Martine McCutcheon has won the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance as Eliza Doolittle in Trevor Nunn’s National Theatre hit My Fair Lady. She stepped up onto the stage at the Victoria Palace Theatre to collect her statuette from musical veteran Michael Ball. “I am so shocked, I don’t know what to say,” she announced, plainly overwhelmed by the news, adding, ”I didn’t play the role as long as I wanted to, but when I did play it, it was the best time of my life. It was such an honour, it made all my personal struggles worthwhile.”
Despite being plagued by illness during her run in the record-breaking show, McCutcheon still managed to impress the judges and beat stiff competition to the prize from legendary Broadway star Barbara Cook in her Sondheim show, from Ruthie Henshall in Peggy Sue Got Married and Marin Mazzie for Kiss, Me Kate. Now playing at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, My Fair Lady featured in a total of eight categories this year.
