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Priscilla Queen Of The Desert scooped four awards, Best Choreographer (the late Ross Coleman), Best New Musical, Best Supporting Actor in a Musical (Oliver Thornton) and Best Set Designer (Brian Thomson). Accepting his award, Oliver Thornton clearly overwhelmed, compared his current social life to that of a slug’s due to the shows demanding schedule. Having recently extended his contract it would appear Thornton would have it no other way and will continue to ride the Priscilla bus.

Priscilla was an instant hit when it opened last year, starring original Australian cast member Tony Sheldon and pop star Jason Donovan. The show tells the heart-warming and uplifting story of Mitzi, Bernadette and Felicia, a glamorous Sydney based performing trio who agree to take their show to the middle of the Australian outback. The three friends set off in a battered old bus. Featuring some outrageous costumes, humour and 25 dance floor classics, Priscilla is one show not to be missed, get your tickets here. 

Oliver! was another big winner of the night, picking up three awards, winning the Best Musical Revival category, Best Actor in a Musical (Rowan Atkinson) and Best Supporting Actress in a Musical (Jodie Prenger). Atkinson, who could not attend, sent a video message thanking everyone who voted, Oliver! saw Atkinson make his theatre debut. Jodie, after accepting her award, took to the stage to perform ‘Losing My Mind’ from Follies, reminding everyone why she was crowned Nancy in the reality TV show I’d Do Anything.

The awards were started 10 years ago, hailed as the “theatregoers' choice”, the awards are a true reflection of the public opinion. Theatre legends Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen, who like many of the other winners, praised the awards for being purely voted for by the public and not down to the critics. This year saw 46,000 people voting across 26 different award categories, an increase of 11,000 on the previous year.

Among the awards on offer was a special anniversary Best West End Show Award, which was won by Wicked with current Elphaba, Alexia Khadime, giving an outstanding performance of ‘The Wizard And I’.

Other notable winners, who weren’t present, included Jude Law (Best Actor for Hamlet), and Rachel Weisz (Best Actress for A Streetcar Named Desire). Derren Brown won Best Solo Performance, beating rival Rob Brydon by just ten votes. Brown, in his acceptance speech, thanked Twitter and nearly shared his award with Brydon, before withdrawing his statement.

John Barrowman won Best Takeover in a Role for La Cage Aux Folles, and sent an upbeat message of thanks. "The reason I love this is because it's voted by you guys, the public. I'd rather be recognised by you than by any kind of hierarchy because I think you're more important because you bought the tickets”

Patrick Stewart took home the Best Supporting Actor in a Play for Hamlet and along with Sir Ian McKellen won the Theatre Event Of The Year for the pairing of the two in Waiting For Godot. Diana Vickers, Miriam Margolyes, Patina Miller and Trevor Nunn also took home awards. For a full list of winners click here.