LONDON - Big-hearted musical "Hairspray" was head and shoulders above the competition Sunday at London's Laurence Olivier theatre awards, taking four major prizes including best musical.

Newcomer Leanne Jones was named best actress in a musical for her performance as Tracy Turnblad, a teenager who dreams of dancing away the racial divide in 1960s Baltimore.

Jones, 22, graduated from stage school last year and was working in a bank call centre when she got the part, her first professional role.

"This is what I've dreamed of my whole life," Jones said. "I can't believe what has happened to me in the last 12 months.

"This feels really, really magical."

Stage star Michael Ball won the prize for best actor in a musical for his cross-dressing turn as Tracy's mother, Edna - a role played by Harvey Fierstein on Broadway and John Travolta in last year's film adaptation.

"I was actually hoping for best actress," Ball said.

Tracie Bennett was named best supporting performer in a musical for playing scheming TV producer Velma Von Tussle in "Hairspray."

"Hairspray" opened in London in October, five years after the musical adaptation of John Waters' 1988 cult film made its Broadway debut. It went on to win eight Tony Awards, and has proved a critical and popular hit in London as well.

The Olivier awards, Britain's equivalent of the Tonys, honour achievements in London theatre, musicals, dance and opera. Actor Richard Grant hosted Sunday's glitzy awards ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel.

Rising movie star Chiwetel Ejiofor ("Dirty Pretty Things," "American Gangster") was named best actor in a play for "Othello," beating Ian McKellen for "King Lear" and Patrick Stewart for "Macbeth."

Ejiofor's performance in Shakespeare's tragedy at the 250-seat Donmar Warehouse - opposite Ewan McGregor as the villainous Iago - was one of the hottest tickets in town this winter. The show sold out its three-month run in a single day.

Kristin Scott Thomas was named best actress in a play for Anton Chekhov's "The Seagull" at the Royal Court Theatre.

"I'm so proud of this you can't even imagine," Scott Thomas said backstage, clutching her Olivier statuette.

"It will be cherished and polished."

Versatile actor Rory Kinnear was named best supporting performer in a play for "The Man of Mode" at the National Theatre.

Rupert Goold took the directing prize for his production of "Macbeth," which featured "Star Trek" and "X-Men" star Stewart in a Soviet-inspired production of Shakespeare's Scottish tragedy.

"A Disappearing Number," theater company Complicite's playful take on the philosophy of mathematics, was named best new play. "Rafta, Rafta," Ayub Khan-Din's warmhearted family saga set in an Indian community in northern England, took the prize for best new comedy.

Composer-impresario Andrew Lloyd Webber received a special award "for his remarkable achievements over the last few decades as well as his recent role in bringing theater to new audiences the world over."

The 59-year-old composer of "Phantom of the Opera" and "Evita" has scored a major success in recent years by using reality-TV shows to cast the lead roles in West End revivals of "The Sound of Music" and "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat."

Last year, Lloyd Webber's fortune was valued at $1.5 billion by the Sunday Times' Rich List.

-

Winners of the 2008 Laurence Olivier Awards, honouring achievement in theatre, opera and dance in Britain:

New Play: "A Disappearing Number"

New Comedy: "Rafta, Rafta"

New Musical: "Hairspray"

Revival: "Saint Joan"

Musical Revival: "The Magic Flute - Impempe Yomlingo"

Actress-Play: Kristin Scott Thomas, "The Seagull"

Actor-Play: Chiwetel Ejiofor, "Othello"

Actress-Musical: Leanne Jones, "Hairspray"

Actor-Musical: Michael Ball, "Hairspray"

Supporting Role-Play: Rory Kinnear, "The Man of Mode"

Supporting Role-Musical: Tracie Bennett, "Hairspray"

Newcomer-Play: Tom Hiddleston, "Cymbeline"

Director: Rupert Goold, "Macbeth"

Theatre Choreography: Toby Sedgwick, "War Horse"

New Opera Production: "Pelleas et Melisande," Royal Opera

Outstanding Achievement in Opera: Natalie Dessay, "La Fille du Regiment," Royal Opera

Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre: "Gone Too Far," Theatre Upstairs, Royal Court

New Dance Production: Royal Ballet Company, "Jewels"

Outstanding Achievement in Dance: Royal Ballet Company, "Jewels"

Special Award: Andrew Lloyd Webber

Lighting Design: "Macbeth"

Sound Design: "Saint Joan"

Costume Design: "The Man of Mode"

Set Design: "War Horse"