Date announced for the 50th anniversary Olivier Awards
They'll take place in April 2026
Every year, the UK theatre community comes together to celebrate an incredible 12 months at the Olivier Awards. Now the date for next year's event has been announced, which will see the annual awards celebrating its 50th anniversary.
Here we take a look at the Olivier Awards, when you can expect the 2026 awards, along with a look back at the iconic event, including who Laurence Olivier was. Also find out which plays and musicals have had the most wins, which individual has won the most Olivier Awards, and much more...
Olivier Awards 2026
In December 2025, the date of the 2026 awards was announced on social media, revealing that the show will take place on Sunday 12th April 2026, at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The caption read: 'Celebrate 50 years of the Olivier Awards on Sunday 12 April ✨'.
Further details about the 2026 awards are set to be announced early next year.
Olivier Awards 2025
This year, the Olivier Awards took place on Sunday 6th April and and saw productions such as The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, Fiddler On The Roof and Giant take home three wins each!
Who won at the 2025 awards ceremony?
In 2025, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button and Giant both won three awards, with Oedipus (Wyndham’s Theatre), Titanique, The Years, and The Royal Opera’s Festen, each getting two wins each.
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button won awards for Mastercard Best New Musical, John Dagleish took home the Best Actor in a Musical award, with Darren Clark and Mark Aspinall, getting the award for Outstanding Musical Contribution.
Giant picked up The Londoner Award for Best New Play, with John Lithgow taking home his first Olivier Award win for the Best Actor award for his role as Roald Dahl. Elliot Levey also picked up his second Olivier Award, winning Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
Meanwhile, the most nominated production in 2025, which was Regents Park Open Air Theatre’s Fiddler On The Roof, also picked up three awards. It won the Piper-Heidsieck Award for Best Musical Revival, with wins for the Blue-i Theatre Technology Award for Best Set Design for Tom Scutt, and the d&b audiotechnik Award for Best Sound Design for Nick Lidster, giving him his second Olivier Award win.
See the full list of winners here.
Who were the presenters at the 2025 awards ceremony?
In the week before the awards, a star-studded list of presenters were announced, including Hayley Atwell, Rose Ayling-Ellis, Samantha Barks and Cate Blanchett.
The full list included: Corbin Bleu, Tom Burke, Naomi Campbell, Elizabeth Debicki, Idris Elba, Marianne Elliot, Jesse, Tyler Ferguson, Martin Freeman, Tom Hiddleston, Celia Imrie, Shobana Jeyasingh, Jane Krakowski, Ewan McGregor, Chris O'Dowd, Elaine Paige, Harriet Scott, Bryn Terfel, Gok Wan and Jacqueline Wilson.
This follows the list of performers which were previously announced, including: The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, Fiddler On The Roof, MJ The Musical, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet Of 1812, Oliver!, Starlight Express and Why Am I So Single?.
Who was nominated in 2025?
On 4th March 2025 the nominations were revealed by Nicole Scherzinger and Tom Francis. The nominations included a massive 13 nods for Fiddler On The Roof, which was the most-nominated production this year. The production's nominations include Best Musical Revival, the Sir Peter Hall Award for Best Director (Jordan Fein), Best Actor in a Musical (Adam Dannheisser) and Best Actress in a Musical (Lara Pulver).
Also nominated were Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet Of 1812 which received six nominations and The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button and Oliver! with both receiving four nominations each.
Giant and The Years both had five nominations each, making them the most-nominated plays, with Romola Garai being nominated twice in the same category for her roles in Giant and The Years.
See the full list of 2025 Olivier Award nominations here
Who hosted the 2025 awards?
Beverley Night and Billy Porter hosted this year's biggest night in theatre. Showcasing the best of London’s world-leading theatre industry the star-studded ceremony took place at the Royal Albert Hall on Sunday 6th April 2025.
Herself a three-time Olivier Award nominee, Beverley Knight won in 2023 for her role in Sylvia.
International star of stage and screen, Billy Porter is a Primetime Emmy, Grammy and Tony Award winner, who starred in the multi-Olivier Award-winning Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club in the West End.
Who hosted the 2024 awards?
The super star herself Hannah Waddingham was back on the stage in 2024.
Hannah has appeared on stage in productions such as A Little Night Music, Into the Woods and The Wizard of Oz. On screen she's appeared in Sex Education on Netflix and Ted Lasso on Apple TV+.
Previous hosts of the awards include Jason Manford, Michael Ball, Imelda Staunton, Clive Anderson, Gemma Arterton, Stephen Mangan, Hugh Bonneville, Sheridan Smith, Lenny Henry, and Catherine Tate.
When were the 2024 Olivier Awards?
The 2024 Olivier Awards took place on Sunday 14th April 2024.
Where were the Olivier Awards?
The ceremony has taken place in London's iconic Royal Albert Hall since 2017. In 2026 they will take place at the same location.
When were the first Olivier Awards?
The first Olivier Awards took place back in 1976 back when it was named the Society of West End Theatre Awards, the winner of Best Musical that year was A Chorus Line. The ceremony's name was changed to honour Laurence Olivier in 1984. In 2026 they will celebrate their 50th anniversary.
Which musical has the most nominations?
The musical with the most nominations is Hamilton which got 13 nominations in 2018, they also hold the record for most nominations at the Tony Awards.
Which musical has the most wins?
This record is jointly held by the 2021 revival of Cabaret, Hamilton and Matilda the Musical who all won seven awards in 2022, 2018 and 2012 respectively.
Which play has the most wins?
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child holds the record for most nominations and wins for a play with 11 nomination and nine wins.
Which actors have the most Oliviers?
The actor with the most Oliviers is Dame Judi Dench, who has seven awards plus the Special Olivier Award she received in 2004. After her, Sir Ian McKellen and Arthur Bennet have five each, plus both of them have received the Special Olivier Award.
Which individual has the most Olivier Awards?
The most Olivier Awards held by an individual is seven, a record held by Dame Judi Dench, designer William Dudley and choreographer Matthew Bourne.
How many awards does Andrew Lloyd Webber have?
Andrew Lloyd Webber has six competitive Olivier Awards, his winning shows include Evita, Cats and The Phantom of the Opera.
How many Oliviers does Stephen Sondheim have?
Stephen Sondheim has five wins which include Sweeney Todd, Follies and Sunday in the Park with George.
Who was Laurence Olivier?
Laurence Olivier was one of the theatrical heavyweights of the mid-20th century. He had several roles on stage and screen including several Shakespeare productions including Henry V, Hamlet and Richard III. As well as having the awards named after him, the National Theatre's largest auditorium is named after him.
Take a look through musicals based on books:
Cabaret
Kander and Ebb's hugely successful Cabaret which is set in Berlin during the Weimar Republic was based on John Van Druten's play I am a Camera which in turn was based on Christopher Isherwood's semi-autobiographical novel, Goodbye to Berlin.
Cats
A slightly different type of adaptation came with Cats. A collection of T. S. Elliot's poems about cats were published in 1939 in a book called Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats.
The poems were used as lyrics in Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1981 musical Cats which was at one point the longest running musical both in the West End and on Broadway.
The Color Purple
Alice Walker's 1982 novel The Color Purple has been voted one of the UK's most loved books and Alice became the first Black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
The novel was adapted into a film by Steven Spielberg in 1985 and a musical that explores more of the themes included in the source material opened on Broadway in 2005. The musical version of The Color Purple is now being adapted into a film.
Doctor Doolittle
During the First World War, Hugh Lofting began sending illustrations to his children about a physician who could talk to the animals. He went on to publish the stories with the first one released in 1920.
The stories had their first big screen adaptation in 1967 with Rex Harrison as the titular character. The film and stories were adapted for the stage with the first run taking place at the Hammersmith Apollo with Phillip Schofield in the leading role.
Gypsy
Gypsy Rose Lee, who was famous for her striptease act, released her autobiography titled Gypsy: A Memoir in 1957. The book served as the inspiration behind Jules Styne, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents' iconic 1959 musical, Gypsy.
Legally Blonde
Now many of us know that Legally Blonde was based on the hit 2001 film starring Reece Witherspoon, but did you know that the film was based on a book of the same name?
Author Amanda Brown wrote a novel based on her own experience at Stanford Law School. Before the book was even published, the manuscript caught the attention of Hollywood and both the book and film were released in 2001 with the musical adaptation first opening in 2007.
Les Misérables
Victor Hugo's 1862 novel Les Misérables is considered one of the best novels of the 19th century and it's fair to argue that Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg's musical adaptation is one of the greatest musicals of all time. Having opened in the West End in 1985, it now holds the record as the world's longest running musical.
Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins made her debut in P. L. Travers' children's stories with the first book released in 1934. It took Walt Disney 20 years to convince Travers to allow the film to be made - but she wasn't a fan of the final product.
When she was approached by Cameron Mackintosh for the stage adaptation, one of her conditions was that nobody from the original film could be involved with the production. This meant that the Sherman Brothers were barred from writing the additional music.
Matilda
Roald Dahl's beloved story of an intelligent young girl that had telekinetic powers was brought to the stage in 2010 when it opened in Stratford-Upon-Avon. Matilda the Musical has music and lyrics by Tim Minchin transferred to the West End in 2011 and won an impressive seven Olivier Awards.
Oliver!
It's fair to say that Lionel Bart's musical, Oliver! is one of the most famous British musicals around. It's fitting considering the musical's source material, Oliver Twist was written by one of the most famous British authors, Charles Dickens.
The Phantom of the Opera
There have been many adaptions of Gaston Leroux's novel The Phantom of the Opera - including multiple musicals. But it's Andrew Lloyd Webber's version that became an icon of the genre of musical theatre.
The musical first opened in 1986 and is now the second longest running West End musical and the longest running Broadway show.
South Pacific
A collection of short stories about the Pacific Campaign in World War II by James A. Michener was published in 1947. The book won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and was adapted into Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific which opened on Broadway in 1949.
Wicked
Considering Wicked's huge success as a musical, many don't know that the musical is in fact based on a novel. Gregory Maguire's Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West was first published in 1995.
It's worth mentioning that the content of the novel has much more adult themes compared to the musical adaptation.
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