Cate Blanchett, Bryan Cranston and Paddington Bear are up for prizes at London’s Olivier Awards

Cate Blanchett poses for photographers during the awards ceremony red carpet at the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, on May 24, 2025. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP, File) 2026-04-12T05:19:28Z London (AP) — Cate Blanchett , Bryan Cranston and Paddington Bear are among the contenders on Sunday at London’s Olivier Awards , which celebrate achievements in theater, opera and dance. “Ted Lasso” star Nick Mohammed hosts the 50th anniversary edition of the awards at a star-studded ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall, where Ian McKellen, Helen Mirren, Vanessa Williams and Andrew Lloyd Webber will be among the trophy presenters. Leading the nominations for Britain’s equivalent of Broadway’s Tony Awards , with 11 apiece, are homegrown heart-warmer “Paddington: The Musical” and a much-praised revival of Stephen Sondheim’s twisted fairy tale journey “Into the Woods.” Acting nominees include Marianne-Jean Baptiste, Paapa Essiedu, Rosamund Pike, Tom Hiddleston, Blanchett — for playing a vain actor in Anton Chekhov’s “The Seagull” — and Cranston for his performance as a troubled patriarch in Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons.” The category of best actor in a musical includes a joint nomination for James Hameed and Arti Shah, who together play the titular marmalade-loving Peruvian bear in “Paddington.” Hameed provides the voice and remote puppetry, while Shah inhabits the bear costume onstage. The ceremony will include performances from nominated musicals and numbers marking two significant anniversaries: 40 years of Lloyd Webber’s “Phantom of the Opera,” and 20 years of “Wicked” in the West End. (