Hairspray leads the nominations at the Laurence Olivier Awards

Published Thursday 7 February 2008 at 12:30 by Alistair Smith

Hairspray leads the way at this year’s Laurence Olivier Awards, with a record 11 nominations, while Donmar Warehouse has picked up a total of 13 for its various productions.

The Broadway import is up for Best New Musical, while Leanne Jones is nominated for Best Actress in a Musical, Michael Ball for Best Actor in a Musical and Tracie Bennett and Elinor Collett for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical. Director Jack O’Brien is also nominated.

Competing with Hairspray will be Donmar musical Parade, with seven nominations, and The Drowsy Chaperone and Lord of the Rings, which both receive five.

Best Actor will be decided between three Shakespeare performances - Chiwetel Ejiofor for his performance as Othello, Ian McKellen for his King Lear and Patrick Stewart for Macbeth - as well as John Simm and Mark Rylance for Elling and Boeing-Boeing respectively.

Anne-Marie Duff, Kelly Reilly, Kristin Scott Thomas, Fiona Shaw and Penelope Wilton will vie for the Best Actress category.

For the first time this year, Best Newcomer in a Play has been introduced - for which David Dawson, Stephen Wight and Tom Hiddleston are nominated.

Winners will be announced at a ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel on March 9.

The nominations in full are:

Best Actress

• Anne-Marie Duff for Saint Joan at the Olivier
• Kelly Reilly for Othello the Donmar Warehouse
• Kristin Scott Thomas for The Seagull at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court
• Fiona Shaw for Happy Days at the Lyttelton
• Penelope Wilton for John Gabriel Borkman at the Donmar Warehouse

Best Actor

• Chiwetel Ejiofor for Othello at the Donmar Warehouse
• Ian McKellen for King Lear at the New London
• Mark Rylance for Boeing-Boeing at the Comedy
• John Simm for Elling at the Trafalgar Studios 1
• Patrick Stewart for Macbeth at the Gielgud

Best Performance in a Supporting Role

• Michelle Fairley for Othello at the Donmar Warehouse
• Pam Ferris for The Entertainer at The Old Vic
• Conleth Hill for Philistines at the Lyttelton
• Rory Kinnear for The Man of Mode at the Olivier

Best Newcomer in a Play

• David Dawson for The Life and Times of Nicholas Nickleby at the Gielgud
• Tom Hiddleston for Cymbeline at the Barbican
• Tom Hiddleston for Othello at the Donmar Warehouse
• Stephen Wight for Dealer’s Choice at the Trafalgar Studios 1

Best New Play

• A Disappearing Number by Simon McBurney at the Barbican
• The Reporter by Nicholas Wright at the Cottesloe
• Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre, adapted by Tanya Ronder at the Young Vic
• War Horse based on the novel by Michael Morpurgo, adapted by Nick Stafford at the Olivier

Best New Comedy

• Absurdia - The Crimson Hotel by Michael Frayn at the Donmar Warehouse
• Elling based on a novel by Ingvar Ambjørnsen, stage adaptation by Axel Hellstenius in collaboration with Peter Næss translated by Nicholas Norris
• Rafta Rafta by Ayub Khan-Din based on All in Good Time by Bill Naughton at the Lyttelton
• Whipping It Up by Steve Thompson at the New Ambassadors

Best Revival

• Boeing-Boeing by Marc Camoletti, translated by Beverley Cross at the Comedy Theatre
• Dealer’s Choice by Patrick Marber at Trafalgar Studios 1
• Macbeth by William Shakespeare at the Gielgud
• Saint Joan by George Bernard Shaw at the Olivier
• The Seagull by Anton Chekhov, a version by Christopher Hampton at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court.

Best New Musical

• The Drowsy Chaperone music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison, book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar, by special arrangement with Paul Mack at the Novello
• Hairspray book by Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan, music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman, based upon the New Line Cinema film written and directed by John Waters
• The Lord of the Rings book and lyrics by Shaun McKenna and Matthew Warchus, music by AR Rahman, Varttina with Christopher Nightingale at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
• Parade book by Alfred Uhry, music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown, co-conceived by Harold Prince at the Donmar Warehouse

Best Musical Revival

• Fiddler on the Roof book by Joseph Stein, music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick at the Savoy
• Little Shop of Horrors based on the film by Roger Corman, screenplay by Charles Griffiths, book and lyrics by Howard Ashman, music by Alan Menken at the Duke of York’s and Ambassadors
• The Magic Flute - Impempe Yomlingo adapted from Mozart by Mark Dornford-May, words and music by Mandisi Dyantyis, Mbali Kgosidintsi, Pauline Malefane and Nolufefe Mtshabe at the Young Vic

Best Actress in a Musical

• Leanne Jones - for Hairspray at the Shaftesbury
• Lara Pulver - for Parade at the Donmar Warehouse
• Sheridan Smith - for Little Shop of Horrors at the Duke of York’s and Ambassadors
• Summer Strallen - for The Drowsy Chaperone at the Novello

Best Actor in a Musical

• Michael Ball - for Hairspray at the Shaftesbury
• Bertie Carvel - for Parade at the Donmar Warehouse
• Henry Goodman - for Fiddler on the Roof at the Savoy
• Bob Martin - for The Drowsy Chaperone at the Novello

Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical

• Tracie Bennett - for Hairspray at the Shaftesbury
• Elinor Collett - for Hairsprayat the Shaftesbury
• Shaun Escoffery - for Parade at the Donmar Warehouse
• Alistair McGowan - for Little Shop of Horrors at the Duke of York’s and Ambassadors

Best Director

• Rob Ashford - for Parade at the Donmar Warehouse
• Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris - for War Horse at the Olivier
• Rupert Goold - for Macbeth at the Gielgud
• Jack O’Brien - for Hairspray at the Shaftesbury

Best Theatre Choreographer

• Rob Ashford - for Parade at the Donmar Warehouse
• Jerry Mitchell - for Hairspray at the Shaftesbury
• Casey Nicholaw - for The Drowsy Chaperone at the Novello
• Toby Sedgwick - for War Horse at the Olivier

Best Lighting Design

• Hairspray - designed by Kenneth Posner at the Shaftesbury
• The Lord of the Rings - designed by Paul Pyant at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
• Macbeth - designed by Howard Harrison at the Gielgud
• War Horse - designed by Paule Constable at the Olivier

Best Set Design

• Hairspray - designed by David Rockwell at the Shaftesbury
• The Lord of the Rings - designed by Rob Howell at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
• Macbeth - designed by Anthony Ward and Lorna Heavey at the Gielgud
• War Horse - designed by Rae Smith and Handspring Puppet Company at the Olivier

Best Costume Design

• The Drowsy Chaperone - designed by Gregg Barnes for at the Novello
• Hairspray - designed by William Ivey Long at the Shaftesbury
• The Lord of the Rings - designed by Rob Howell at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
• The Man of Mode - designed by Vicki Mortimer at the Olivier

Best Sound Design

• Hairspray - designed by Steve C. Kennedy at the Shaftesbury
• The Lord of the Rings - designed by Simon Baker at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
• Parade - designed by Terry Jardine and Nick Lidster for Autograph at the Donmar Warehouse
• Saint Joan - designed by Paul Arditti with music by Jocelyn Pook at the Olivier
• War Horse - designed by Christopher Shutt with music by Adrian Sutton and John Tams at the Olivier

Outstanding Achievment in an Affiliate Theatre

• The Brothers Size - the Maria, Young Vic
• Cinderella - Theatre Royal, Stratford East
• Gone Too Far - the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs at the Royal Court
• The cast of That Face - Jerwood Theatre Upstairs at the Royal Court

Best New Opera Production

• English National Opera’s Agrippina - the Coliseum
• The Royal Opera’s La fille du Regiment - the Royal Opera House
• The Royal Opera’s Pelleas et Mélisande - the Royal Opera House
• English National Opera’s Turn of the Screw - the Coliseum

Outstanding Achievement in Opera

• Natalie Dessay - for her performance in La fille du Regiment at the Royal Opera House
• Gerald Finley - for his performance in Pelleas et Mélisande at the Royal Opera House
• Angelika Kirchschlager - for her performance in Pelleas et Mélisande at the Royal Opera House
• David McVicar - for directing English National Opera’s Turn of the Screw and Agrippina at the Coliseum

Best New Dance Production

• Fabulous Beast Dance’s The Bull - the Barbican
• The Royal Ballet’s Jewels - the Royal Opera House
• Mark Morris Dance Group’s Mozart Dances - the Barbican
• Northern Ballet Theatre’s The Three Musketeers - Sadler’s Wells

Outstanding Achievement in Dance

• Savion Glover - for his performance in Live for London at Sadler’s Wells
• Jonathan Goddard - for his performances with the Richard Alston Dance Company at Sadler’s Wells
• The Royal Ballet Company - for its performances in Jewels
• Wendy Whelan - for her performance in The Christopher Wheeldon Company’s Fool’s Paradise at Sadler’s Wells