your inbox.