Stars including Judi Dench, Tom Hiddleston and Gemma Arterton gathered in central London for theatreland’s biggest bash — the Olivier Awards.

Good morning. Here’s a look at the top stories you need to know, in the Irish Examiner’s Morning Report.

ACCLAIMED coloratura soprano, Kim Sheehan, will make her Cork professional debut as Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro at the Curtis Auditorium in the CIT Cork School of Music, from Jan 10-12.

BALLET Ireland’s new production of Carmen, now touring Ireland, is a timeless, provocative tale of lust, beauty and destruction, played out against composer Georges Bizet’s passionate score.

SATURDAY

In Britain, the BBC has appointed a new Director General - and given him the task of repairing the corporation's battered reputation.

The head of the Royal Opera House, Tony Hall, was given the biggest job in broadcasting today after being appointed BBC director-general as the corporation acted quickly to move on from its crisis.

SATURDAY

A TRAGIC heroine killed by her own hand.

UNLIKE many property developers, whose public profile matched the size of the buildings they were constructing, Paddy McKillen is the very definition of low key.

BRITISH maestro Edward Downes, who conducted the BBC Philharmonic and the Royal Opera has died with his wife, Joan, at anassisted suicide clinic in Switzerland. He was 85 and she was 74.

London 2012 will unveil their blueprint to be the cool Olympics with an eight-minute slot in the Beijing closing ceremony that will combine the best of British rock, glamour, culture and sport.

A row about fat ladies in the world of opera erupted today after a leading soprano was sacked because of her size.

Britain's Royal Opera House has paid tribute to one of its most promising young singers who has been found hanged.