33rd Annual Laurence Olivier Awards Presented in London March 8 | Playbill

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News 33rd Annual Laurence Olivier Awards Presented in London March 8 The 33rd Annual Laurence Olivier Awards, the British equivalent of the Antoinette Perry "Tony" Awards, will be presented March 8 at the Grosvenor House Hotel. James Nesbitt hosts the yearly event.
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Olivier nominee Ryan Molloy as Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys. Photo by Brinkoff & Mogenburg

The Donmar Warehouse received 13 Laurence Olivier Award nominations for four of its 2008 productions, a number equaled by commercial producer Sonia Friedman who, as a producing partner on four different productions, has also seen them receive 13 nominations in all.

The Donmar's productions of Piaf (which transferred to the West End's Vaudeville) and The Chalk Garden received five and four nominations, respectively, with Ivanov and Twelfth Night (seen in the Donmar's West End season at Wyndham's) receiving two apiece.

Friedman's co-production of the transfer of the Menier Chocolate Factory's revival of La Cage aux Folles topped the list for the highest number of nominations for an individual production, receiving seven nods, including for both leads Douglas Hodge and Denis Lawson, who will go head-to-head in the Best Actor in a Musical category. Friedman also earned multiple nominations for her productions of No Man's Land, That Face and Maria Friedman Re-Arranged, the last of which also originated at the Menier Chocolate Factory.

Imports from Broadway of Jersey Boys and August: Osage County garnered, respectively, five and four nominations apiece, with Broadway's Deanna Dunegan nominated for Best Actress in the latter and Jersey Boys up for the award of Best New Musical alongside Zorro (which also earned five nominations in all). Des McAnuff and Sergio Trujillo are respectively nominated for Best Director and Best Theatre Choreographer for their work on Jersey Boys.

Also from the U.S., Savion Glover, Marshall Davis Jr. and Maurice Chestnut are nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Dance for their performances in Glover's Bare Soundz, seen at Sadler's Wells. A new category has also been introduced this year for Best Company performance, to reflect the high level of ensemble productions last year. The productions nominated are the Steppenwolf production of August: Osage County, the National Theatre of Scotland's production of Black Watch (which received five nominations in all), the RSC's cycle of The Histories, Matthew Warchus' Broadway-bound revival of Alan Ayckbourn's The Norman Conquests trilogy, and Sunset Boulevard (among four nominations it received in all).

In a previous press statement, Nica Burns, President of the Society of London Theatre under whose auspices the awards are run, commented, "The talent reflected in these outstanding nominations shows why London is the theatre capital of the world. Wonderful musicals, fabulous entertainment, brilliant plays to touch, provoke or make you laugh and truly great acting. Nearly 14 million people have packed our theatres to enjoy a terrific night out in a record breaking year. London's theatre is something for all of us to be proud of."

Nominations follow.

Best Actress
Deanna Dunagan for August: Osage County (National Theatre's Lyttelton)
Lindsay Duncan for That Face (Duke of York's)
Margaret Tyzack for The Chalk Garden (Donmar Warehouse)
Penelope Wilton for The Chalk Garden (Donmar Warehouse)

Best Actor
David Bradley for No Man's Land (Duke of York's)
Michael Gambon for No Man's Land (Duke of York's)
Adam Godley for Rain Man (Apollo)
Derek Jacobi for Twelfth Night (Donmar at Wyndham's)

Best Performance in a Supporting Role
Oliver Ford Davies for Hamlet (RSC at the Novello)
Kevin R McNally for Ivanov (Donmar at Wyndham's)
Paul Ritter for The Norman Conquests (Old Vic)
Patrick Stewart for Hamlet (RSC at the Novello)

Best Company Performance
August: Osage County, directed by Anna D Shapiro (National's Lyttelton)
Black Watch, directed by John Tiffany (Barbican Theatre)
The Histories, directed by Michael Boyd (RSC at the Roundhouse)
The Norman Conquests, directed by Matthew Warchus (Old Vic)
Sunset Boulevard, directed by Craig Revel Horwood (Comedy)

Best New Play
August: Osage County by Tracy Letts (National's Lyttelton)
Black Watch by Gregory Burke (Barbican Theatre)
The Pitmen Painters by Lee Hall (National's Cottesloe)
That Face by Polly Stenham (Duke of York's)

Best New Comedy
Fat Pig by Neil LaBute (Comedy Theatre)
The Female of the Species by Joanna Murray-Smith (Vaudeville)
God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza, translated by Christopher Hampton (Gielgud)

Best Revival
The Chalk Garden, directed by Michael Grandage (Donmar Warehouse)
The Histories, directed by Michael Boyd (RSC at the Roundhouse)
The Norman Conquests, directed by Matthew Warchus (Old Vic)

Best Entertainment
Noel Coward's Brief Encounter (Cinema Haymarket)
La Clique (Hippodrome)
Maria Friedman: Re-Arranged (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 (Prince Edward)
Zorro, book and lyrics by Stephen Clark, music by The Gipsy Kings, original story by Stephen Clark & Helen Edmundson, music co-composed and adapted by John Cameron (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 (Playhouse Theatre)
Piaf by Pam Gems (Donmar Warehouse, then Vaudeville)
Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard, book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton, based on the Billy Wilder film (Comedy Theatre)
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 (Sadler's Wells)

Best Actress in a Musical
Sofia Escobar for West Side Story (Sadler's Wells)
Kathryn Evans for Sunset Boulevard (Comedy)
Ruthie Henshall for Marguerite (Haymarket)
Elena Roger for Piaf (Donmar Warehouse, then Vaudeville)
Emma Williams for Zorro (Garrick Theatre)

Best Actor in a Musical
Douglas Hodge for La Cage Aux Folles (Playhouse)
Denis Lawson for La Cage Aux Folles (Playhouse)
Ryan Molloy for Jersey Boys – The Story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons (Prince Edward)
Matt Rawle for Zorro (Garrick)

Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical
Alexander Hanson for Marguerite (Theatre Royal, Haymarket)
Katherine Kingsley for Piaf (Donmar Warehouse, then Vaudeville)
Lesli Margherita for Zorro (Garrick)
Jason Pennycooke for La Cage Aux Folles (Playhouse)
Dave Willetts for Sunset Boulevard (Comedy)

Best Director
Terry Johnson for La Cage Aux Folles (Playhouse)
Des McAnuff for Jersey Boys – The Story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons (Prince Edward)
Emma Rice for Brief Encounter (Cinema Haymarket)
John Tiffany for Black Watch (Barbican Theatre)

Best Theatre Choreographer
Rafael Amargo for Zorro (Garrick)
Steven Hoggett for Black Watch (Barbican Theatre)
Lynne Page for La Cage Aux Folles (Playhouse)
Kate Prince for Into the Hoods (Novello) Sergio Trujillo for Jersey Boys – The Story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons (Prince Edward)

Best Lighting Design
The Chalk Garden designed by Paule Constable (Donmar Warehouse)
Ivanov designed by Paule Constable (Donmar at Wyndham's)
No Man's Land designed by Neil Austin (Duke of York's)
Piaf designed by Neil Austin (Donmar Warehouse, then Vaudeville)

Best Set Design
August: Osage County designed by Todd Rosenthal (National's Lytelton)
Brief Encounter designed by Neil Murray, projections by Gemma Carrington and Jon Driscoll (Cinema Haymarket)
The Histories designed by Tom Piper (RSC at Roundhouse)
The Lover and the Collection designed by Soutra Gilmour (Comedy)
Marguerite designed by Paul Brown (Haymarket)

Best Costume Design
The Histories designed by Tom Piper and Emma Williams (RSC at Roundhouse)
La Cage Aux Folles designed by Matthew Wright (Playhouse)
The Norman Conquests designed by Rob Howell (Old Vic)
Twelfth Night designed by Christopher Oram (Donmar at Wyndham's)

Best Sound Design
Black Watch designed by Gareth Fry (Barbican Theatre)
Brief Encounter designed by Simon Baker (Cinema Haymarket)
Jersey Boys – the Story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons designed by Steve Canyon Kennedy (Prince Edward)
Piaf designed by Christopher Shutt, Max & Ben Ringham (Donmar Warehouse then 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 (Hackney Empire)
Jo Newbery for the design of Scarborough (Jerwood Theatre Upstairs at the Royal Court)

There are four more non-theatre categories: Best New Opera Production, Outstanding Achievement in Opera, Best New Dance Production and Outstanding Achievement in Dance.

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Sally Murphy, Molly Ranson, Rondi Reed, Amy Morton, Deanna Dunagan and Jeff Perry in the London production of August: Osage County, nominated for Best New Play Photo by Mark Douet
 
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