The Olivier Awards 2023 took place at the Royal Albert Hall yesterday evening. Hosted by three-time Oliviers nominee Hannah Waddingham, the ceremony once again celebrated the very best of British Theatre. The biggest winner of the evening was the RSC’s My Neighbour Totoro which took home six awards, including the Award for Best Entertainment or Comedy Play, Best Director as well as Best Lighting Design, which was won by Jessica Hung Han Yun (pictured above). WL was sponsoring the Best Lighting Design Award as well as providing the lighting fixtures for the ceremony itself. Taken from the Official London Theatre highlights, below is a summary of the evening’s events along with the various winners.

This year’s Olivier Awards started with a bang, featuring an original Opening Number, written by Pippa Cleary – the first female British composer to have had three shows produced in the West End. The number celebrated musical theatre and was performed by Hannah Waddingham alongside the casts of some of the West End’s biggest shows, including Back To The Future The Musical, The Book Of Mormon, Cabaret, Jersey Boys, Disney’s The Lion King, Mamma Mia!, Matilda The Musical, Les Misérables, The Phantom Of The Opera, Six and Tina – The Tina Turner Musical.

The first award of the evening saw A Streetcar Named Desire win Best Revival, followed by Will Keen winning Best Actor In A Supporting Role for his role in Patriots. The Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role went to Anjana Vasan, who played Stella in A Streetcar Named Desire; meaning the first three accolades of the night all went to Almeida Theatre productions!

Beverley Knight and the ensemble of Sister Act then sang Raise Your Voice after which the winners of the Best Set Design and Best Costume Design were announced – going to Tom Pye and Kimie Nakano for RSC’s My Neighbour Totoro. Best Actor and Actress took a starry turn, going to Paul Mescal, for A Streetcar Named Desire, and Jodie Comer, for Prime Facie (you can read our press release about the lighting on the show here). Shortly after it was announced that Prima Facie had also won Best New Play!

After taking a moment to celebrate the Industry Recognition Award Recipients, Georgia Onuorah belted out the hilarious I’m Just A Girl Who Can’t Say No, mixed into a medley with Oklahoma!, the titular number in the Best Musical Revival-nominated production.

The winners of the two opera awards were next, with Outstanding Achievement in Opera going to William Kentridge for Sibyl and Best New Opera being won by Alcina. Soon after, the cast of the Donmar Warehouse’s The Band’s Visit performed the song Omar Sharif before it was announced that Phelim McDermott had won the Best Director Award for the RSC’s My Neighbour Totoro and that the Outstanding Achievement in Affiliate Theatre went to Waleed Akhtar’s new play The P Word.

After a rousing performance of Light Of The World from Tammy Faye, the ceremony then looked at the long and illustrious career of Sir Derek Jacobi, this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, before Disney’s Newsies closed out the first half of the show with a stunning medley.

Act Two opened with a performance from The Book Of Mormon – singing Hello – to celebrate their 10 years on the West End. RSC’s My Neighbour Totoro picked up its fourth award of the night, taking home Best Entertainment or Comedy Play.

Children’s TV favourite turned stage show Hey Duggee – The Live Theatre Show won Best Family Show before Beverley Knight took to the stage for the second time – this time alongside Sharon Rose and her Sylvia co-stars to sing March Women March.

Dickson Mbi accepted Outstanding Achievement In Dance and Best New Dance which went to Traplord by Ivan Michael Blackstock. There was then a performance from the cast of Standing At The Sky’s Edge before the coveted Best Musical Revival was won by Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!.

Best Original Score or New Orchestrations went to Richard Hawley and Tom Deering for Standing At The Sky’s Edge, and the next award went to Matt Cole for his choreography of Disney’s Newsies. As mentioned, Jessica Hung Han Yun won Best Lighting Design before Tony Gayle was announced as Best Sound Design – both for RSC’s My Neighbour Totoro (and bringing their awards total to six).

Shanay Holmes then graced the stage to sing Seasons Of Love to accompany this year’s In Memoriam, taking a moment to remember those that the London theatre industry have lost over the last year. Beverley Knight then made her third and final appearance on stage – except this time it was to receive her award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical for her role in Sylvia.

Zubin Varla took home Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical before Arthur Darvill won Best Actor in a Musical for Oklahoma! and Katie Brayben won Best Actress in a Musical for Tammy Faye.

The final award of the night was the Mastercard Best New Musical award, which went this year to Standing At The Sky’s Edge. The night ended with a celebration of Arlene Phillips who was awarded this year’s Special Award, which included a medley from Grease The Musical.

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