Hairspray sweeps the board at Laurence Olivier Awards

11 April 2012
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

West End musical Hairspray has swept the board at the Laurence Olivier Awards, scooping four of the prestigious accolades.

Its star, Leanne Jones, was named best actress in a musical for her role as teenager Tracy Turnblad.

The 22-year-old from Romford, Essex, had never appeared on the professional stage before landing the part and was working in a Halifax bank call centre this time last year.

Scroll down for more...

Scoop: Hairspray winners Leanne Jones, Michael Ball and Tracie Bennett at the Laurence Olivier Awards in London last night

Scoop: Hairspray winners Leanne Jones, Michael Ball and Tracie Bennett at the Laurence Olivier Awards in London last night

Michael Ball, who plays Tracy's mother, said it was the "best night of his life" after being named best actor in a musical while Tracie Bennett won best performance in a supporting role.

The show, adapted from the cult John Waters film about a plump teenager who dreams of landing a spot on a local TV dance show in Sixties Baltimore, was also named best new musical.

Richard E Grant hosted the 32nd annual awards at London's Grosvenor House Hotel.

Scroll down for more...

Great Scott: Kristin hugs tight her Olivier award for best actress at the Grosvenor House

Great Scott: Kristin hugs tight her Olivier award for best actress at the Grosvenor House

Best actor and actress: Chiwetel Ejiofor and Kristin Scott Thomas

In the play categories, Kristin Scott Thomas won the best actress award for her performance in The Seagull at the Royal Court Theatre.

She said: "I love working in theatre so much. I love going on stage every night. I love the words I have to say. I'm so proud to get this. It will be cherished.

To do theatre in London - which is the best place in the world for theatre - and to do it at the Royal Court is a dream come true."

Scroll down for more...

Ray of sunshine: Summer Strallen, acclaimed for her performance in the Sound of Music, attended in support of Sir Lloyd Webber

Ray of sunshine: Summer Strallen, acclaimed for her performance in the Sound of Music, attended in support of Sir Lloyd Webber

She won for her performance as Arkadina, a prima donna actress worried about ageing.

Scroll down for more...

Support: nominee Anne-Marie Duff, with partnerJames McAvoy, lost out to Kristin Scott Thomas despite her critically acclaimed performance in Joan of Arc

Support: nominee Anne-Marie Duff, with partnerJames McAvoy, lost out to Kristin Scott Thomas despite her critically acclaimed performance in Joan of Arc

"As a woman in her late forties with children and wrestling with her career, it was all so poignant."

Scroll down for more...

Star couples: Denise Van Outen with her Any Dream Will Do boyfriend Lee Mead; Natasha Henstridge and Darius Danesh

Chiwetel Ejiofor took the best actor prize for his starring role in Othello at the Donmar Warehouse while Rupert Goold won best director for Macbeth at the Gielgud Theatre.

The best newcomer prize went to RADA graduate Tom Hiddleston for Cymbeline, which is currently at the Barbican in East London.

This year's Special Award went to Lord Lloyd Webber "for his remarkable achievements over the last few decades as well as his recent role in bringing theatre to new audiences the world over".

Scroll down for more...

Dark side: Kelly Osbourne was back to black in a demure dress

Dark side: Kelly Osbourne was back to black in a demure dress

Lord Lloyd Webber also pulled off a publicity coup when he planted his new Maria, actress Summer Strallen, in Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks.

He said: "I've had the luck to do the one thing I've always wanted to do most of all. Everything I've done is because I love musical theatre."

Scroll down for more...

Industry heavyweights: Andrew Lloyd Webber and Madeleine Gurdon; artistic director of the Old Vic Theatre Kevin Spacey

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in