Getty ImagesRachel Zegler took home the award for best actress in a musical for EvitaSunday night's Olivier Awards were all about Paddington, Rosamund Pike's celebratory return to the West End and Rachel Zegler's love letter to theatre.
Here's six things we learned from the UK's biggest night in theatre.
Olivier Awards red carpet: Stars arrive for theatre's biggest night
Rachel Zegler's theatre heroes are Elaine Paige and her parents
Getty ImagesRachel Zegler said her musical hero was Elaine PaigeOne of Sunday night's most touching moments was watching Rachel Zegler enter the winner's room after accepting the award for best actress in a musical for Evita and noticing Elaine Paige - who was the first actress to play Eva Perón in the 1978 debut of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical.
"I spent my life listening to her sing Memory from Cats," Rachel said adoringly.
She also said she "felt astonished by the whole evening" and couldn't believe some of the famous faces cheering her on as she accepted her award.
Rachel also told the BBC that the win "felt crazy" considering her breakthrough into musical theatre, as she won the role of Maria in the 2021 film version of West Side Story after responding to an open casting call on social media.
"It was me and 30,000 other women who went up for Maria. I was just very lucky that my parents let me. I kind of did it without asking them, but they were very supportive so I'm very thankful".
She ended our chat with a message to others who were hoping for their big break and said: "For every good thing, there are so many bad things but remember that the bad makes you appreciate the good so much more".
Paddington musical dominates Olivier Awards
Brian Cranston's London life was monk-like
Getty ImagesBryan Cranston says West End theatre required him to live like a monkFor those working in theatre, doing two shows in a day is a regular occurrence, but for Bryan Cranston - the Breaking Bad star and lead in the West End revival of All My Sons - it was quite an exhausting experience.
"We had two shows a day on Wednesdays and Saturdays, so we did 115 performances, we did a lot," he told the BBC.
"When there are two shows a day, I can't expend any more energy so I stay inside the theatre, eat a little soup - I'm like a monk.
"I say my little prayer, go to bed, take a nap, get up and get ready for the next show - that's my life," he added.
His role of Joe Keller, for which he was nominated for best actor, involves him playing a morally reproachable businessman, but he said it was pretty easy to step into the role each day - after an afternoon nap of course.
"You don't approach it any differently [to a moral character] and quite frankly you look for the justifications of why your character would say or do certain things to make sure you understand that and if you understand it, you can play it," he said.
Rosamund Pike's secret love
Getty ImagesRosamund Pike marked her return to West End theatre after 14 years with an Olivier winRosamund Pike was celebrating her return to West End theatre after 14 years and was rewarded with a win in the best actress category for Suzie Miller's legal drama Inter Alia.
"I've been waiting for something like this, the thrill of doing a new play is incredible," she told the BBC.
"It was just so complete, a bit like when I was cast in Gone Girl and I thought this role gives me the chance to explore every part of being a woman," she said.
Our chat on the green carpet was full of surprises - with Rosamund admitting that she struggled with being nominated for awards as she was "quite a shy person".
"I love the protective veil of a character, I like being other people, so the possibility of being singled out as just me is always quite daunting,".
But she also revealed one of her other loves beside acting - F1.
She's currently hosting her own podcast series for BBC Radio 5 Live on the sport and said: "I'm into cars, I love the stories, and F1 teams and how they move around the globe are not unlike a theatrical family.
"Every part coming together creates this performance in front of the cameras," she added.
Tom Fletcher's musical family
Getty ImagesTom Fletcher's musical family helped him with initial Paddington demosPaddington The Musical was one of the big winners at this evening's Oliviers - taking home seven awards, including best new musical.
And the man behind the music is none other than McFly's Tom Fletcher, who told us that those closest to him were instrumental in the writing process, including his wife, Giovanna and his sister Carrie - who are both West End performers.
"All my family can sing so they're all on the original demos, it's my son, my wife and my sister - I just called in all the favours so somewhere there's a Fletcher family album of Paddington that exists," he joked.
Tom also said "there was lots of pressure" in being responsible for "looking after Paddington but showing my sons [the musical] was very special".
He said working on the music has been "an absolute joy" and "a dream".
"This is a show about celebrating kindness and to be part of that message going out into the universe is very special," Tom added.
The blood, sweat and tears behind being Paddington
Getty ImagesJames Hameed and Arti Shah are the duo behind the iconic Paddington bearThe Oliviers audience and those watching at home were treated to a performance from the cast of the critically acclaimed Paddington musical, but not many will know how much goes into bringing the loveable Peruvian bear to life more than those behind it - James Hameed and Arti Shah.
To prepare for spending several hours a day inside the Paddington costume, Arti, who has starred in Star Wars films such as The Rise of the Skywalker and The Last Jedi, said she "sat in a sauna for two weeks everyday fully clothed to prepare myself" and added "before I perform, I heat up my dressing room to 30 degrees to acclimatise".
For James, who is the voice of Paddington and remote puppeteer, he said "being a massive gamer" helped him learn how to operate Paddington's facial expressions perfectly.
"It felt quite intuitive, just like a new thing I got to play with and it feels like an extension of yourself once you get past the idea of being something that is detached from you," he added.
Hamed and Nick's recruitment drive
Getty ImagesThe Oliviers host Nick Mohammed said he'd love to see best actor nominee Tom Hiddleston on The Celebrity TraitorsThe Oliviers attract the biggest names in the world of theatre, so can of course provide a world of opportunity for doing a bit of networking.
We couldn't resist finding out who Nick Mohammed - tonight's awards host and star of the first series of Celebrity Traitors - thought he could convince to take a seat at the roundtable out of this evening's guests .
"Andrew Lloyd Webber, can you imagine him in the Traitor's Castle? That'd be thrilling.
"I think all the good performers, Zizi Strallen, Rachel Zegler, Brian Cranston. Tom Hiddleston would be incredible and I know he's a big fan [of the show] so he'd be great," he told the BBC.
Also on a mission of his own was Hammed Animashaun, who was nominated for best supporting actor but is also one of the cast members of Saturday Night Live UK.
The comedic actor said he's "having a blast" on the show and added that "to have the opportunity to make people laugh every Saturday is such a joy".
With the rest of the series' guest hosts yet to be announced, we wanted to know if he was out to find someone to fill the spot.
"Elaine Paige would be great and Boy George, I think he'd be a good host as well".
And it was another vote from best actor nominee Tom Hiddleston - he's clearly a popular man tonight!
