It was a night when the great and the good from the worlds of fashion and the arts joined forces. The 58th London Evening Standard Theatre Awards were arguably the most glittering and memorable yet.
The evening was hosted by Standard owner Evgeny Lebedev, Christopher Bailey, Chief Creative Officer of Burberry, and Anna Wintour, editor in chief of American Vogue and daughter of the late Standard editor Charles Wintour.
The ceremony at The Savoy hotel attracted guest presenters including Homeland star Damian Lewis, Colin Firth, Ralph Fiennes, Bill Nighy, Sir Ian McKellen, Ruth Wilson, Felicity Jones and rapper Tinie Tempah.
To mark the Standard’s partnership with Burberry, a new category was introduced. The Burberry Award for Emerging Director was given to Simon Godwin, 36, by War Horse star Jeremy Irvine for his work at the Royal Court Theatre.
Compere James Corden, who had the crowd in stitches, said: “I approached this the same way I do everything I do — just to be very warm and for it to be very celebratory. And at points ever-so-slightly cheeky. But you don’t ever want to hijack the night.”
On an evening of high spirits, Michael Ball lifted his Sweeney Todd co-star Imelda Staunton above his head after the production received the Ned Sherrin Award for Best Musical.
