From Shakespeare sensations and musical marvels to THAT gravity-defying performance – a look-back at stars who began their careers on the stage ahead of the Olivier Awards
The 2023 Laurence Olivier Awards are set to take place on Sunday April 2, with the best and brightest in the West End coming together to see who will scoop the coveted honours.
And while plenty of veteran performers make the jump to the stage after an illustrious on-screen career, there are a slew of household names who kicked off their success in the world of theatre.
Stars including Idina Menzel, Benedict Cumberbatch and Maggie Smith first found prominence through their theatre, with some going onto to win Olivier and Tony Awards for their performances.
Others have forever returned to the stage for various parts after their on-screen recognition, to much praise from critics and audiences.
So, as theatre fans count down the ears to West End’s biggest night, MailOnline takes a look-back at stars who began their rise to fame on the stage.
James Norton
Blast from the past: James Norton began his stage career in 2010, and earned critical acclaim for his performance in That Face in the same year
While one of James’ earliest TV roles came in An Education in 2009, after attended the Royal Academy Of Dramatic Art, he formed the original cast of the Royal Court Theatre’s production of Posh in 2010.
That same year he landed the role of Henry, an teenage who has dropped out of school to care for his mentally disturbed and drug-dependent mother in That Face at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre, with his performance praised by one critic as ‘striking’.
In 2011, James starred as Captain Stanhope in the First World War drama Journey’s End, which toured the UK before transferring to the Duke Of York Theatre.
He then starred as Geoffrey in The Lion in Winter at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, before kickstarting his on-screen career in 2012 with Cheerful Weather For The Wedding.
While James had various other TV roles, his big on-screen break came in 2014, when he starred as villain Tommy Lee Royce in Happy Valley, and Sidney Chambers in Grantchester.
James has since appeared in a slew of other TV roles, although he returned to the West End in 2016 to star in Tracy Letts’ Bug in London’s West End, and between December 2017 and February 2018 he appeared in Amy Herzog’s Belleville at the Donmar Warehouse.
Idina Menzel
Praised: Idina Menzel began her theatre career as a member of the original cast of Rent, but in 2003, earned worldwide attention for her performance in Wicked
While Idina has had a slew of film and TV roles, she is best known for her incredible Broadway work, beginning with her performance as Maureen in the original cast in Rent in 1996.
For her performance, Idina landed a Tony nomination, but after departing the show, she failed to land mainstream success for many years, instead appearing in a slew of Off-Broadway productions.
In 2003, Idina then landed the lead role in the original Broadway cast of Wicked as the Wicked Witch Elphaba opposite Kristin Chenowith as Glinda, and earned widespread praise for the performance, and a Tony Award.
While she continued to star in the theatre, including a Tony-nominated role in If/Then in 2014, Idina has since branched out into television and film work.
She went onto land a recurring stint on Glee, and appear in the television film Beaches, and most famously voice Elsa in the Disney film Frozen.
Ariana Debose
Stellar: Ahead of her Oscar win for West Side Story in 2022, Ariana DeBose starred in Motown: The Musical (pictured far right)
Amazing: Her breakout Hollywood role came as Anita in Spielberg’s adaptation of the famous musical, earning her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Ariana landed her breakout Hollywood role as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story in 2021, which earned her an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
But before that, the actress had starred in multiple Broadway productions, making her debut in 2011’s Bring It On: The Musical.
She then went onto star in Motown: The Musical and Pippin, before originating the role of The Bullet in Lin Manuel-Miranda’s musical Hamilton.
Ariana earned a Tony Award nomination in 2018 for playing Disco Donna in Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, and in 2020, before landing her West Side Story role, she starred in the film adaptation of The Prom.
Ruthie Henshall
Iconic: Ruthie has been a fixture on the West End stage for decades, making her West End debut in Cats in 1987, before going onto star in Crazy For You
Ruthie has been a fixture on the West End stage for decades, having first performed in a touring production of A Chorus Line before making her debut in Cats in 1987.
Since then she has starred in shows such as Miss Saigon, Les Miserables, Oliver! and She Loves Me, and has been nominated for a total of five Olivier Awards.
More recently she starred in Billy Elliot and Chicago, but has also branched out into TV acting with roles in Wizards vs Aliens, Doctors and Coronation Street.
Ruthie is next set to star in as Dorothy Brick at the Sadler’s Wells Theatre this summer.
Lea Michele
Classic: Before her breakout role as Rachel Berry on Glee, Lea Michele appeared as a child star in several Broadway shows, before joining the original cast of Spring Awakening
Many fans will know Lea Michele for her role as the larger-than-life Broadway hopeful Rachel Berry on Glee, so it’s no surprise that the actress herself began her career on the stage.
She made her debut at the age of just eight as Young Cosette in Les Miserables, and she followed up by starring as Little Girl in the 1998 original Broadway cast of Ragtime.
In 2004, Lea starred as Shprintze in the Broadway revival of the musical Fiddler On The Roof, and two years later her breakout stage role as Wendla Bergmann in the musical adaptation of Spring Awakening.
The show, where she starred alongside close friend Jonathan Groff, saw her play a 19th Century teenager coming to terms with her own sexual awakening, at a time when such topics were considered taboo.
While Lea went onto star in various other shows, in 2009 she landed the role of Rachel on Glee, kickstarting her TV and film career.
However, last year she took over the role of Fanny Bryce in the Broadway revival of Funny Girl, and will stay with the show until it closes in September 2023.
Maggie Smith
Thespian: Maggie Smith began her decades-long career in the theatre, starring in a slew of Shakespeare productions including Othello
While she is now considered one of the UK’s most critically-acclaimed film stars, Dame Maggie began her acting career in the theatre.
Throughout her career she has appeared in more than 70 plays, making her stage debut back in 1952 with Twelfth Night at the Oxford Playhouse.
Other shows include As You Like It, Othello, Antony and Cleopatra and Richard III, and in 1969 she landed her breakout film role in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, which won her the Academy Award For Best Actress.
While she is now known for her biggest film appearances, including Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter and the acid-tongued Dowager Countess in Downton Abbey, Maggie has continued to perform in the theatre throughout her career.
Ian McKellen
Iconic: Sir Ian McKellen began his career as part of The Belgrade Theatre’s repertory company in 1961, and made his West End debut in 1965
While now known for his blockbuster appearances in the X-Men and Lord Of The Rings films, Sir Ian began his career as part of The Belgrade Theatre’s repertory company in 1961.
He then made his West End debut in 1965 at the Old Vic Theatre, and later joined the Prospect Theatre Company to appear in Shakespeare’s Richard III.
Throughout the 1970s, Ian was a regular at the Royal Shakespeare Company, and in 1981 he landed his first Tony nomination for Amadeus.
After decades in the theatre, Ian didn’t kickstart his film career until the 1990s, and he gained worldwide attention for playing Magneto in the original X-Men film series.
He then took on the role of Gandalf in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, earning him an Oscar nomination, and has since then become one of Hollywood’s biggest stars.
Last year, Ian returned to his theatre career with a bold new direction when he joined the cast of the pantomime Mother Goose at Theatre Royal Brighton.
Imelda Staunton
Legend: While she has been more recently known for playing Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown, Imelda began her illustrious career in repertory theatre in 1976
While she has been more recently known for playing Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown, Imelda began her illustrious career in repertory theatre in 1976.
She made her stage debut in Guys And Dolls in 1982, and has also starred in Into The Woods, Gypsy and even as Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz.
Imelda has also won four Olivier Awards, including three for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical, and has been nominated for the coveted honour 13 times.
Her film career was kickstarted in the 1986 film Comrades, and has since starred in Much Ado About Nothing, Sense and Sensibility, Shakespeare In Love, Nanny McPhee, and the villainous Professor Umbridge in Harry Potter and the Order Of The Phoenix.
In 2012, Imelda returned to the theatre to star opposite Michael Ball in Sweeney Todd, and in 2015 she starred as Momma Rose in Gypsy.
In 2017, Imelda returned to the Harold Pinter Theatre in London West End in 2017 as Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Michael Ball
Stage star: Kicking off his illustrious stage career, Michael Ball originated the role of Marius in the West End production of Les Miserables in 1985
Michael kickstarted his illustrious theatre career by originating the role of Marius in the West End production of Les Miserables in 1985.
Two years later he starred as Raoul in The Phantom Of The Opera, and then appeared in Aspects Of Love, with his recording of a song from the show reaching number two in the charts.
While Michael has branched out into recording and releasing his own music, he has continued to be a UK theatre fixture, originating the role of Edna Turnblad on the West End version of Hairspray in 2007, and reprising the role for a UK tour in 2021.
He has also won two Laurence Olivier Awards, one for Hairspray, and another for his performance opposite Imelda in Sweeney Todd.
Benedict Cumberbatch
So much stage work! Benedict Cumberbatch began his theatre career, with a slew of roles at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre (pictured in As You Like It in 2002)
Now, Benedict is revered as one of the UK’s top TV actors, following his breakout performacnce Sherlock in the BBC series based on the iconic detective.
However, he began his career with a slew of roles at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, and in 2005, he was nominated for an Olivier Award for his role as George Tesman in Hedda Gabler which he performed at the Duke Of York Theatre.
In 2010, as he landed critical praise for his role in Sherlock, Benedict starred as in the revival of Sir Terence Rattigan’s After the Dance at the Royal National Theatre.
In 2011, Benedict starred as Victor Frankenstein and his creature, opposite Jonny Lee Miller, in Danny Boyle’s stage production of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein at the Royal National Theatre.
For his performance, he earned the coveted ‘Triple Crown Of London Theatre’ by scooping the Olivier Award, Evening Standard Award and Critics’ Circle Theatre Award.
Following TV and film success, including an Oscar nomination for The Imitation Game, Benedict returned to the stage in 2015 to play Hamlet and London’s Barbican Theatre in a limited run, earning his third Olivier Award nomination.
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