Exclusive: nominations for the 2005 Olivier Awards announced

Nominations are in for the theatre event of the year! On the night of Sunday 20 February, the stars will be walking down the red carpet into the London Hilton on Park Lane. And we’ll be with them, ducking as the champagne corks fly, to give you the results first in our exclusive online live coverage of the ceremony, hosted by acclaimed actor and director Richard Wilson. Last year, guests enjoyed music from The Rat Pack and a serenade from Kevin Spacey to Dame Judi Dench – we’ll have to wait to see what treats are in store for us this year and who walks away with the coveted awards, but in the meantime the nominations are…

…an intriguing blend of established legends and exciting newcomers. This is reflected by the nominees for the Best Actress Award which include Claire Higgins (nominated for Hecuba at the Donmar Warehouse), Victoria Hamilton (Suddenly Last Summer at the Albery) and Caroline O’Conner (Bombshells at the Arts) who over the years have all picked up major awards with the ease that most people pick up flu. This esteemed trio is joined by new kid on the block Anna Maxwell Martin, the starlet who earned widespread acclaim for her portrayal of Lyra in His Dark Materials at the National’s Olivier theatre.

This contrast between experience and youth is even starker in the Best Actor category where three patriarchs of the British stage, Michael Gambon (nominated for Endgame at the Albery), Richard Griffiths (The History Boys at the National) and Jonathan Pryce (The Goat, Or Who Is Sylvia at the Almeida and the Apollo), line up alongside the 23 year old stripling Ben Whishaw, who is nominated after playing the title role in Hamlet at the Old Vic.

This pattern is continued elsewhere with Dame Judi Dench (nominated for All’s Well That Ends Well at the Gielgud) and youngster Eddie Redmayne (The Goat) competing for Best Performance In A Supporting Role, the legendary Maria Friedman and up-and-coming Laura Michelle Kelly vying for Best Actress In A Musical and Producers co-stars Nathan Lane (very experienced at musicals) and Lee Evans (not very experienced at musicals) both receiving nominations for Best Actor In A Musical.

That double nomination takes to eight the number received by Mel Brooks’, The Producers (Theatre Royal Drury Lane), a total only surpassed by Mary Poppins (Prince Edward) which picks up nine. The Woman In White (Palace) receives five nominations in all, as this magnificent threesome go head-to-head-to-head in the race for the coveted Best New Musical Award. Among non-musical offerings, Festen (at the Almeida and the Lyric) has been nominated for five awards, including Best New Play.

www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk is first with the nominations and results for the Olivier Awards. On the night itself, we’ll give you the results as soon as they come in and our roving reporters will be busy talking to the lucky winners. So until then, keep checking back with us for more news, and tune in for tears, triumphs and too much champagne on the big night…

Nominations for the 2005 Laurence Olivier Awards

Best Actress
Victoria Hamilton for SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER at the Albery
Clare Higgins for HECUBA at the Donmar Warehouse
Anna Maxwell Martin for HIS DARK MATERIALS at the Olivier
Caroline O’Connor for BOMBSHELLS at the Arts

Best Actor
Michael Gambon for ENDGAME at the Albery
Richard Griffiths for THE HISTORY BOYS at the Lyttelton
Jonathan Pryce for THE GOAT, OR WHO IS SYLVIA? at the Almeida and Apollo
Ben Whishaw for HAMLET at The Old Vic

Best Performance in a Supporting Role
Samuel Barnett for THE HISTORY BOYS at the Lyttelton
Judi Dench for ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL at the Gielgud
Amanda Harris for OTHELLO at Trafalgar Studios
Eddie Redmayne for THE GOAT, OR WHO IS SYLVIA? at the Almeida and Apollo

Best New Play
BY THE BOG OF CATS by Marina Carr at Wyndhams
FESTEN A dramatisation by David Eldridge Based on the Dogme film and play by Thomas Vinterberg, Mogens Rukov and Bo hr. Hansen at the Almeida and the Lyric
THE GOAT, OR WHO IS SYLVIA? by Edward Albee at the Almeida and the Apollo
THE HISTORY BOYS by Alan Bennett at the Lyttelton

Best Revival
ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL by William Shakespeare at the Gielgud
ENDGAME by Samuel Beckett at the Albery
HAMLET by William Shakespeare at The Old Vic
JOURNEY’S END by R C Sherriff at the Comedy, Playhouse and Duke of York’s

Best New Musical
MARY POPPINS a musical based on the stories of PL Travers and the Walt Disney Film; original music and lyrics by Richard M Sherman and Robert B Sherman; book by Julian Fellowes; new songs and additional music and lyrics by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe; co-created by Cameron Mackintosh at the Prince Edward
THE PRODUCERS book by Mel Brooks & Thomas Meehan; music and lyrics by Mel Brooks and by special arrangement with StudioCanal at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
THE WOMAN IN WHITE a new musical freely adapted from the classic novel by Wilkie Collins; music by Andrew Lloyd Webber; lyrics by David Zippel; book by Charlotte Jones at the Palace

Outstanding Musical Production
A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM, book by Burt Shevelove & Larry Gelbart; music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim at the Olivier
GRAND HOTEL book by Luther Davis, Music & lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest; additional music and lyrics by Maury Yeston; based on Vicki Baum’s Grand Hotel at the Donmar Warehouse
SIMPLY HEAVENLY book and lyrics by Langston Hughes; music by David Martin at Trafalgar Studios
SWEENEY TODD music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim; book by Hugh Wheeler from an adaptation by Christopher Bond at Trafalgar Studios and the New Ambassadors

Best Actress in a Musical
Maria Friedman for THE WOMAN IN WHITE at the Palace
Leigh Zimmerman for THE PRODUCERS at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
Laura Michelle Kelly for MARY POPPINS at the Prince Edward

Best Actor in a Musical
Lee Evans for THE PRODUCERS at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
Paul Hegarty for SWEENEY TODD at Trafalgar Studios and New Ambassadors
Nathan Lane for THE PRODUCERS at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
Gavin Lee for MARY POPPINS at the Prince Edward

Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical
Michael Crawford for THE WOMAN IN WHITE at the Palace
David Haig for MARY POPPINS at the Prince Edward
Conleth Hill for THE PRODUCERS at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

Best Director
Richard Eyre and Matthew Bourne for MARY POPPINS at the Prince Edward
Nicholas Hytner for THE HISTORY BOYS at the Lyttelton
Rufus Norris for FESTEN at the Almeida and Lyric
Susan Stroman for THE PRODUCERS at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

Best Theatre Choreographer
Matthew Bourne and Stephen Mear for MARY POPPINS at the Prince Edward
Adam Cooper for GRAND HOTEL at the Donmar Warehouse
Susan Stroman for THE PRODUCERS at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

Best Lighting Design
ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL designed by Paul Pyant at the Gielgud
FESTEN designed by Jean Kalman at the Almeida and Lyric
HIS DARK MATERIALS designed by Paule Constable at the Olivier
MARY POPPINS designed by Howard Harrison at the Prince Edward

Best Set Design
FESTEN designed by Ian McNeil at the Almeida and Lyric
HIS DARK MATERIALS designed by Giles Cadle at the Olivier
MARY POPPINS designed by Bob Crowley at the Prince Edward
SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER designed by Christopher Oram at the Albery
THE WOMAN IN WHITE designed by William Dudley at the Palace

Best Costume Design
ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL designed by Deirdre Clancy at the Gielgud
HAMLET designed by John Gunter and Mark Bouman at The Old Vic
MARY POPPINS designed by Bob Crowley at the Prince Edward
THE PRODUCERS designed by William Ivey Long at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

Best Sound Design
FESTEN designed by Paul Arditti at the Almeida and Lyric
SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER designed by Adam Cork at the Albery
THE WOMAN IN WHITE designed by Mick Potter at the Palace

Outstanding Achievement or Performance in an Affiliate Theatre
Kevin Harvey for his performance in YELLOWMAN at Hampstead
Aidan McArdle for his performance in THE SHADOW OF A GUNMAN at the Tricycle
Andrew Scott for his performance in A GIRL IN A CAR WITH A MAN at the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs at the Royal Court
The Tricycle Theatre for its production of GUANTANAMO

Best New Opera Production
The Royal Opera’s LADY MACBETH OF MTSENSK at the Royal Opera House
Les Arts Florissants, Compagnie Montalvo-Hervieu, Théâtre Du Châtelet and BITE 04’s LES PALADINS at the Barbican
The Royal Opera’s PETER GRIMES at the Royal Opera House

Outstanding Achievement in Opera
Ben Heppner for The Royal Opera’s PETER GRIMES
John MacFarlane for his designs of The Royal Opera’s PETER GRIMES and LADY MACBETH OF MTSENSK at the Royal Opera House
The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House under the musical direction of Antonio Pappano for their season’s work
Thomas Adès and the Royal Opera House for the world premiere of THE TEMPEST

Best New Dance Production
Northern Ballet Theatre’s A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM at Sadler’s Wells
Royal New Zealand Ballet’s MILAGROS at Sadler’s Wells
Royal New Zealand Ballet’s ROMEO AND JULIET at Sadler’s Wells
Rambert Dance Company’s SWAMP at Sadler’s Wells

Outstanding Achievement in Dance
Julien Macdonald for his costume designs for Richard Alston Dance Company’s SHIMMER at Sadler’s Wells
San Francisco Ballet for their season at Sadler’s Wells
The Royal Ballet for their recreation of SYLVIA at the Royal Opera House
Rambert Dance Company for the range and quality of new work in their November season at Sadler’s Wells