OLIVIERS 2013: Live Blog! Follow The Concert, Red Carpet And Ceremony

UK editor in chief Carrie Dunn follows the Oliviers party, red carpet and the ceremony, and gives her opinions on the runners and riders...

See the list of winners and nominees over here.

So that's it for the 2013 Olivier Awards! You can catch highlights on ITV1 from 10.15pm - and don't forget to tell us what you thought of the show - and the winners - in the comments and over on our West End board!

9.45pm: Standing ovation for Gillian Lynne, of course. It's left to Sheridan Smith and Hugh Bonneville to do the final thank-yous, before introducing a performance from the UK touring company of Cats.

9.40pm: She describes Cats as "a choreographer's dream" - and says that the number of productions still "roaming" the world mean that she can have an odd tin of caviar. She then talks about seeing a "tall, beautiful young dish of a chap" when she was casting My Fair Lady 34 years ago - her now husband, Peter Land.

9.35pm: Lynne says when they asked her to accept the award, she said to her husband, "I'm so old now, no-one will know who I am." She says she has enjoyed her career so much that it seems like "extravagance" to get an award for it, and she's adamant that she has no intention of retiring as yet.

9.33pm: Hang on. "There is someone very special who has come a very, very long way to do what I thought I was going to do," says David Suchet, and then hands over to Michael Crawford - Lynne's first Phantom of the Opera - to present the award.

9.30pm: David Suchet comes on to make the official presentation. He says that Lynne has been "gracing stages throughout the world" in all the different aspects of her career.

9.25pm: And so we finish the evening with the second special award of the year, to the legendary Gillian Lynne. The tribute begins with Best Actor in a Musical Michael Ball singing Love Changes Everything.

9.20pm: Tom Hiddleston presents Best New Play, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time wraps up an incredibly successful evening by taking this award as well.

9.15pm: Now, time for Best New Musical, to be presented by Tim Minchin. "It feels like a very long time - since we were allowed alcohol," he says, referring to the length of the ceremony. Embarrassed, guilty giggles all round. Top Hat takes the category.

9.10pm: Matthew Morrison sings a medley from West Side Story.

9.06pm: Adrian Lester then presents Best Actress in a Musical to Imelda Staunton, of course, for her Mrs Lovett. She mentions the need for a category for musical directors - "they keep the shows going, year in, year out." She says that her husband Jim Carter told her not to bother getting him a ticket for the closing night - "You're all right, pet, I've seen it."

9.02pm: And now time for the leading performances in musicals, first one to be presented by Brian May and Lynda Bellingham - a rather odd duo. Michael Ball wins Best Actor in a Musical for his Sweeney Todd.

9pm: Lily James is going to present Best Supporting Performance in a Musical to Leigh Zimmerman, Sheila in A Chorus Line. She points out that she has dual citizenship and claims to be "British all the way", and then proceeds to blub - "this is what we do for love. Thank you."

8.56pm: Another performance from Idina Menzel, this time of 'Don't Rain On My Parade' from Funny Girl.

8.53pm: Time for a little insight into the work nominated for Best New Play.

8.46pm: Arlene Phillips and Douglas Hodge are here to present the Theatre Choreography award to Bill Deamer for Top Hat - he also won Best Choreography in the 2012 BWW:UK Awards! "I shall treasure this forever," he says. Then Best Musical Revival goes to Sweeney Todd - which, again, won the same category at the 2012 BWW:UK Awards.

8.43pm: The final nominee for Best New Musical is Soul Sister, and Emi Wokoma performs 'The Best'.

8.38pm: Hugh Bonneville now ventures out to the Piazza, where he introduces James Bourne, co-creator of Best New Musical nominee Loserville.

8.35pm: Klass now presents Outstanding Achievement in Opera to Bryan Hymel for his performances in Les Troyens, Robert Le Diable and Rusalka at the Royal Opera House.

8.27pm: Heather Headley of The Bodyguard sings 'I Will Always Love You'. Apparently she gets a standing ovation. And then the microphones seem to go wrong, or someone trips over a wire or something. Everything's plugged back in ready for Myleene Klass, presenting the Best New Opera award. It goes to Einstein On The Beach at the Barbican Theatre.

8.25pm: Here's SurAnne Jones of Beautiful Thing to present the award for work in an affiliate theatre, won by the season of new writing at the Royal Court Upstairs. Dominic Cooke also talks about the need for "sustained public funding". Is culture secretary Maria Miller at the awards? Wonder what she thinks of these acceptance speeches.

8.20pm: Best Director will be presented by Lee Evans. There is clearly a lot of physical comedy going on. It doesn't work very well on a live radio broadcast. It's yet another win for The Curious Incident of the Dog in The Night-Time and director Marianne Elliott. She talks about the importance of subsidised theatre as well.

8.15pm: So the ceremony began again and Radio Two didn't notice. It's OK, we've not missed much of 'Let's Face The Music and Dance' performed by the company of Top Hat - oh, in face, it merges into a medley from some of the show's hits.

8.05pm: Back out in the Piazza, the dance production Burn The Floor - featuring Strictly Come Dancing stars Robin Windsor and Kristina Rihanoff - is thrilling the crowd, still out there and very patient!

8pm: So that's the first half over with! Time for a well-deserved interval. Let me know what you think of the show so far in the comments.

7.50pm: We're closing the first half with a tribute to Marvin Hamlisch, beginning with Idina Menzel singing 'That's How I Say Goodbye' from Sweet Smell of Success, and then introducing a video snippet of A Chorus Line in I Hope I Get It, carefully Olivierised, before welcoming the cast to the stage to perform 'One'.

7.41pm: Time for the first special award of the evening! It goes to Michael Frayn and that wonderful actor Roger Allam is there to present. Frayn says it is a "particularly great honour" to get the award from Allam. He wonders whether it is a "very great hint from the management" that he is well past retirement age.

7.40pm: And now Daniel Radcliffe is going to present Best Actress - and it's Helen Mirren adding to her collection of honours, for The Audience. She reckons the Queen deserves an Olivier for the most committed and consistent performance of the 20th century, and probably the 21st century.

7.35pm: Kim Cattrall is here to present the award for Best Actor, amidst much innuendo. Luke Treadaway wins for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

7.30pm: Bonneville and Smith bicker about the correct pronunciation of the word "dance", and then Edward Watson announces the nominees for Best New Dance Production, won by Aeternum. That's followed by Outstanding Achievement in Dance, won by Marianela Nunez for her work on Aeternum, Diana & Actaeon and Viscera for the The Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House.

7.25pm: Petula Clark is now about to perform 'With One Look' from Sunset Boulevard. Meanwhile, Anna-Jane Casey, about to star in Billy Elliot as Mrs Wilkinson, tweets that she's weeping in her kitchen after that Audience Award win.

7.15pm: Sheridan Smith heads out to the Piazza to talk to Michael Xavier for a bit and to announce the winner of the Audience Award, presented by Vicky Entwistle and Elaine Paige, to Billy Elliot. That might be a bit of a shock, I think. Deka Walmsley, who's playing Dad at the moment, takes the award from Paige's hot little clutches, and we have another performance of 'Electricity'.

7.12pm: Once's Declan Bennett and Zrinka Cvitesic are here to present Best Entertainment and Family to Goodnight Mister Tom.

7.10pm: Time for the montage of people who have died in the 12 months since the last Olivier Awards - always a very sad moment of the ceremony.

7.05pm: Anna Chancellor and Allen Leech are presenting Best Costume Design, and the winner is Jon Morrell for his work on Top Hat. That's followed by Best Set Design, won by Bunny Christie & Finn Ross for The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time.

7pm: A really quick clip of Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton in Sweeney Todd, before Bonneville goes on a rant about arts subsidies yielding economic return as exemplified by the RSC's Matilda - and Tim Minchin is welcomed to the stage for a performance of My House.

6.55pm: Jonathan Bailey and Lara Pulver are our next presenters, for Lighting Design. Paule Constable wins for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, and then she's followed by her colleague Ian Dickinson winning for Sound Design.

6.50pm: Time for our next musical performance - Hannah Waddingham and Alex Bourne singing 'Wunderbar' from the revival of Kiss Me, Kate.

6.44pm: Best Supporting Actor, presented by Romola Garai and Rupert Penry-Jones, won by Richard McCabe for The Audience; and Best Supporting Actress, won by Nicola Walker for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

6.41pm: First award is Best Revival of a Play, presented by Damian Lewis. The winner is Long Day's Journey Into Night.

6.38pm: A fully hydratEd Smith returns to begin her hosting duties, alongside Hugh Bonneville.

6.35pm: She's completely out of breath and introduces Will Young and the company of Cabaret, before excusing herself to grab a glass of water.

6.32pm: Tonight's host Sheridan Smith - herself an Olivier winner - opens the evening with a performance of Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend, choreographed by Arlene Phillips.

6.30pm: The BBC Concert Orchestra, under the direction of David Charles Abell, are just tuning up...and then we'll be ready to go!

If you want to just see the winners updated in real time, you can do so!

6.25pm: They're previewing the Audience Award now on BBC Radio 2 - who's your money on? The crowd in Covent Garden seem to be cheering on Wicked...

Inside the Royal Opera House auditorium, the Society of London Theatre president Mark Rubinstein is welcoming the evening's guests with a speech about the importance of theatre.

6.20pm: The radio show has already veered into discussing Broadway transfers and potential Tony wins. Hey ho.

Everyone's piling in now, ready for the start of the ceremony - Kim Cattrall's there, Lara Pulver, Daniel Radcliffe...

Ken Bruce points out that Michael Frayn is getting a lifetime achievement award although "he's not had his life yet".

6.10pm: Anneka Rice and Michael Ball are enthusing about how much they both love Gillian Lynne, who's picking up a Special Award tonight.

"I'm the only one here I'm never heard of!" squeals Ball, who's in the midst of concerts at the moment.

"Shouldn't you be gargling with a bottle of gin?" asks Rice.

Libby Purves speculates that Rupert Everett's Best Actor nomination for his work in The Judas Kiss is in a role that "was designed for him by God, or David Hare, which is the same thing."

6pm: Phantom of the Opera is the next Audience Award nominee to perform in the Piazza, with Sofia Escobar and Marcus Lovett representing the show. And then Michael Xavier sings to the crowds from a balcony, which seems to be very popular.

Live coverage is about to start on BBC Radio Two - remember, there's no live television stream of the red carpet or the ceremony. Ken Bruce is presenting, with pundits Libby Purves and Matt Wolf. Anneka Rice is out on the red carpet, prowling around to accost people.

5.50pm: And Twitter goes wild as Idina Menzel tweets a picture of her getting ready for the show!

5.40pm: I can confirm that Lady Penelope's car from Thunderbirds - reg plate FAB 1 - has arrived at the Royal Opera House...as has Best Actor nominee James McAvoy.

Meanwhile, Some Like It Hip-Hop are performing on the Piazza stage.

And we learn that Damian Lewis will be presenting the award for Best Revival tonight!

5.30pm: All the nominees are rocking up now - Rafe Spall's the most recent to arrive! He's joined swiftly on the red carpet by Best Actress in a Musical candidate Summer Strallen.

Theatrical agent Stuart Piper tells us on Twitter that Klass will be presenting the Opera award tonight while Arlene Phillips presents Choreography.

Brian May - sorry, make that Dr Brian May - will be presenting Best Actor in a Musical.

Speaking of which, Douglas Hodge - about to appear in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - makes an appearance on the Covent Garden stage.

5.20pm: The ever-popular ladies from Wicked, Gina Beck and Louise Dearman, are performing 'For Good', before Dearman sings 'The Wizard and I'. Meanwhile, Myleene Klass, one of tonight's awards presenters, is arriving on the red carpet.

5.17pm: I learn from Twitter that Once's Declan Bennett and Zrinka Cvitesic are presenting the Olivier for Best Entertainment and Family tonight.

5.10pm: The red carpet is starting to fill up - nominee Will Young is already there, and Twitter informs me that Idina Menzel will be arriving in Lady Penelope's car from Thunderbirds, or something. If I get pictures I shall post!

An extract from Potted Potter is up next on the stage.

5pm: The nominees for the Audience Award category will be profiled this afternoon in the Piazza - starting with Billy Elliot. One of the West End Billys, Tade Biesinger, is performing 'Electricity' - and host Michael Xavier describes him as "amazing".

4.45pm: Finally, this show is under way - with the West End Gospel Choir.

4.30pm: Did you see these great videos featuring some of the Olivier nominees?

Meet The Nominees, Including Morahan, Chambers, Headley and Strallen!

Meet The Nominees, Including McAvoy, Spall, Jumbo and Zimmerman!

Meet The Nominees, Including Payne, Treadaway, Kurup and Young!

4pm: It's all about to start in Covent Garden, where the band are warming up and the shows have all gone through their soundchecks!

You can catch up on some of our Oliviers coverage if you've not had chance to -

Award-winner Gillian Lynne - some footage from the Phantom archive!

Nominee Debbie Kurup talks about going to the awards!

And Party in the Piazza presenter Michael Xavier tells us what he's looking forward to!

3.30pm: Best Actor in a Musical nominee Michael Ball tweeted a short while ago -

"En route to Royal Opera House to rehearse my part in paying tribute to the amazing Gillie Lynn on @OlivierAwards. Going to be quite a night!"

There's no live TV stream of the Oliviers ceremony tonight (although you can follow it with us here, of course) - there's live coverage on BBC Radio Two, and then televised highlights tonight on ITV1 at 10.15pm.

3pm: There's one hour to go until the Party in the Piazza begins! Host Michael Xavier has been tweeting from his car (don't worry, he's not driving) so he's en route.

Even though the ceremony itself doesn't begin for several hours, the red carpet is already down outside the Royal Opera House - and fans are waiting to see the arrivals.

And West End folk are out in force on Twitter wishing their friends the very best of luck - here's a message from Ricardo Afonso (most recently seen in Top Hat and We Will Rock You, as well as on BBC's The Voice last night) to Alex Bourne, nominated for his role in Kiss Me, Kate -

"My dearest friend @bigalbourne you are the man! You deserve to win. You got my support! Always! Love ya man!"

There's also a nice message from The Book of Mormon's Jared Gertner -

"Best of luck to everyone performing and/or nominated at the #OLIVIERS tonight. Proud to be a part of The West End community!"

1pm: Good afternoon, all! We'll be starting the liveblog in an hour or two, with all the latest from the Party in the Piazza in Covent Garden, hosted by Claudia Winkleman and Michael Xavier.

To post a comment, you must register and login.