Paddington hopes to grab theatre prize by the paws

Stepping up on stage to collect an award. But what about furry paws? Two secret actors and an anxious stage manager may be about to find out.

Paddington – the musical– is a contender for a top prize at the Oliviers, tonight at the Royal Albert Hall, where the televised proceedings will mark the 50th anniversary of Britain’s annual celebration of live theatre.

Paddington and another favourite musical, the revival of Steven Sondheim’s Into the Woods, lead the nominations table this year, with 11 nods each. The two performers hidden inside the Peruvian bear’s suit, Arti Shah and James Hameed, may well end up sharing the best actor in a musical award. If so, they will have beaten worthy competition from Diego Andres Rodriguez, who played Che opposite Rachel Zegler’s Eva Perón in the revival of Evita. It was Zegler who stood out on the balcony of the London Palladium in all weathers each night to sing Don’t Cry for Me Argentina, and who surely deserves a prize for bravery alone.

Stars including Bryan Cranston, Cate Blanchett, Rosamund Pike, Tom Hiddleston, Papa Essiedu and Marianne Jean-Baptiste have been nominated in a tribute to the best of theatre, hosted by comedian and BBC The Celebrity Traitors finalist, Nick Mohammed.

In a year when musicals have attracted much of the applause, not everything has been upbeat. American Psycho, the show based on the dark novel by Bret Easton Ellis and staged at the Almeida, is nominated for the best musical revival but may find it hard to compete with more traditional crowd pleasers including Evita and Into the Woods as well as Mel Brooks’ The Producers.

The heavily nominated cast of Arthur Miller’s classic All My Sons – Cranston, Jean-Baptiste, Essiedu and Hayley Squires – will surely have its moment of glory, as may the innovative Belgian director, Ivo van Hove, nominated for his handling of this revival at Wyndham’s theatre. But in the wake of the death of Tom Stoppard in November, the Old Vic’s revival of his hit 1993 play Arcadia may prove the people’s choice.

Photographs by Johan Persson