The
Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical is an annual award presented by the
Society of London Theatre
The Society of London Theatre (SOLT) is an umbrella organisation for West End theatre in London. Founded in 1908, as Society of West End Theatre Managers, then Society of West End Theatre in 1975, changing to its current name in 1994, the (SOLT) ...
in recognition of achievements in commercial London theatre. The awards were established as the Society of
West End Theatre
West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London.Christopher Innes, "West End" in ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 1194–1 ...
Awards in 1976, and renamed in 1984 in honour of English actor and director
Laurence Olivier.
This award was introduced in 1979, along with the award for
Best Actor in a Musical. In 1977 and 1978, there had been a commingled actor/actress award for
Best Performance in a Musical, won both times by an actress.
Winners and nominees
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
Multiple awards and nominations for Best Actress in a Musical
Awards
;Three awards
*
Imelda Staunton
;Two awards
*
Barbara Dickson
Barbara Ruth Dickson (born 27 September 1947) is a Scottish singer and actress whose hits include 'I Know Him So Well', 'Answer Me' and ' January February'. Dickson has placed fifteen albums on the UK Albums Chart from 1977 to date, and had a ...
*
Maria Friedman
*
Julia McKenzie
*
Joanna Riding
*
Samantha Spiro
Samantha Spiro (born 20 June 1968) is an English actress and singer. She is best known for portraying Barbara Windsor in the stage play '' Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick'' and the television films ''Cor, Blimey!'' and ''Babs'', DI Vivien F ...
Nominations
;Seven nominations
*
Imelda Staunton
;Six nominations
*
Maria Friedman
;Five nominations
*
Ruthie Henshall
Valentine Ruth Henshall (born 7 March 1967), known professionally as Ruthie Henshall, is an English actress, singer and dancer, known for her work in musical theatre. She began her professional stage career in 1986, before making her West End d ...
*
Julia McKenzie
*
Joanna Riding
;Four nominations
*
Elaine Paige
Elaine Jill Paige (née Bickerstaff; born 5 March 1948) is an English singer and actress, best known for her work in musical theatre. Raised in Barnet, Hertfordshire, Paige attended the Aida Foster Theatre School, making her first professiona ...
;Three nominations
*
Elena Roger
*
Jenna Russell
Jenna Russell (born 5 October 1967) is an English actress and singer. She has appeared on the stage in London in both musicals and dramas, as well as appearing with the Royal Shakespeare Company. She performed the role of Dot in ''Sunday in the ...
*
Sheridan Smith
Sheridan Caroline Sian Smith OBE (born 25 June 1981) is an English actress, singer and television personality. Smith came to prominence after playing a variety of characters on sitcoms such as ''The Royle Family'' (1999–2000), '' Two Pints ...
*
Hannah Waddingham
Hannah Waddingham (born 28 July 1974) is a British actress and singer. She is best known for playing Rebecca Welton in the comedy series '' Ted Lasso'' (2020–present), for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actre ...
;Two nominations
Multiple awards and nominations for a character
Awards
;2 awards
*
Eliza Doolittle
Eliza Doolittle is a fictional character and the protagonist in George Bernard Shaw's play '' Pygmalion'' (1913) and its 1956 musical adaptation, ''My Fair Lady''.
Eliza (from Lisson Grove, London) is a Cockney flower woman, who comes to Prof ...
from ''
My Fair Lady
''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play '' Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons ...
''
*Miss Adelaide from ''
Guys and Dolls
''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Runyon, and also bo ...
''
*
Mrs. Lovett from ''
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street''
*The Baker's Wife from ''
Into the Woods''
Nominations
;5 nominations
*Miss Adelaide from ''Guys and Dolls''
*Norma Desmond from ''
Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades east to Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles. It is a major thoroughfare in ...
''
;3 nominations
*Eliza Doolittle from ''My Fair Lady''
*Lilli Vanessi / Katharine from ''
Kiss Me, Kate
''Kiss Me, Kate'' is a musical written by Bella and Samuel Spewack with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The story involves the production of a musical version of William Shakespeare's ''The Taming of the Shrew'' and the conflict on and off-stag ...
''
*Mrs. Johnstone from ''
Blood Brothers''
*Mrs. Lovett from ''Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street''
;2 nominations
See also
*
Tony Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
*
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
References
*
External links
*
{{OlivierAward MusicalActress
Actress
An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...
Theatre acting awards
Awards for actresses