Matilda the Musical has swept the boards at the Olivier Awards with its "four little miracles" in the title role sharing the limelight and the gongs. The girls, Cleo Demetriou, Kerry Ingram, Sophia Kiely and Eleanor Worthington-Cox, were named joint winners of the Best Actress in a Musical award. One of the girls, 10-year-old Eleanor, made history by becoming the youngest-ever winner of an Olivier. She said her win was "pretty cool" and said her last prize was a "little silver plastic medal" for athletics at school.
The show, based on the Roald Dahl book, won seven awards including Best New Musical, Best Actor in a Musical for Bertie Carvel and Matthew Warchus was named Best Director. The ceremony at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, central London, was hosted by Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton and shown on a big screen in Covent Garden, London.
The first big winner on the night was Sheridan Smith, who was recognised for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for her performance in Flare Path. Also getting gongs were Luther star Ruth Wilson who was named Best Actress and Jonny Lee Miller and Benedict Cumberbatch who shared the Best Actor gong for their role in Frankenstein. Long-running musical Les Miserables won the Radio 2 Olivier Audience Award voted for by the general public. And Sir Tim Rice was given an Olivier Special award and the National Theatre's Collaborators was awarded the MasterCard Best New Play Award.
