Olivier Awards 2024 Winners Announced

The Olivier Awards took place on 14 April at the Royal Albert Hall, awarding some of the greatest achievements in the 2023-34 season of theater, opera, and dance with the highest honor in British theater. Sunset Boulevard led the pack with 11 nominations, bagging 7 including Best Actress for Nicole Scherzinger.

The Olivier Awards were originally named the Society of West End Theatre Awards (SWET) when they began in 1976. They were later renamed in honor of actor-director Laurence Olivier in 1984. The Awards are West End's equivalent to Broadway's Tony Awards or France's Molière Award and are often thought to be as prestigious as the BAFTAs (film and television) and BRIT Awards (music). Receiving an Olivier is one of the highest honors in theater, something the winners of the 2024 ceremony could certainly attest to.

Without further ado, here are your 2024 Olivier Award winners.

Best Actors and Actresses

Sarah Snook took home the Olivier for Best Actress for her performance in The Picture of Dorian Gray, while Mark Gatiss bagged the Best Actor award for The Motive and the Cue.

Nicole Scherzinger and Tom Francis' much-lauded performances in Sunset Boulevard earned them Oliviers for Best Actress and Actor in a Musical, respectively.

In the Supporting Role categories, Will Close took home an Olivier for Dear England and Haydn Gwynne won for When Winston Went to War with the Wireless. The Oliviers for Supporting Role in a Musical went to Amy Trigg for The Little Big Things and Jak Malone for Operation Mincemeat.

Isabela Coracy won the Olivier for Outstanding Achievement in Dance for her performance in NINA: By Whatever Means.

Best Productions

The 2023-34 season saw plenty of new productions seize the limelight, showcasing new talent and fresh stories. Dear England received an Olivier for Best New Play while Operation Mincemeat took home the award for Best New Musical. The stage adaptation of Stranger Things: The First Shadow won Best New Entertainment or Comedy Play.

Innocence by the Royal Opera took home Best New Opera Production. In the category of Best New Dance Production, La Ruta won out.

Not to be outdone, however, shows that have seen more than a season also had their time in the sun. Vanya at Duke won the award for Best Revival and everyone's favorite pick of the season, Sunset Boulevard, took home the award for Best Musical Revival. The award for Best Family Show went to Dinosaur World Live.

Productions that surpassed all expectations also received awards for their achievements. Sleepova bagged the award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre. Musical director Antonio Pappano received the special honor of Outstanding Achievement in Opera for his work with the Royal Opera House.

Production and Set Design

It takes a whole village to stage an outstanding show and this year's productions are all winners in that regard. Excellent set designs, lighting, and sound paired with brilliant direction elevated the performances to new heights.

Jamie Lloyd won Best Director, with Adam Fisher and Jack Knowles taking home Best Sound Design and Best Lighting Design for their splendid work on Sunset Boulevard.

Musical supervisor and director Alan Williams also received the Outstanding Musical Contribution award for his work on the production.

Marg Horwell won Best Costume Design for The Picture of Dorian Gray, Arlene Phillips and James Cousins took home the Best Theatre Choreographer award for Guys & Dolls, and Miriam Buether and 59 Productions shared the glory of Best Set Design for their work on Stranger Things: The First Shadow.