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The Producers produced the goods at the Laurence Olivier Awards, winning three prizes including best new musical at London's equivalent of Broadway's Tonys.

The West End production of Mel Brooks' raucous comedy also won the best actor award for Nathan Lane, the Tony-winning star of the original Broadway production. Lane, a last-minute replacement for Richard Dreyfuss, won rave reviews for his turn as unscrupulous impresario Max Bialystock.

An adaptation of Brooks' 1968 movie about a producer aiming for a surefire flop with the Nazi-themed musical Springtime for Hitler, The Producers opened on Broadway in 2001 and went on to win 12 Tonys.

Conleth Hill, who plays a hapless director forced to take to the stage as a singing, dancing Fuhrer in The Producers, was named best supporting actor in a musical during the Oliviers ceremony at London's Park Lane Hilton hotel.

Laura Michelle Kelly was named best actress in a musical for her performance as the titular "practically perfect" nanny in Mary Poppins. The big-budget collaboration between Walt Disney and mega-producer Cameron Mackintosh won two awards from nine nominations, with Matthew Bourne and Stephen Mear winning best choreography.

Grand Hotel, at the Donmar Warehouse, was named outstanding musical production. Alan Bennett's classroom drama The History Boys was the big winner in the drama categories, taking three awards including best new play. Nicholas Hytner won the best director prize for the National Theatre production, while Richard Griffiths was named best actor.

Bennett, 70, a member of the 1960s comedy troupe Beyond the Fringe and author of wry, thoughtful plays, received a special award for outstanding contribution to British theatre.

Clare Higgins won best actress in a play for Hecuba.

- NZPA