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Donmar leads the way with 13 Olivier nominations

Published Tuesday 3 February 2009 at 11:16 by Alistair Smith

Michael Grandage’s Donmar Warehouse looks set to continue its remarkable awards haul, dominating the shortlist for this year’s Olivier Awards with 13 nominations.

Last week, the Covent Garden venue picked up four out of the nine prizes on offer at the Critics’ Circle Awards and the theatre scooped the Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress awards at the Evening Standard Awards last November.

At the Oliviers, four of the Donmar’s productions - The Chalk Garden, Ivanov, Piaf and Twelfth Night, are among the nominations.

Donmar artistic director Grandage commented: “I’m delighted that so many of our productions have been honoured with Olivier nominations. It has been a big year for the Donmar and it has been made possible because a lot of people have put their hearts and souls into everything we’ve done. It’s thrilling that so many of them have been recognised for their invaluable contribution. This wonderful news is a real boost as we continue to reach out to as many people as possible at our Covent Garden home and in the West End in the year ahead.”

Meanwhile, La Cage aux Folles receives the highest number of nominations for an individual production. The show is shortlisted for seven awards including Best Musical Revival. The nominations see the two male leads, Douglas Hodge and Denis Lawson, compete for Best Actor in a Musical, while Jason Pennycooke is nominated for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical, as is Terry Johnson for Best Director, Matthew Wright for Best Costume Design and Lynne Page for Best Theatre Choreographer.

The 33rd annual Laurence Olivier Awards, presented by James Nesbitt, will take place on Sunday 8th March 2009 at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London.

The nominations in full are:

Best Actress

• Deanna Dunagan for August: Osage County at the Lyttelton
• Lindsay Duncan for That Face at the Duke of York’s
• Margaret Tyzack for The Chalk Garden at the Donmar
• Penelope Wilton for The Chalk Garden at the Donmar

Best Actor

• David Bradley for No Man’s Land at the Duke of York’s
• Michael Gambon for No Man’s Land at the Duke of York’s
• Adam Godley for Rain Man at the Apollo
• Derek Jacobi for Twelfth Night, Donmar at Wyndham’s

Best Performance In A Supporting Role

• Oliver Ford Davies for Hamlet at the Novello
• Kevin R McNally for Ivanov, Donmar at Wyndham’s
• Paul Ritter for The Norman Conquests at The Old Vic
• Patrick Stewart for Hamlet at the Novello

Best Company Performance

• August: Osage County directed by Anna D Shapiro at the Lyttelton
• Black Watch directed by John Tiffany at the Barbican
• The Histories directed by Michael Boyd at the Roundhouse
• The Norman Conquests directed by Matthew Warchus at The Old Vic
• Sunset Boulevard directed by Craig Revel Horwood at the Comedy

Best New Play

• August: Osage County by Tracy Letts at the Lyttelton
• Black Watch by Gregory Burke at the Barbican
• The Pitmen Painters by Lee Hall at the Cottesloe
• That Face by Polly Stenham at the Duke Of York’s

Best New Comedy

• Fat Pig by Neil La Bute at the Comedy
• The Female Of The Species by Joanna Murray-Smith at the Vaudeville
• God Of Carnage by Yasmina Reza, translated by Christopher Hampton at the Gielgud

Best Revival

• The Chalk Garden directed by Michael Grandage at the Donmar
• The Histories directed by Michael Boyd at the Roundhouse
• The Norman Conquests directed by Matthew Warchus at The Old Vic

Best Entertainment

• Noel Coward’s Brief Encounter at the Cinema Haymarket
• La Clique at the Hippodrome
• Maria Friedman: Re-Arranged at Trafalgar Studios 1

Best New Musical

• Jersey Boys The Story Of Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons book by Marshall Brickman & Rick Elice, music by Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe at the Prince Edward
• Zorro book & lyrics by Stephen Clark, music by The Gipsy Kings, original story by Stephen Clark & Helen Edmundson, music co-composed and adapted by John Cameron at the Garrick

Best Musical Revival

• La Cage Aux Folles, music and lyrics by Jerry Herman, book by Harvey Fierstein, based on the play “La Cage Aux Folles” by Jean Poiret, at the Playhouse Theatre.
• Piaf by Pam Gems at the Donmar and Vaudeville
• Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton, based on the Billy Wilder film at the Comedy
• West Side Story based on a conception by Jerome Robbins, book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, entire original production directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins at Sadler’s Wells

Best Actress In A Musical

• Sofia Escobar for West Side Story at Sadler’s Wells
• Kathryn Evans for Sunset Boulevard at the Comedy
• Ruthie Henshall for Marguerite at the Haymarket
• Elena Roger for Piaf at the Donmar and Vaudeville
• Emma Williams for Zorro at the Garrick

Best Actor In A Musical

• Douglas Hodge for La Cage Aux Folles at the Playhouse
• Denis Lawson for La Cage Aux Folles at the Playhouse
• Ryan Molloy for Jersey Boys The Story Of Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons at the Prince Edward
• Matt Rawle for Zorro at the Garrick

Best Performance In A Supporting Role In A Musical

• Alexander Hanson for Marguerite at the Haymarket
• Katherine Kingsley for Piaf at the Donmar and Vaudeville
• Lesli Margherita for Zorro at the Garrick
• Jason Pennycooke for La Cage Aux Folles at the Playhouse
• Dave Willetts for Sunset Boulevard at the Comedy

Best Director

• Terry Johnson for La Cage Aux Folles at the Playhouse
• Des McAnuff for Jersey Boys The Story Of Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons at the Prince Edward
• Emma Rice for Brief Encounter at the Cinema Haymarket
• John Tiffany for Black Watch at the Barbican

Best Theatre Choreographer

• Rafael Amargo for Zorro at the Garrick
• Steven Hoggett for Black Watch at the Barbican
• Lynne Page for La Cage Aux Folles at the Playhouse
• Kate Prince for Into The Hoods at the Novello
• Sergio Trujillo for Jersey Boys The Story Of Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons at the Prince Edward

Best Lighting Design

• The Chalk Garden designed by Paule Constable at the Donmar
• Ivanov designed by Paule Constable, Donmar at Wyndham’s
• No Man’s Land designed by Neil Austin at the Duke of York’s
• Piaf designed by Neil Austin at the Donmar and Vaudeville

Best Set Design

• August: Osage County designed by Todd Rosenthal at the Lyttelton
• Brief Encounter designed by Neil Murray, projections by Gemma Carrington and Jon Driscoll at the Cinema Haymarket
• The Histories designed by Tom Piper at the Roundhouse
• The Lover And The Collection designed by Soutra Gilmour at the Comedy
• Marguerite designed by Paul Brown at the Haymarket

Best Costume Design

• The Histories designed by Tom Piper and Emma Williams at the Roundhouse
• La Cage Aux Folles designed by Matthew Wright at the Playhouse
• The Norman Conquests designed by Rob Howell at The Old Vic
• Twelfth Night designed by Christopher Oram, Donmar at Wyndham’s

Best Sound Design

• Black Watch designed by Gareth Fry at the Barbican
• Brief Encounter designed by Simon Baker at the Cinema Haymarket
• Jersey Boys The Story Of Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons designed by Steve Canyon Kennedy at the Prince Edward
• Piaf designed by Christopher Shutt, Max & Ben Ringham at the Donmar and Vaudeville

Outstanding Achievement In An Affiliate Theatre

• The ensemble cast of Oxford Street, Jerwood Theatre Upstairs at the Royal Court
• The Royal Court Theatre’s production of The Pride, Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
• Clive Rowe for his performance in Mother Goose at Hackney Empire
• Jo Newbery for the design of Scarborough, Jerwood Theatre Upstairs at the Royal Court

Best New Opera Production

• The Royal Opera’s Don Carlo at the Royal Opera House
• The Royal Opera’s The Minotaur at the Royal Opera House
• English National Opera’s I Pagliacci at the Coliseum
• English National Opera’s Partenope at the Coliseum

Outstanding Achievement In Opera

• Patricia Bardon for her performances in The Royal Opera’s The Rake’s Progress at the Royal Opera House and English National Opera’s Partenope and Riders To The Sea at the Coliseum
• Feruccio Furlanetto for his performance in the Royal Opera’s Don Carlo at the Royal Opera House
• Ed Gardner for conducting English National Opera’s Boris Godunov, Cavalliera Rusticana, Der Rosenkavalier, I Pagliacci, Riders To The Sea at the Coliseum and Punch And Judy at the Young Vic
• Christine Rice for her performances in the Royal Opera’s The Minotaur at the Royal Opera House and English National Opera’s Partenope at the Coliseum

Best New Dance Production

• Pina Bausch Tanztheater Wuppertal’s Café Muller/ The Rite Of Spring at Sadler’s Wells
• The Royal Ballet of Flanders’ Impressing The Czar at Sadler’s Wells
• The Royal Ballet’s Infra at the Royal Opera House
• DV8’s To Be Straight With You at the Lyttelton

Outstanding Achievement In Dance

• The company of the Royal Ballet of Flanders for their performances in Impressing The Czar at Sadler’s Wells
• The company of the The Royal Ballet for their performances in Infra
• Savion Glover, Marshall Davis Jr and Maurice Chestnut for their performances in Savion Glover’s Bare Soundz at Sadler’s Wells

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