Matilda the Musical wins big at the Olivier Awards

Winners of the Best Actress in a Musical The Matildas, in the press room at the Olivier Awards 2012 Credit: PA

Matilda the Musical has swept the boards at the Olivier Awards with its "four little miracles" in the title role sharing the limelight and the gongs.

The girls, Cleo Demetriou, Kerry Ingram, Sophia Kiely and Eleanor Worthington-Cox, were named joint winners of the Best Actress in a Musical award.

One of the girls - 10-year-old Eleanor made history becoming the youngest ever winner of an Olivier.

She said her win was "pretty cool" and said her last prize was a "little silver plastic medal" for athletics at school.

Kerry said she was "mind-blown" by the success and Cleo said winning the award was "a million times bigger" than the audience reaction at the end of each show.

The show, based on the Roald Dahl book, won seven awards including Best New Musical and Best Actor in a Musical for Bertie Carvel.

The ceremony switched to New York via a live link when Best Director winner Matthew Warchus picked up his award from James Earl Jones for his work on Matilda.

Jonny Lee Miller arrives at the Olivier Awards 2012 Credit: PA

The bash, the biggest night in theatreland, properly known as the 2012 Olivier awards with Mastercard, was hosted by Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton and shown on a big screen in Covent Garden, London.

The first big winner was Sheridan Smith who was recognised for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for her performance in Flare Path.

Also getting gongs were Luther-star Ruth Wilson who was named Best Actress and Jonny Lee Miller and Benedict Cumberbatch who shared the Best Actor gong for their role in Frankenstein.

Accepting the award for both of them, Lee Miller paid tribute to the National Theatre which staged the show.

Speaking backstage, he hinted that the show, directed by Danny Boyle, could reappear at another venue - saying "there is talk, some talk" but added it would "seem like a huge mountain to climb" to stage it anywhere but the National.

Long-running musical Les Miserables won the Radio 2 Olivier Audience Award voted for by the general public.

Sir Tim Rice was given an Olivier Special award and the National Theatre's Collaborators was awarded MasterCard Best New Play Award.