11 April 2022

Eddie Redmayne and Jessie Buckley’s ‘Cabaret’ was the big winner at the 2022 Olivier Awards, earning seven prizes.

Cabaret and Life of Pi win big at 2022 Olivier Awards

The iconic theatre show was revived at the West End’s Playhouse Theatre, with the ‘Fantastic Beasts’ star and the ‘War and Peace’ actress starring as The Emcee and Sally Bowles, respectively.

And at Sunday night’s (10.04.22) star-studded ceremony at London’s Royal Albert Hall, Eddie, 40, admitted it had always been his “dream” to play the part in a professional capacity, having played the role at school.

He said upon collecting the Best Actor in a Musical accolade: “This is the dream. For me, this is the one.

“This was the part that I played when I was a kid in school. It was the thing that got my passion for theatre really fuelled.”

The show was nominated for 11 prizes in total and was also named Best Musical Revival, while Jessie, 32, won Best Actress in a Musical.

Liza Sadovy won Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for the part of Fraulein Schneider, while Elliot Levey was crowned Best Supporting Actor in a Musical for his turn as Herr Schultz.

Rebecca Frecknall was named Best Director and paid a touching tribute to her late father, Paul, who died of prostate cancer during rehearsals.

She said on stage: “In the second week of rehearsals, I lost my dad to prostate cancer and this company and team picked me up and carried me when I needed it. So this is for them and my dad Paul, who played the Emcee as a student in 1975.”

The impressive haul also included the Best Sound award.

‘Life Of Pi’ also had a successful evening, taking home five prizes.

The stage adaptation of Yann Martel’s Booker Prize-winning novel of the same name was named Best New Play.

Hiran Abeysekera won Best Actor for the titular role of Pi, while all seven actors who played the role of the Tiger were named Best Supporting Actor.

Elsewhere, Sheila Atim was named Best Actress for ‘Constellations’, the recipient of the Best Revival.

The star beat Lily Allen for ‘2:22 Ghost Story’, Emma Corrin for ‘Anna X’ and Cush Jumbo for ‘Hamlet’ to the prize.

‘Back To The Future’ won the Best New Musical prize.

Comedian Jason Manford hosted the awards.