Mickey-Jo and Aeron James' 2026 Olivier Awards predictions | who will win at this year's London Theatre awards

Summary

MickeyJoTheatre: 2026 Olivier Awards Predictions

Host: Mickey Jo
Guest: Aaron James
Date: April 6, 2026
Episode Theme:
Mickey Jo and his fiancé/co-host Aaron James dive into their passionate, detailed, and humor-filled predictions for the 2026 Olivier Awards, discussing almost every category, sharing both their picks for likely winners and personal favorites. Their conversation covers the frontrunners, potential upsets, and what each show has meant for the London theatre scene this year.

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Main Theme & Purpose

The episode is a lively, category-by-category breakdown of the upcoming (2026) Olivier Awards.
Mickey Jo and Aaron James blend playful banter (“a small Peruvian bear, a plush cow, the former first lady of Argentina, and television’s Sean Hayes in a fight to the death” — 01:31) with incisive industry analysis, offering both predictions (who will win) and aspirations (who should win). The hosts also invite their audience to join in with their own thoughts and predictions.

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Summary of Key Discussion Points and Insights

Introduction & Structure (01:31–03:38)

• Playful opening about the diversity of nominees.
• The hosts outline their process: previewing each category, offering predictions, and noting personal favorites.
• Encouragement for audience interaction and sharing competing opinions.

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Best New Musical (03:39–06:06)

Nominees: Here We Are, Paddington, Shucked, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
Prediction:

• Paddington is “locked” to win. Described as a near-certainty by both hosts.
• “If Paddington doesn’t win this, it will be the shock of the ceremony.” – Aaron James (04:20)
• “Paddington’s gonna win and Paddington deserves to win. End of conversation.” – Mickey Jo (05:06)

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Best New Play (06:06–07:55)

Nominees: 1536, Inter Alia, Ken Rex, Punch
Discussion:

• The field feels open, but Punch is slightly favored, with 1536 a strong alternate.
• “It’s most likely between Punch and 1536.” – Aaron James (05:44)
• Recognition of James Graham’s wider impact and past awards, but the hosts see "Punch" resonating more widely this season.

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Best Musical Revival (07:55–09:56)

Nominees: American Psycho, Evita, Into the Woods, The Producers
Split Prediction:

• Aaron picks Into the Woods; Mickey Jo favors Evita for its cultural impact.
• “No other show in this category has (pierced public consciousness) like Evita.” – Mickey Jo (08:14)
• Both agree that "Into the Woods" is likely given nomination momentum, while "Evita" carries unique popular resonance.

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Best Play Revival (10:06–11:57)

Nominees: All My Sons, Arcadia, Much Ado About Nothing, The Seagull
Unanimous Prediction:

• All My Sons called the clear frontrunner, praised for its revelatory production.
• "If you were to only award one play and one musical, it would be Paddington and All My Sons." – Mickey Jo (11:45)

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Best Entertainment or Comedy Play (12:28–15:30)

Nominees: The Comedy About Spies, Every Brilliant Thing, Oh Mary, Paranormal Activity
Divergent insight:

• Aaron leans The Comedy About Spies, citing industry “force.”
• Mickey Jo empathetically roots for Every Brilliant Thing as a potential surprise win, noting its life-affirming narrative and unique casting model.

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Creative Categories

Best Director (17:22–20:18)

Nominees: Jordan Fine (Into the Woods), Luke Shepard (Paddington), Ed Stambolon (Ken Rex), Lindsay Turner (1536), Ivo Van Hove (All My Sons)
Main Picks:

• Both focus on Ivo Van Hove (All My Sons) vs. Luke Shepard (Paddington).
• "With All My Sons, you feel every choice that Ivo made, and perhaps that's not even necessarily a great thing, but it's a creative vision… that one stands out." – Mickey Jo (18:24)

Best Choreography (20:19–21:38)

Nominees: Fabian Aloise (Evita), Ellen Kane (Paddington), Drew McHoney (Brigadoon), Lynn Page (American Psycho)
Prediction:

• Both favor Fabian Aloise (Evita), but acknowledge Ellen Kane (Paddington) as a possible spoiler.
• “The choreography was non stop. It made that production.” – Aaron James (21:13)

Best Musical Contribution (22:01–24:57)

Nominees: Matthew Brind (Paddington), Will Butler/Justin Craig (Stereophonic), John Patrick Elliot (Ken Rex), Chris Fenwick/Sean Hayes (Goodnight Oscar)
Insight:

• Paddington or Ken Rex most likely. Noted that no play has won this category before, despite three nominated.
• “I think we're underestimating the number of awards Paddington is actually going to win.” – Mickey Jo (25:00)

Set, Costume, Lighting, Sound Design (25:16–32:47)

• Set Design: Tom Scutt (Into the Woods) and Ash J. Woodward/Tom Pye (Paddington) strongly considered; Mickey Jo tips toward Into the Woods for its audience impact, Aaron expects the two categories (Set, Costume) to split across shows.
• Costume Design: Gabriella Slade/Tara Zafar (Paddington) expected to win, especially for innovative, sustainable design ("If there’s been one visual that has defined the last year of British theatre, it’s probably been the reveal of Paddington Bear." – Mickey Jo, 29:15).
• Lighting Design: Into the Woods favored, particularly for its use of lighting and integration with video (“that set, without the lighting, ... wouldn’t be as extraordinary” – Mickey Jo, 30:42).
• Sound Design: Paddington gets the nod for the technical feat of bringing Paddington’s voice to life.

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Performance Categories

Best Actor in a Play (34:42–37:03)

Nominees: Bryan Cranston (All My Sons), Sean Hayes (Goodnight Oscar), Tom Hiddleston (Much Ado), Jack Holden (Ken Rex), David Shields (Punch)
Insight:

• Bryan Cranston is the favorite (“I think I would still personally root for Bryan Cranston. I’d be thrilled for a Jack Holden upset.” – Mickey Jo, 35:57).

Best Actress in a Play (37:03–38:41)

Nominees: Cate Blanchett, Marianne Jean Baptiste, Julia McDermott, Rosamund Pike, Rosie Sheehy
Prediction:

• Both agree on Rosamund Pike (Inter Alia) as the likely winner for her endurance and marathon role.

Best Actor in a Musical (38:50–40:11)

Nominees: Mark Antolin, James Hamid & Aarti Shah (Paddington), Andy Nyman, Jamie Parker, Diego Andres Rodriguez
Prediction:

• James Hamid & Aarti Shah (Paddington, as the dual performance for one character) viewed as an absolute lock.

Best Actress in a Musical (41:01–42:39)

Nominees: Katie Braben, Danielle Fiamanya & Georgina Honora, Jane Krakowski, Jenna Russell, Rachel Zegler
Prediction:

• Rachel Zegler (Evita) is everyone's choice: “She’s getting an Olivier... there’s a general consensus.” (Aaron James, 41:20)

Best Supporting Actor/Actress in a Play (42:39–46:11)

Best Supporting Actor: Papa Esiedu (All My Sons) strongly favored; possible upset for Zachary Hart (Stereophonic).
Best Supporting Actress: Uli Hebmanhal (Punch) and Lucy Karchevsky (Stereophonic) considered—the hosts lean toward Julie (Uli), noting her “heart and soul” in the play.

Best Supporting Actor/Actress in a Musical (46:46–52:44)

Supporting Actor: Tom Edden (Paddington) expected to win for his scene-stealing performance (“Marmalade!”). Supporting Actress: Hotly contested.

• The hosts consider Kate Fleetwood (Into the Woods) the narrow favorite for what’s usually a leading role, but acknowledge Victoria Hamilton-Barrett (Paddington) could pull off an upset due to both role and “Paddington momentum.”
• Shoutout to Georgian Honora (Shucked) for stunning vocals.
• “...in almost all of the categories this year, I’m going to be happy for whoever wins.” – Mickey Jo (52:44)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• “A small Peruvian bear, a plush cow, the former first lady of Argentina, and television's Sean Hayes in a fight to the death. Who do you think is going to win?” – Mickey Jo (01:31)
• “Paddington's gonna win and Paddington deserves to win. End of conversation.” – Mickey Jo (05:06)
• “If you were to only award one play and one musical, it would be Paddington and All My Sons.” – Mickey Jo (11:45)
• “If anyone's going to win for Into the Woods, this is the performance.” – Aaron James (50:03) [on Kate Fleetwood]
• “No matter how you felt about Evita, nobody could deny what she was doing on stage.” – Aaron James (41:20)
• “If there’s been one visual that has defined the last year of British theatre, it’s probably been the reveal of Paddington Bear.” – Mickey Jo (29:15)
• “In almost all of the categories this year, I’m going to be happy for whoever wins. There aren't a lot of results that I fear because they're going to upset me, which I will say happens sometimes.” – Mickey Jo (52:44)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:31 – Episode proper begins: opening banter and overview
• 03:39 – Best New Musical predictions
• 06:06 – Best New Play nominees and predictions
• 07:55 – Best Musical Revival debate
• 10:06 – Best Play Revival
• 12:28 – Best Entertainment or Comedy Play breakdown
• 17:22 – Design & Creative Awards start (Best Director, Choreography, etc.)
• 25:16 – In-depth analysis of Set, Costume, Lighting, Sound categories
• 34:40 – Acting Categories begin: Play/Musical leading roles
• 46:46 – Supporting Acting categories in Plays & Musicals
• 48:34–52:44 – The most hotly contested Supporting Actress in a Musical discussion
• 52:56 – Closing thoughts and audience call-to-action

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Tone & Interaction

• The podcast maintains a witty, good-natured “stagey” tone, seasoned with inside references to the UK theatre industry and personal anecdotes.
• Audience inclusion is a thread throughout, with Mickey Jo and Aaron eager to hear differing opinions and invite “fights in the comments” over predictions.

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Conclusion

This episode is a must for Olivier Awards or London theatre fans who want expert perspective, playful banter, and deep-dive context for every major award race.
The hosts blend knowledgeable industry commentary, a delightful touch of chaos, and heartfelt appreciation for the past year in theatre.

“Those have been our predictions. Yes, we would love to hear yours. Share all of your thoughts in the comments down below… We talk about this constantly.” – Mickey Jo (52:57)

Transcript

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[Mickey Jo]

We have a small Peruvian bear, a plush cow, the former first lady of Argentina, and television's Sean Hayes in a fight to the death. Who do you think is going to win?

[Aaron James]

Well, they're all in different categories.

[Mickey Jo]

I know none of those are in the same category. Oh my God. Hey.

[Aaron James]

Hello.

[Mickey Jo]

Welcome back to my theatre themed YouTube channel.

[Aaron James]

Or hello to those of you listening on podcast platforms.

[Mickey Jo]

Good job. We improvise that.

[Aaron James]

Yeah.

[Mickey Jo]

Unrehearsed.

[Aaron James]

Not like I haven't heard it so many times.

[Mickey Jo]

My name is Mickey Jo.

[Aaron James]

I'm Aaron James.

[Mickey Jo]

I am a theatre critic and content creator here on social media. And this is my stagey fiance. And today we are going to at long last share our predictions and aspirations for the 2026 Olivier Awards.

[Aaron James]

It's here. It's about time.

[Mickey Jo]

It is finally happening. Next weekend, the awards themselves will be taking place in. Aaron and I will be attending the ceremony. We haven't all the way figured out what we will be wearing. For those of you still concerned, which I'm sure many of you, but for those of you who have been asking when we're dropping the predictions, this is the day. The time is now. Here we are. To quote one of the musicals you'll

[Aaron James]

be shocked to know it's right now.

[Mickey Jo]

Oh, dear, oh dear. That's the level we've stooped to. Okay, so we're going to talk through almost all of the categories of this year's ceremony and we are each going to share our possibly contrasting predictions of who we think is actually going to win, which productions, which creatives, which actors, as well as perhaps some insights into who we are personally rooting for or who we think should win in each case. As we share our predictions, we're very intrigued to hear all of yours. If there are any categories you completely disagree with us about, or if you'd like to just share all of your predictions in the comments down below, feel free to do so. Let us know who you think is going to win. And if you want to find out what we get up to at the Oliviers, make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss that sort of vlog style recap content coming hopefully the day after the ceremony next week. In the meantime, here is what we think is going to happen. So let's start with the shows. Give us, Aaron James, the nominees for best New Musical.

[Aaron James]

So the nominees are. Here we are at the National Theatre, Littleton, Paddington at the Savoy Theatre, Shucked at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, and the unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Fry at the Theatre Royal Haymarket.

[Mickey Jo]

I mean, it's anybody's game. It could be absolutely anybody.

[Aaron James]

No, unfortunately this year it feels like it is a one show race. Not to say that the other shows aren't amazing and I personally love them, but it feels like the industry very much after the first preview of Paddington said, well, it's winning Best New Musical. That's guaranteed, that's locked. And then press night happened and the world, Broadway was talking all about the bear. So yeah, it's. If Paddington doesn't win this, it will be the shock of the shock of the ceremony.

[Mickey Jo]

I mean, it feels impossible.

[Aaron James]

It does feel impossible in this.

[Mickey Jo]

It feels all but a foregone conclusion. If I was the Oliviers trying to get ahead myself with a little bit of engraving before the ceremony, this is the one that I would start with. We should go to the trouble of for the rest of the awards. We should actually do a little countdown and reveal our answers so we don't sway each other with our significant influence. So who do we think is going to win? 3, 2, 1, Paddington.

[Aaron James]

See, but then I didn't know the song was coming then.

[Mickey Jo]

No, I decided.

[Aaron James]

So now I'm being shocked out of like when I'm Just saying it.

[Mickey Jo]

Paddington's gonna win and Paddington deserves to win. End of conversation. Onto the next. Let me talk us through the nominees for best new play. The nominees are 1536 by Ava Pickett at the Almeida Theatre, Inter Alia by Susie Miller at the National Theatre Lyttelton Ken Rex by Jack Holden and Ed Stamboloyan at the Other palace, and Punch by James Graham at the Youngvic and Apollo Theatre.

[Aaron James]

This one's harder to predict.

[Mickey Jo]

This is really, really challenging. Before we discuss any further, I think we should just think about it and reveal our top picks and then we can discuss why we don't feel confident about this.

[Aaron James]

People don't know Punch.

[Mickey Jo]

We both went Punch, so I think

[Aaron James]

it's most likely between punch and 15:36.

[Mickey Jo]

I agree.

[Aaron James]

I think they have now become kind of the two that feel most likely. And either one of them, I'd say. I think if I could be like, these are the two that it's going to be between, I would be, because I think Ken Rex, the big win for Ken Rex was the amount of nominations that it had. Yeah, I think that was a major win.

[Mickey Jo]

I think Ken Rex and Inter Alia both get recognized elsewhere.

[Aaron James]

That's my thing.

[Mickey Jo]

And that's the real wins that they're going to have. I mean, Ken Rex winning this would be a huge upset, which would be kind of exciting to see. I do. I mean, we've been seeing plenty of award wins for Ava Pickett as a promising playwright, but we've also been seeing recognition for James Graham and the Social impact.

[Aaron James]

I think that's the big thing. They all have. They all have future life, so there's not. You can't go, oh, which ones is it most useful for? Because Punch is currently on tour and then has a tour on next year.

[Mickey Jo]

1536 is about to open its Western Transfer, a little after the Oliviers, inter alia just started performances in the West End. Ken Rick is off.

[Aaron James]

Ken Ricks is off Broadway and Punch just did a Broadway run.

[Mickey Jo]

Yeah. Let us not forget that James Graham was named number one of the stage 100 a couple of years ago on the back of Punch being discussed in Parliament.

[Aaron James]

I believe everybody has worked with James Graham. He just got the lifetime. The special recognition, Lifetime Achievement Style Award at Senior Awards. Yeah, he's, as you just said, been winning a lot recently.

[Mickey Jo]

They both got recognized at the Critics

[Aaron James]

Circle Theatre Awards and of Evening Standard. I think both.

[Mickey Jo]

I think I would vote Punch if I was voting in this category. And we haven't seen 1536 yet? No, but I always like to think about sort of the wider impact of theatre and pushing the medium forwards, and I think it was just a really extraordinary achievement. I don't know that it's even my favorite James Graham play that I've seen, but I think what it achieved in and of itself was remarkable. Let's talk next about best revival of a musical. Spoiler alert. I already know that we disagree on this.

[Aaron James]

American Psycho at the Almeida Theatre, Evita at the London Palladium, into the woods at the Bridge Theatre and the Producers at the Garrick Theatre.

[Mickey Jo]

Who do you think will win the Olivier Award next Sunday? Three, two, one.

[Aaron James]

Into the Woods.

[Mickey Jo]

I think they will. I'm team Evita, controversially, because if you asked me which side of the aisle I was going to choose to sit on at the, I guess, wedding of Angela Webber and Stephen Sondheim, I'm a Sondheim boy every single time, every day of the week. And I wonder if there's something in, like, the expectations I have for the material of into the woods versus Evita that allowed me to. I don't even know if I did enjoy Evita all that much more. I gave them both three star reviews. But I keep coming back to the giddy haze of Evita summer last year. And if we talk about what a production achieves, hundreds of people, thousands, over the course of those weeks stood on Argyle street anticipating that performance, the way that it pierced public consciousness and had everyone talking about theatre who didn't normally have a conversation about theatre. Into the woods hasn't done that. No other show in this category has done that. And I was also, you know, I don't think I adjudicate best revival of a musical on material because I also said Sunset should win over guys and dance. Yeah. And did you agree with that?

[Aaron James]

I think I agreed on that as being such an early point of Jamie Lloyd and musical theater and that working and it making sense.

[Mickey Jo]

Yeah.

[Aaron James]

But I feel like with. When you're looking at this, with Evita versus Into the Woods, I think there's. We can see from, like, looking at how Fiddle on the Roof did, and the Olivier's love for these specific creatives involved as well, which does. A track record of liking people is like a group consensus of liking someone in a space.

[Mickey Jo]

I agree. I think into the woods is going. You can't disagree with this many nominations.

[Aaron James]

No. And I feel like we're going to get to this later on, but I feel like Evita kind of has the same thing that, inter alia, has, which is that Rachel is going to win the Best Actress award. But I feel like that gives people the ability to vote for Interval Worlds in Revival, because they're like, I can celebrate both and celebrate her for what she did on our Girl Street. Yeah. And her performance, I suppose, which kind of was the jewel of our production, as well as the choreography.

[Mickey Jo]

Yeah, yeah. It's hard to know the mental gymnastics that people are doing in order to make these admittedly very difficult choices. And wouldn't it be so delicious if in the battle between these two juggernauts, the Producers just slid down the middle?

[Aaron James]

That would be the show.

[Mickey Jo]

I mean, the producers kind of had the best reviews of the three. We just aren't necessarily thinking of it as as much of a heavyweight. But maybe we're wrong.

[Aaron James]

It's not exactly been loud enough.

[Mickey Jo]

That brings us then, to best revival of a play. All My Sons at the Wyndham's Theatre, Arcadia at the Old Vic, Much Ado About Nothing at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, and the Seagull at the Barbican.

[Aaron James]

All My Sons.

[Mickey Jo]

I think it will be All My Sons and I think it should be All My Sons.

[Aaron James]

I agree.

[Mickey Jo]

There's a little momentum for Arcadia, I think, given. Given the timing of it. I think the Seagull, sadly, is truly quite forgotten, having been so. So long ago at the Barbican. Even at the time, there wasn't as much conversation around it as there ought to have been.

[Aaron James]

There's a lot of love for Much Ado About Nothing and I think now we know it's going to Broadway. It reminds people now they got that nomination that it's there.

[Mickey Jo]

Shakespeare wins quite infrequently in the arrival of a play, actually.

[Aaron James]

And I kind of feel like All My Sons was kind of the same moment that Oedipus was before.

[Mickey Jo]

I think it's almost moot, us having this conversation because All My Sons was so strong. I almost think if you were to only award. Regardless of category, if you were to only award one play and one musical, it would be Paddington and All My Sons.

[Aaron James]

Yeah.

[Mickey Jo]

I think they are the clear defined frontrunners of this year's Oliviers. And it was extraordinary. I know it's just had a National Theatre Live screening. I think they just did, like a premiere event. If you have the opportunity to watch this, it's so good on screen, you must go and check it out. It was a revelatory production of a play I thought I had already seen done perfectly. So I will be jumping up and down for an All My sons win. Even though I won't be surprised by it.

[Aaron James]

Yeah. So the next category is for best entertainment or comedy play.

[Mickey Jo]

Yes.

[Aaron James]

And these are the nominees. The Comedy About Spies by Henry Lewis and Henry Shields at the Noel Coward Theatre. Every Brilliant thing by Duncan McMillan with Johnny Donoghue at Soho Place. Oh Mary by Cole Escola at the Trafalgar Theatre. And Paranormal Activity by Levi Holloway based on an original text by Oren Pelly at the Ambassadors Theatre.

[Mickey Jo]

So don't know, because there's such. You could not get four more different plays.

[Aaron James]

No, they are very different. There's like, two ways. I feel like there's two ways, to me, that I can see this going.

[Mickey Jo]

I concur. Three, two, one. The comedy about Spies, which is the other.

[Aaron James]

Those are the two. Those are truly, for me, like, I was like, I could say every brilliant thing, but then for me, I was like, is my heart saying every brilliant thing and am I letting that judge things? Yeah.

[Mickey Jo]

I think mischief is a force with which to be reckoned always.

[Aaron James]

And this landed well. And I think it's been not really a while since they've landed this strong, but maybe for like, a newer concept of a show which kind of breaks through because we've not had a comedy about in such a long time, it's coming back.

[Mickey Jo]

There are future plans. It's great to see Mischief reuniting, doing new work.

[Aaron James]

It sold really well.

[Mickey Jo]

At the same time, I don't know if it was received as thunderously as some of their past shows versus, I don't know. There's something really underdog about Every Brilliant Thing, even as it now plays on Broadway with Daniel Radcliffe clearly no longer, like, a little show.

[Aaron James]

And that's really helped over here, I think, because it's kept it in the zeitgeist. Like, people are still talking about it and maybe that deepness and how it sticks with you as a show.

[Mickey Jo]

I'm reminded of when Constellations won for revival and it had a similar alternating casting approach. And I think that's not to be underestimated either. I think chances are a lot of the voters may have seen this production more than once. Yeah. On the back of that, they had multiple sort of press knights and galas for the five different cast members that ended up doing it in the West End at. At Soho Place. So I could see this being the little surprise against my Hope, against the Paddington and the All My Sons. And I think once you're done ticking obvious tick boxes, you want to.

[Aaron James]

You want to go for, like, maybe One that I'd be a little bit

[Mickey Jo]

fatigued from, like, yeah, Paddington's going to win. Yeah. All My sons. And I'm going to vote for them. You get to this category and you think, yeah. Do you know what?

[Aaron James]

Yeah.

[Mickey Jo]

Every brilliant thing. This fringe originated life affirming, but then

[Aaron James]

made it to the West End and made it to Broadway.

[Mickey Jo]

Yeah, I'm gonna say that. I'm gonna say that's what's gonna happen.

[Aaron James]

I will stay with Commie about spies because there's just something that's like, I think from a analytical brain, maybe I'm doing that, but at the same time, know that my heart is with every brilliant thing. And if it wins, you bet you will hear my voice.

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[Mickey Jo]

And a part of my heart is also with Omari.

[Aaron James]

Yeah.

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[Mickey Jo]

So those have been the nominated productions. Let's talk now about the creatives.

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[Mickey Jo]

Let's begin with the nominees for best director. We have Jordan Fine for Into the woods at the Bridge Theatre, Luke Shepard for Paddington at the Savoy Theatre, Ed Stambolon for Ken Rex at the Other Palace, Lindsay Turner for 1536 at the Almeida Theatre, and Eva Van Hove for All My Sons at the Wyndham's Theatre. This is, again, really, really hard. And it's because it is a battle

[Aaron James]

of juggernauts, I think, and plays and musicals together.

[Mickey Jo]

Yeah. There's not necessarily a consistent pattern. I'm trying to look at the years in which one show really dominated nominations, Matilda, and to see if that. I mean, Paddington and Into the woods technically matched on nominations, I think. So that doesn't offer us much of a clue. I. I have a theory. I don't know if I feel confident in it, but I am ready to say a name. 3, 2, 1.

[Aaron James]

Ivo Van Hoer.

[Mickey Jo]

And I'll tell you why I think so. And do you agree that it's him or Luke Shepard?

[Aaron James]

Yes, it's those two. Those are the two.

[Mickey Jo]

All My Sons in Paddington.

[Aaron James]

Again.

[Mickey Jo]

We were chatting last night with the actor Donal Finn, and I was talking about a couple different productions, and I said, it's interesting. From the same director. I said, it's interesting to really see their hands and their choices on that one. And then in another production of theirs, you don't feel their impact at all. They truly just uplift the text and the performances. And I think that's the case with All My Sons and Paddington. Paddington, you don't sit there thinking about the direction and the work that Luke Shepard has done. It's an extraordinary undertaking and all of these moving parts, and it's probably the most complex in that category. And it's been years of development and to get the heart of it. It's a really remarkable achievement from Luke Shepard. And we don't necessarily talk enough about the work that he's done in it. With All My Sons, you feel every choice that Eva made, and perhaps that's not even necessarily a great thing, but it's a creative vision and you can feel his voice and his choices in there. So if I'm really thinking about the direction, that one stands out to me.

[Aaron James]

Yeah. And it's also that thing where when a production. Are you talking about the director, people mentioning it, and everybody knew that was Ivo Van Hoven's production of All My Sons, like his name's on the program. Yeah. So because of that it stays with people and they remember that and so they link it to him. And I feel like if it goes to Paddington, it is a landslide. Where specifically, I think that is a case where people are going to Paddington for everything. Paddington should get a large quantity and they're thinking about the larger picture. Even though really they should also be thinking about just how great Luke's work is. But I think that would be maybe the only way that it would stop an Evo win, which I feel like there's. That's one of the main categories for an All My Sons win. Yeah.

[Mickey Jo]

Do you want to tell us about choreographers?

[Aaron James]

The nominees are Fabian Alouise for Evita at the London Palladium. Ellen Kane for Paddington at the Savoy Theatre. Drew McHoney for Brigadoon at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre. And Lynn Page for American Psycho at the Almeida Theatre. Fabian Alouise.

[Mickey Jo]

And if it's not, it's Alan Kane.

[Aaron James]

Yeah. Rose of the Tune.

[Mickey Jo]

This could again be like a Paddington Suite. And great Choreo in Paddington. This entire category is very well designed.

[Aaron James]

Very, very, very good for nominations.

[Mickey Jo]

And it's beautiful. It could be like a Drew McConnell surprise.

[Aaron James]

It could be.

[Mickey Jo]

I don't think I'd be shocked by that necessarily.

[Aaron James]

This is his first big musical where he's been leading at.

[Mickey Jo]

And it's a very different kind of dance in that relative to all of the others. And there's a real beauty of that and it's quite striking and memorable when I stop to think about it. I think I'd have to take a moment personally voting on this category to

[Aaron James]

be like Valley as well.

[Mickey Jo]

That was really gorgeous. But Fabian's in Evita.

[Aaron James]

I felt like it's one of the main things you left. You left talking about Rachel Zegler, Diego's performance as well. But the big. Was the choreography. Yeah, the choreography was non stop. It was. It just made that production because the set was quite there and like that choreography filled it so much.

[Mickey Jo]

It was. It was a dance language. And to my mind, this is also kind of a way of saluting him for Much Ado About Nothing at the same time.

[Aaron James]

I agree.

[Mickey Jo]

And he is overdue for mass praise. I'm still not over his lack of a Tony nomination for Sunset Boulevard, but I think this is probably his most celebrated work in the West End and I hope he wins this.

[Aaron James]

Feels like the momentum's there to push that over. Yeah.

[Mickey Jo]

I will talk then about best musical contribution. This mixed bag of a category in which the nominees are Matthew Brind for arranging and orchestrating Paddington at the Savoy Theatre. Will Butler for orchestrating and songwriting and Justin Craig for orchestrating Stereophonic at the Duke of York's Theatre. John Patrick Elliot for Ken Rex at the Other palace. And Chris Fenwick for arranging and music supervising. And Sean Hayes for live piano of Rhapsody in Blue in Goodnight Oscar at the Barbican. I genuinely have no idea. I think. I have absolutely no idea.

[Aaron James]

I think I'm down to two.

[Mickey Jo]

They're such different things.

[Aaron James]

And what's interesting here is I'm going to point out a fact.

[Mickey Jo]

Go ahead.

[Aaron James]

Three of these shows were produced by Sonja Friedman.

[Mickey Jo]

Yeah.

[Aaron James]

Either in a leading capacity or a supporting producer capacity. And when we're talking about where people vote, that then gets tricky because where do her votes and her team's votes and all the people that are linked to SFP and similar.

[Mickey Jo]

Yeah.

[Aaron James]

Where do they go?

[Mickey Jo]

Do you want another fact? In the decade and a half of this award existing, there have been nominations for plays in this category. Right now, three out of four are plays.

[Aaron James]

Yeah.

[Mickey Jo]

Play has never won. Really?

[Aaron James]

Really fascinating.

[Mickey Jo]

There have never been as many plays nominated, I don't believe as there are this year. But Play has never won.

[Aaron James]

Ah.

[Mickey Jo]

I'm really prepared to be shocked by this category, but I'm gonna go with. I've kind of stuck my neck out with a couple of odd choices, so I'm gonna play it safer here.

[Aaron James]

Okay.

[Mickey Jo]

Three, two, one. Paddington and I. That's the one I think it could be.

[Aaron James]

So I think it's between Paddington and Kenreck's. I agree. I think Paddington. I know. And I've heard that this is a big category that Paddington would like.

[Mickey Jo]

It's the musical of it all.

[Aaron James]

Yeah, it's. And it's. It's kind of as well, the orchestrations. I mean, some of my favorite parts from Paddington are orchestration, like in Pretty Little Dead Things. That gorgeous brass moment is all from this arrangement and element. So I. I kind of feel like this will be one of those ones that just adds up in that number.

[Mickey Jo]

Yeah.

[Aaron James]

But I also could see a world where people. I'm gonna change my vote. I'm gonna say it's Paddington.

[Mickey Jo]

It's hard because.

[Aaron James]

But I could also see. I could also easily see it going towards Ken Rex.

[Mickey Jo]

I think the nominations for Ken Rex and for Stereophonic are more so for the songs themselves versus the orchestrations and arrangements of Pattinson. So it's very difficult, uneven playing field here. In many ways, creation, I think Stereophonic has not had sufficient love that I Think it's gonna win this.

[Aaron James]

I agree. That's why I think it's a two. It's a two wars. I feel like Ken Rex is a

[Mickey Jo]

real possibility to my mind, because Sean

[Aaron James]

Hayes already been nominated for best actor, kind of. I feel like moots. But nominations, even though it's valid.

[Mickey Jo]

Yeah.

[Aaron James]

I don't. I feel like there's.

[Mickey Jo]

I don't know.

[Aaron James]

It could surprise us, maybe.

[Mickey Jo]

I don't know. But I think Paddington is. I think we're underestimating the number of awards Paddington is actually going to be. That's why we keep going against Paddington in a couple of categories.

[Aaron James]

That's why I've changed my look. I think this one is Paddington.

[Mickey Jo]

Okay, let's carry on with the rest of the design categories. Pick a designer. Tell us about the nominations. Cool.

[Aaron James]

I am gonna go for set design. Okay, let's go. For best set design design, we have all Tate Depoo III for projection designing and scenic designing for the Great Gatsby at London Coliseum. Tom Pye for scenic designing and Ash J. Woodward for video designing. Paddington at the Savoy Theatre. Tom Scutt for scenic designing, into the woods at the Bridge Theatre. And David Sinn for scenic designing, Stereophonic at the Duke of York's Theatre.

[Mickey Jo]

Three, two, one, Empty.

[Aaron James]

The woods is.

[Mickey Jo]

And Right. And that's where I was going to go because of the set of it all. Because Tom Scott is this incredibly exciting rising creative whose work I think is so, so brilliant. And yet I wonder if this is going to be again. Paddington momentum. We saw this a little bit with Fiddler. It did not sweep the wins in spite of getting so many nominations. And it's worth remembering at this point, the nominators and the voters are different groups of people. And I think. I don't know. I think with Paddington, I don't know. There's something that you get far more different sets in Paddington than you have in into the Woods. Those trees are gorgeous. The configurations of them. But I think if I'm voting Paddington,

[Aaron James]

if it were me, I think I can see we'll come to this very shortly. But I can see one.

[Mickey Jo]

One set, one taking costume.

[Aaron James]

I think set and costume will go to different shows.

[Mickey Jo]

Okay.

[Aaron James]

And I think that's how this is gonna play out. I think that into the Woods. I think Faith, even just the Interwoods has been putting an ad out, like, keep seeing every day. And it's all about the audience's first reaction to seeing the woods. And I think Tom Skirt has, like. It's just been something like, so gorgeous. And like, it is.

[Mickey Jo]

It is a lot of the conversation. And if they're gonna win one and

[Aaron James]

Tom's Kurt just won the critic circle.

[Mickey Jo]

Also true.

[Aaron James]

And also true. As we'll get to very shortly, there's a reason why I think it'll be into the Woods.

[Mickey Jo]

Okay. That's what we think. Let's now talk about costume design, the nominees for which are Enver Shaktash for Stereophonic at the Duke of York's Theatre, Linda Cho for the Great Gatsby at the London Coliseum, Tom Scutt for Into the woods at the Bridge Theatre, and Gabriella Slade and Tara Zafar for Paddington at the Savoy Theatre. Let's do it at 1, 2, 3, 4.

[Aaron James]

Paddington.

[Mickey Jo]

There you go. If it gets copyright stricken, it's because we sang too beautifully. We have been saying for weeks now. And I think you were the first to call this based on interviews that Gabriella Slade had given. Yeah, because I said this is going to win costume because of the bear and because of Tara Zafar's work on the bear and it being a joint nomination.

[Aaron James]

And then you said, yes, I think that will get it across the ball. But also, let's not fully discredit, like, what's going on with the costuming, because Gabriella Slade has said a lot about sustainability, which is a big message about, especially with theatre.

[Mickey Jo]

It's a very new conversation in theatrical costume design.

[Aaron James]

And Gabriella Said is leading the trend because she has focused with her costume design of hero pieces, which then the understudies will share with the lead. So when an understudy goes on, they also will wear that same costume piece that gets passed on to, rather than having replicas. Yeah.

[Mickey Jo]

The reason for this is because it's all vintage sourced.

[Aaron James]

It's all vintage sourced, so they can't replicate this. And rather than trying to kind of recreate the same thing, they figured out a way that they could pass this down through them. And it's also quite cool because if you've seen any of the curtain calls, you might notice that some of the covers are wearing similar but unique pieces. Because that's. It's all vintage.

[Mickey Jo]

Yeah, yeah. And that's before we circle back to a conversation about the bear himself. And if there's been one visual that has defined the last year of British theatre, it's probably been the reveal of Pennington Bear. So either in the wood.

[Aaron James]

It's given, it's given. And this is why I feel like into the woods might get scenic, because costumes. Costumes are not going to enter woods.

[Mickey Jo]

Fine. Fine. That's quite persuasive, I'll grant you. Let's find out what's going to happen with lighting design.

[Aaron James]

So the nominees for lighting design are Robbie Butler for Punch at the Young Vic and Apollo Theatre. John Clark for Evita at the London Palladium. Roland Horvath and Aideen Malone for Into the woods at the Bridge Theatre. And Joshua Farrow for Kenrecks at the Other Palace.

[Mickey Jo]

I don't know that I'd actually given this much thought yet.

[Aaron James]

No, this is actually having me quite stumped.

[Mickey Jo]

Ready for a countdown?

[Aaron James]

Yeah, let's see what I say, because I don't know what I'm gonna say. I'll be honest.

[Mickey Jo]

Three, two, one. Into the Woods. I think this one is into the Woods. I think while the nominates and the votes are different people, we saw from the nominations much more love free for into the Woods. The Navita.

[Aaron James]

Yeah.

[Mickey Jo]

And I think this would be into the. I spoke about the Evita lighting. I loved the Evita lighting for so many reasons. I keep thinking about that under the stage lighting backlighting moment with the silhouettes. But into the woods has some really stunning lighting moments as well. This is also the category in which their video design is incorporated in.

[Aaron James]

Oh, yes.

[Mickey Jo]

Because it's really an aspect of the lighting and I think it's a sort of activating ingredient of the set design. I think that set, without the lighting, more so than the rest of the nominees in this category, really wouldn't be as extraordinary as it is. I see this going into the Woods.

[Aaron James]

So, Mickey, who is up for best sound design?

[Mickey Jo]

Well, let me tell you, the nominees for best sound design are. Adam Fisher for Into the woods at the Bridge Theatre, Gareth Owen for Paddington at the Savoy Theatre, Ryan Romery for Stereophonic at the Duke of York's Theatre, and Giles Thomas for Kenrecks at the Other Palace. This is one of the first times where I have very strong opinions about who will but who should and that they're different.

[Aaron James]

Interesting.

[Mickey Jo]

Three, two, one. Paddington. I think it will go Paddington. I'm curious actually, because sound design is another integrated category. Plays and musicals. I'm curious about the history of this one and how often it goes play versus musical. And it's. I mean, my neighbor Totoro, sort of a rogue example. Emilia back in 2020amidst only play nominees wildly enough, but for the most part this has gone play on a couple of occasions. But generally speaking, it does lean more musical.

[Aaron James]

Unless it's like a large scale play where it's kind of that make A play.

[Mickey Jo]

The thing that would carry it over to Paddington for me is Paddington's voice. Paddington's voice and how that is achieved,

[Aaron James]

it being in sync, it, working it like finding the perfect garophone, finding the perfect way. Not just with Paddington, with other characters involved. How to make it the quality match with the live singers on stage. Because also Paddington is live.

[Mickey Jo]

But you have to, for that bit of work, you have to believe that Paddington is in conversation with these other characters on stage.

[Aaron James]

And that's just as much sound as it is visual.

[Mickey Jo]

That's a real magical sort of a technical feat. I will be a little sad for Stereophonic.

[Aaron James]

Yes. Because they are also doing a live feat.

[Mickey Jo]

Yeah, there's live mixing, but it's also. It's when they're in the booth and when that's. It's. There's just so much of it that leans on its sound design to really tell that story as well. But again, the win in many ways was the nomination. And I'd have been even more annoyed if they hadn't been in some way recognized. I agree. Thrillingly, that leads us towards a conversation about this year's acting nominees.

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[Aaron James]

Let's start with best Actor in a Play.

[Mickey Jo]

Best Actor in a play.

[Aaron James]

Brian Cranston in All My Sons at the Wyndham's Theatre. Sean Hayes in Goodnight, Oscar at the Barbican Theatre. Tom Hiddleston in Much Ado About Nothing at the Theatre All Drury Lane. Jack Holden in Ken Rex at the Other palace and David Shields in Punch at the Young Vic and Apollo Theatre.

[Mickey Jo]

Three, two, one. Bryan. Jack Crowdon. Oh, that is a very possible underdog.

[Aaron James]

Do you know what? I. Until like right this moment I would have said Bryan Cranston out loud and I probably still would believe it. Jack Holden is somebody that I think everybody has like become aware of being this like both creatively and as a performer, like this amazing kind of visionary in, in the industry, but also what he does as one human being on stage and the amount of characters and obviously cruise before it. But now with this I, I could see votes for Ken because Kenrick did get six nominations and I keep reminding myself like there is a lot of love for that play across the board. I could maybe see everybody's votes for that show going into this category for Jack.

[Mickey Jo]

Yeah, and I think that's one of the things that you really leave Kenreck's thinking about is this undertaking and this incredible multi rolling performance. We could have a conversation in most of these acting categories this year about the scope and scale of the material and that being a distinguishing factor. We'll have the same conversation in Leading Actress in just a moment. I think what I was really struck by when I saw All My Sons for the first time at the Wyndhams was that Brian and Marianne Jean Baptiste would both win the Olivier in this sort of an Oedipus style moment. Who didn't both win the Olivier. But again I had the same thinking about Mark Strong and Lesley Manville. They didn't both win for Oedipus, but that was the sensation that I got. I think I would still personally root for Bryan Cranston. I'd be thrilled for a Jack Holden upset. Sean Hayes in this category has won the Tony for this performance. And don't be underestimate and don't be underestimating my boy David Shields either in all of the celebration of Punch and his great performance in that. But I still think I'm leaning. Brian, do you want to do best

[Aaron James]

actress in a play?

[Mickey Jo]

I would love to. Nominees are Cate Blanchett in the Seagull at the Barbican Theatre, Marianne Jean Baptiste in All My Sons at the Wyndham's Theatre, Julia McDermott in Weathergirl at the Soho Theatre, Rosamund pike in Inter Alia at the National Theatre, and Rosie Sheehy in Guess How Much I Love youe at the Royal Court Theatre. This is one of the most stacked categories of the entire awards this year. And I'm going to reverse a little bit on what I just said, because I do have a prediction for who is going to win this.

[Aaron James]

I do as well.

[Mickey Jo]

3, 2, 1.

[Aaron James]

Rosamund Pike.

[Mickey Jo]

I think this is where Inter Alia gets its win.

[Aaron James]

This is that one.

[Mickey Jo]

This, again, is a conversation about scale of material versus perhaps nuance. Not to say that her performance doesn't have that, but if I'm holding it up against Marianne Jean Baptiste, the earth shook when she spoke on stage. And yet the theatrical marathon being run by Rosamund pike is nothing to shake a stick at. So they're very different beasts that you have to compare.

[Aaron James]

Those are the two. I feel like it's probably the most between.

[Mickey Jo]

Yeah.

[Aaron James]

And either one I'd be thrilled for.

[Mickey Jo]

Oh, yeah.

[Aaron James]

But I do feel like Rosamund pike, like, it's back and it's already selling really well and her performance was what everybody talks about when you talk about that show.

[Mickey Jo]

Yeah.

[Aaron James]

And I kind of feel like. Like, similar to Kenreck's how I feel. If. If a. If everybody's, like, pooling their votes for a show into a category, this is the one for that show.

[Mickey Jo]

She carries so much in it and it's such an undertaking that I think it's almost impossible to think about anything else.

[Aaron James]

Yeah.

[Mickey Jo]

And so, yeah, I do think that that's one of the more foregone conclusions among the acting categories.

[Aaron James]

So now we're going to get to Best Actor in a musical. It is between Mark Antolin in the Producers at the Garrick Theatre, James Hamid and Aarti Shah in Paddington at the Savoy Theatre, Andy Nyman in the Producers at the Garrick Theatre, Jamie Parker in Into the woods at the Bridge Theatre, and Diego Andres Rodriguez in Evita at the London Palladium.

[Mickey Jo]

James.

[Aaron James]

Hamidana Tishar.

[Mickey Jo]

I lied. This is the most foregone conclusion.

[Aaron James]

Yeah.

[Mickey Jo]

I think we sort of anticipated from even the first preview of Paddington that this was the way the nomination would happen and that it would result in a win. I mean, it's a glorious, brilliant collaboration between the two.

[Aaron James]

Between the two of them, to be able to have that such perfect sync between the two of them for Arcee to bring Paddington to this beautiful life and to be able to bring so much nuance and heart on stage, but then to James to also echo it and like the fact that they have to be in so in tune that if anything happened with James's voice off stage, Artie would have to know if anything came slightly different. It's such a reaction between the two of them. Yeah, I. I just think it's there.

[Mickey Jo]

It's a beautifully thoughtful performance and I think the real tribute to it is the way in which you see audience members transformed. Even the cynical among the audience, even the grown ups are by this convincing Paddington. And people are ready to be like, how are they doing this? How is it working? And like, what's really going on here? People are won over by it. People are convinced by it. And that's not easily done. So. Yeah, I think so. And then with similarly little suspense, perhaps. Let's talk about best actress in a leading role in a musical. We have Katie Braben in Into the woods at the Bridge Theatre. Danielle Fiamanya and Georgina Honora in Brigadoon at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre. Jane Krakowski in Here we are at the National Theatre. Jenna Russell in the unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Fry at Theatre Royal Haymarket. And Rachel Zegler in Evita at the London Palladium. 3, 2, 1.

[Aaron James]

Rachel Zegler.

[Mickey Jo]

Don't cry for her, Argentina.

[Aaron James]

She's getting sick. And Olivier, she is. It's happening, everybody. I think it's just such across the board, everybody. Like, even no matter how you felt about Evita, nobody could deny what she was doing on stage.

[Mickey Jo]

Yes.

[Aaron James]

How effortless and full out those vocals were, how she was giving everything in the choreo. The fact that she. Every performance when she was on was on that balcony performing for two audiences who had very different expectations. Making it all work, putting your whole body and everything into it. It's just like, it's, it's just, it's just gonna go to Rachel. And I feel like everybody's agreed. Yeah, it's. There's a general consensus that's happening.

[Mickey Jo]

It was this extraordinary display of talent. Yeah, I mean, she's just phenomenal. And I think everyone was hugely won over by her in the London theatre sphere. It also doesn't hurt that at least three of the other performances in this category are leading performances that on a different day of the week could almost start to feel like supporting performances in each of their own shows. They're not kind of. And that's. We can have a conversation about roles for women in musicals sometimes versus men in some of these More classic shows, but they don't necessarily feel as substantial as Eva Peron in Evita. The full weight of the thing on her shoulders on stage, dancing. As much as she was singing, as much as she was doing it so effortlessly. It's Rachel's.

[Aaron James]

Yeah, it's Rachel. So let's go back over to the plays. And we are doing best actor and a supporting role in a play. We have Hamed Animashan for Dealer's Choice at the Doma Warehouse, Papa Esiedu in All My Sons at the Wyndham's Theatre, Zachary Hart in the Seagull at the Barbican Theatre, Zachary Hart in Stereophonic at the Duke of York's Theatre, and Giles Torrera in O Mary at the Trafalgar Theatre. Do.

[Mickey Jo]

And again, we could talk about supporting roles that feel almost like dating roles, because it's sort of as substantial as Brian and Marianne's roles in All My Sons. And I didn't actually even see him do it.

[Aaron James]

I did.

[Mickey Jo]

I saw his fantastic understudy.

[Aaron James]

Yeah, I did. And he was incredible. And.

[Mickey Jo]

And yet it still feels as though it kind of just in the heft of the material, I think outshines almost everyone else in this category. I'd be delighted for a Giles tour.

[Aaron James]

I'd be delighted for a Giles Wing because I feel like that was such a great performance. But I feel like Poppas is like. I think especially how I've said that things are gonna play.

[Mickey Jo]

Yeah.

[Aaron James]

I feel like this is like the foregone conclusion in my head for All My Sons. Whereas the other two, I feel like because of the plays are gonna pull, like, in my. In my head.

[Mickey Jo]

Sure.

[Aaron James]

Like those, like, two plays are gonna put a lot of weight into those categories.

[Mickey Jo]

This is where the All My Sons Loves arrives.

[Aaron James]

And this one. And Best play and best director.

[Mickey Jo]

Sure.

[Aaron James]

It could be like the three.

[Mickey Jo]

Sure, sure. I. I do think add leading actor to that as well. But I would agree that these probably feel the three strongest holds for them. I will. I do have to say I spent most of the year ready to give it to Zachary Heart for Stereophonic specifically. And not impossible for someone to win despite being nominated twice.

[Aaron James]

Yeah.

[Mickey Jo]

Although I don't necessarily know that it doesn't diminish his chances in some way. Meanwhile, let's talk about the actresses in a supporting role in a play. We have Isis Hainsworth in Arcadia at the Old Vic, Uli Hebmanhal in Punch at the Apollo Theatre, Lucy Karchevsky in Stereophonic at the Duke of York's Theatre Hayley Squires in All My Sons at the Wyndham's Theatre and Sophie Thompson in When We Are Married at the Donmar Warehouse. It's not easy.

[Aaron James]

There are two that I think it could be.

[Mickey Jo]

We'll talk about it. Do you have a front runner?

[Aaron James]

I don't know.

[Mickey Jo]

3, 2, 1. Julie.

[Aaron James]

Although I was so nearly just said

[Mickey Jo]

Lucy, I watched you be swayed by me in that moment and I'd love it if Lucy won.

[Aaron James]

The thing is, Lucy thrilled. Lucy's won a lot of awards so far.

[Mickey Jo]

She has. But in the context. One of her major wins was in the context of a debut performance.

[Aaron James]

Yeah. And I.

[Mickey Jo]

Which is a different kettle of fish.

[Aaron James]

And I feel like my heart is also slightly with Julie for the role that she plays in that show.

[Mickey Jo]

Given what you were just saying about the pooling of support, I think this is where the punch acting arrives in

[Aaron James]

this role she has. So, like, the role that that character has in this play is like kind of the fundamental, like.

[Mickey Jo]

Yeah.

[Aaron James]

The reason why, like, David Shield's performance is incredible. But like her, she brings this heart.

[Mickey Jo]

She's the heart and soul.

[Aaron James]

She's the heart and soul of it. And kind of where. What gets you to Taylor's.

[Mickey Jo]

Yeah.

[Aaron James]

And so I feel like that will save me. Plus, Julie is like a UK legend.

[Mickey Jo]

Yeah.

[Aaron James]

And this is kind of a moment.

[Mickey Jo]

Yeah. I still think that Lucy's playing what really is a leading role.

[Aaron James]

Oh, yeah. Totally.

[Mickey Jo]

In an ensemble company and sort of like how that gets defined one way for one production versus another way for another is a little dubious. Versus Julie. That just feels like a classic award winning supporting role. Like you make a film version of this. And they should. That's an Oscar winning role right there. That's the actor.

[Aaron James]

I agree.

[Mickey Jo]

It's one of those.

[Aaron James]

The nominees for best actor in a supporting role in a musical are Trevor Ashley in the Producers of the Garrick Theatre, Corbin Blue in the Great Gatsby at the London Colosseum, Tom Edden in Paddington at the Savoy Theatre, Jo Foster in Into the woods at the Bridge Theatre. And Oliver Savill in Into the woods at the Bridge Theatre.

[Mickey Jo]

I do have something of a premonition here.

[Aaron James]

I do also.

[Mickey Jo]

Okay. Three, two, one.

[Aaron James]

Tom Eden.

[Mickey Jo]

And you know, I. When I was. Because I did a little write up for LondonTheatre.co.uk and London Theatre Magazine with some of my Olivier predictions, some of which may have changed, by the way, by the time I sit down to have this conversation, I thought that this, if he won, would be Tom Eddins. Second Olivier win and I don't believe he's won before.

[Aaron James]

Oh, wow.

[Mickey Jo]

I had convinced myself that he had. And I think he has been nominated previously.

[Aaron James]

He's been nominated before.

[Mickey Jo]

Yeah, I am. But I think he was nominated only recently for the first time because I don't know that he got an Olivier nomination for One Man, Two Governors, even though he got a Tony nomination for it. In any case, it would be a hugely deserved win for his work in Paddington.

[Aaron James]

It's a. It's a scene ceiling. I mean, marmalade. And just how Tom, like how that character one has evolved and this is such a different character from the film's experience, etc. But just how he really does steal the stage.

[Mickey Jo]

Yeah. There are other great performances in this category as well.

[Aaron James]

I mean, Joe Foster is incredible.

[Mickey Jo]

Trevor Ashley. It's hard to go up and win against anyone playing Roger Debris in the Producers.

[Aaron James]

Yeah.

[Mickey Jo]

But I'm glad they all got nominated. I do think this is Tom Eddins.

[Aaron James]

I do think this is Tom Eddens.

[Mickey Jo]

Which brings us to our final category, Best Supporting Actress in a Musical. My favorite category at any awards and

[Aaron James]

ever, which is also like my favourite, but also like always the hardest to even.

[Mickey Jo]

I've lost sleep already and I will continue to do so for the next few days. The nominees are Tracy Bennett in Here We Are at the National Theatre. Amy Booth Steele in Paddington at the Savoy Theatre. Kate Fleetwood in Into the woods at the Bridge Theatre. Victoria Hamilton Barrett in Paddington at the Savoy Theatre. And Georgina Honora in Shucked at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre.

[Aaron James]

It's really just two. There are two. There are two. And there are reasons why I think both could happen.

[Mickey Jo]

We'll get into it and I concur. But my prediction for who I think will win, the name I am most expecting to hear is 3, 2, 1.

[Aaron James]

Kate Fleetwood.

[Mickey Jo]

And here is why. Because it's almost category fraud to say the Baker's Wife is leading and the witch is featured. And I get why you do it. And I think they got both of these nominations by making that decision. However, the Witch has by this very awards, by the Oliviers, been considered a leading role previously. And when you put a role like the Witch, which is so rich, especially with Kate's performance, which finds all of the ass, all of the elements of the witch, not every interpretation does. But she finds the comedy, she finds the darkness, she finds the distress spare.

[Aaron James]

She's also the performance that I've had people mention the most for this show.

[Mickey Jo]

Yeah. Yeah. If anyone's going to win for into the Woods. This is the performance.

[Aaron James]

This is the performance.

[Mickey Jo]

I think when you have a role like that, with that kind of breadth of material and scale of material, to put it alongside these other supporting roles, even Lulu, and shucked a role that has previously been a Tony Award winning role for Alex Newell, which Georgina was wonderful. I think it's hard for anyone to really stand up yet. The Paddington of it all is what could be the contender here for Victoria Hamilton Barrett. Yeah.

[Aaron James]

If somebody. If it's between Kate Fleetwood and Victoria Hamilton Barrett, it feels like. And the thing with Victoria, which I think is very important to know is she has been nominated many times for the Olivier. Like this is not her first nomination

[Mickey Jo]

and she's given showstopping performances many, many times years now.

[Aaron James]

So this. I'm partly wondering whether even though I think Kate Fleet would make some like, I think it'll go there. There is part of me that's like, well, is this not just the Paddington of it all, but also a. Could it be like the. This is now your time.

[Mickey Jo]

But the Paddington of it all is also a little bit tricky because if you were to actually vote in this category and you had all of these nominees, looking at these names, who are you actually going to vote for? You personally, Because I can tell you I'm voting for Amy Booth Steele.

[Aaron James]

I know. I know you are.

[Mickey Jo]

You walk out of Paddington and I've heard these conversations happen. You walk out of Paddington talking about Tom Edden and Amy Booth Steele and I love Victoria in it. I think she's fantastic in it. But it's quite a different thing to actually stop a show and Amy does it at least twice.

[Aaron James]

Yeah.

[Mickey Jo]

In Paddington, that is a real glorious supporting performance. I wasn't sure it was going to get nominated because I didn't know if the role was big enough. You had like Bonnie Langford in the cast and others who arguably should have got a nomination in this category also. But I, I was thrilled she got the nomination. I would even vote for her to win.

[Aaron James]

I mean, I love shirt so much. So like kind of my heart is always with Lulu.

[Mickey Jo]

You might have said that. Yeah.

[Aaron James]

Like. And I think Georgina brought even more to it that like such different things from Alex to it. It didn't feel like Georgina was trying to replicate what Alex had done.

[Mickey Jo]

There was heart in there, there was grit in there.

[Aaron James]

Yeah. I was about to say there was like just nuances that Georgina brought by.

[Mickey Jo]

Let us not forget this is also in a musical and the vote like nothing else in this Category approaches. The vocal performance that Georgina was giving, it shucked, like, next level.

[Aaron James]

Yeah. If we're talking vocals, it's Georgina every day.

[Mickey Jo]

Yeah. So to conclude, impossibly hard to decide

[Aaron James]

that is by the hardest category. And I'm just happy for whoever wins.

[Mickey Jo]

I'm gonna be hiding behind my hands, but yeah, in almost all of the categories this year, I'm gonna be happy for whoever wins. There aren't a lot of, like, results that I fear because they're going to upset me, which I will say happens sometimes.

[Aaron James]

It has happened. Yeah.

[Mickey Jo]

There's been such a high quality of theater and performance over the last year. Anyway, you have all that to look forward to next weekend when we potentially smuggle a camera into the Olivier Awards or at the very least tell you about our experience after the fact and reveal to you what it is that we've decided to wear. Until then, you and I are going to have to wait to find out who the winners are going to be. However, those have been our predictions. Yes, we would love to hear yours. Share all of your thoughts in the comments down below. What's your most out there expectation for who might upset in a particular category? Which show do you think will have the most wins? I'm sure Paddington is the one we said the most times, but let us know what you think and if you agree. In the meantime, thank you so much for listening to our thoughts and justifying the conversations we have. This is just the one we film. We talk about this constantly.

[Aaron James]

We've gone back and forward like of the names we probably said today were not ones we'd have said like a few months ago and maybe it'll change

[Mickey Jo]

by tomorrow or by next weekend. For now, thank you for listening and we hope that everyone is staying safe and that you have a stagey day.

[Aaron James]

Bye.

[Mickey Jo]

For 10 more seconds, I'm Mickey Jo Theatre. Oh my God. Hey, thanks for watching. Have a stagey day.

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