Olivier Awards nominations include Tony Awards winners
The Olivier Awards — London's equivalent to the Tony Awards — announced nominations for the 33rd edition of their kudos Tuesday. While many Olivier winners have crossed the Atlantic in the past — such as last season's Tony nominated revival of "Sunday in the Park with George" — this year two of the top contenders for these most British of awards are American Tony champs.
The 2008 Tony winning best play "August: Osage County" contends against three British plays: "Black Watch," "The Pitman Painters" and "That Face." And "August" leading lady — the Tony winning Deanna Dunagan — competes for best actress against Margaret Tyzack and Penelope Wilton — both for "The Chalk Garden" — and Lindsay Duncan for "That Face."
The 2006 Tony winning best musical "Jersey Boys," which recounts the story of the Four Seasons using their songs, competes for the top tuner prize against "Zorro," a telling of the old tale set to the music of the Gipsy Kings. Each of these shows picked up five nods, including bids for leading men Ryan Molloy and Matt Rawle respectively. However, the revival of 1984 Tony winner "La Cage Aux Folles" led overall with seven noms, including best actor bids for both Douglas Hodge and Denis Lawson.
Unlike the Tony Awards — with several dozen members of a committee setting the slate and then almost 700 voters choosing the champs — the Olivier Awards nominees are decided on by the membership of the Society of London Theatres as a whole while the winners are determined by five theater professionals and eight members of the public. Winners will be announced March 8 at a Grosvenor House ceremony presided over by actor James Nesbitt.
The nominees are:
NEW PLAY
“August: Osage County,” by Tracy Letts
“Black Watch” by Gregory Burke
“The Pitmen Painters” by Lee Hall, National Theater/Cottesloe
“That Face” by Polly Stenham
NEW COMEDY
“Fat Pig” by Neil LaBute, Comedy
“The Female of the Species,” by Joanna Murray-Smith, Vaudeville
“The God of Carnage” by Yasmina Reza, translated by Christopher Hampton, Gielgud
REVIVAL
“The Chalk Garden” directed by Michael Grandage
“The Histories” directed by Michael Boyd
“The Norman Conquests” directed by Matthew Warchus
ACTRESS
Deanna Dunagan, “August: Osage County,” National Theater/Lyttelton
Lindsay Duncan,”That Face,” Duke of York’s
Margaret Tyzack, “The Chalk Garden,” Donmar Warehouse
Penelope Wilton, “The Chalk Garden”
ACTOR
David Bradley, “No Man’s Land,” Duke of York’s
Michael Gambon, “No Man’s Land”
Adam Godley, “Rain Man,” Apollo
Derek Jacobi, “Twelfeth Night,” Donmar at Wyndham’s
PERFORMANCE IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Oliver Ford Davies, “Hamlet,” Novello
Kevin R. McNally, “Ivanov,” Donmar at Wyndham’s
Paul Ritter, “The Norman Conquests,” Old Vic
Patrick Stewart, “Hamlet”
COMPANY PERFORMANCE
“August: Osage County,” directed by Anna D Shapiro
“Black Watch,” directed by John Tiffany, Barbican
“The Histories,” directed by Michael Boyd, Roundhouse
“The Norman Conquests,” directed by Matthew Warchus
“Sunset Boulevard,” directed by Craig Revel Horwood, Comedy
ENTERTAINMENT
“Brief Encounter,” Cinema Haymarket
“La Clique,” Hippodrome
“Maria Friedman -- Re-Arranged,” Trafalgar Studios 1
NEW MUSICAL
“Jersey Boys,” book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, music by Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe, Prince Edward
“Zorro,” book and lyrics by Stephen Clark, music by the Gipsy Kings, original story by Stephen Clark and Helen Edmundson, music co-composed and adapted by John Cameron, Garrick
MUSICAL REVIVAL
“La Cage Aux Folles,” music and lyrics by Jerry Herman, book by Harvey Fierstein, based on the play by Jean Poiret, Playhouse
“Piaf,” by Pam Gems, Donmar Warehouse and Vaudeville
“Sunset Boulevard,” music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton, based on the Billy Wilder film, Comedy
“West Side Story,” based on a conception by Jerome Robbins, book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Sadler’s Wells
ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Sofia Escobar, “West Side Story”
Kathryn Evans, “Sunset Boulevard”
Ruthie Henshall, “Marguerite,” Haymarket
Elena Roger, “Piaf”
Emma Williams, “Zorro”
ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Douglas Hodge, “La Cage Aux Folles”
Denis Lawson, “La Cage Aux Folles”
Ryan Molloy, “Jersey Boys”
Matt Rawle, “Zorro”
PERFORMANCE IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Alexander Hanson, “Marguerite”
Katherine Kingsley, “Piaf”
Lesli Margherita, “Zorro”
Jason Pennycooke, “La Cage Aux Folles”
Dave Willetts, “Sunset Boulevard”
DIRECTOR
Terry Johnson, “La Cage Aux Folles”
Des McAnuff, “Jersey Boys”
Emma Rice, “Brief Encounter”
John Tiffany, “Black Watch”
THEATER CHOREOGRAPHER
Rafael Amargo, “Zorro”
Steven Hoggett, “Black Watch”
Lynne Page, “La Cage Aux Folles”
Kate Prince, “Into the Hoods,” Novello
Sergio Trujillo, “Jersey Boys”
LIGHTING
Paule Constable, “The Chalk Garden”
Paule Constable, “Ivanov”
Neil Austin, “No Man’s Land”
Neil Austin, “Piaf”
SET
Todd Rosenthal, “August: Osage County”
Neil Murray, projections by Gemma Carrington and Jon Driscoll, “Brief Encounter”
Tom Piper, “The Histories”
Soutra Gilmour, “The Lover & The Collection,” Comedy
Paul Brown, “Marguerite”
COSTUMES
Tom Piper and Emma Williams, “The Histories”
Matthew Wright, “La Cage Aux Folles”
Rob Howell, “The Norman Conquests”
Christopher Oram, “Twelfth Night”
SOUND
Gareth Fry, “Black Watch”
Simon Baker, “Brief Encounter”
Steve Canyon Kennedy, “Jersey Boys”
Christopher Shutt, Max Ringham, Ben Ringham, “Piaf”
Photos: Barbican Theater, Imperial Theater
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