Just weeks after Andrew Lloyd Webber knocked Cameron Mackintosh off his pedestal in The Stage's annual Top 100 rankings, the two giants of the theatrical industry are going head to head for glory in this year's Laurence Olivier Awards, the nominations of which are announced Jan. 18 in London.
Both Lloyd Webber's The Beautiful Game and Mackintosh's The Witches of Eastwick have been nominated for Best New Musical, along with Merrily We Roll Along and Fosse. Amongst its three other nominations, The Beautiful Game counts Best Actor in a Musical for David Shannon, Best Actress in a Musical for Josie Walker (competing against Witches again, in the form of Joanna Riding) and Best Theatre Choreographer for Meryl Tankard.
Trevor Nunn also proved that he can continue to hold his own on the award front, despite mounting criticism surrounding the National Theatre's programming. The NT notched up 22 nominations, four for its own (albeit imported via the West Yorkshire Playhouse) musical, Singin' in the Rain; two for Yasmina Reza's Life x 3, about to transfer to the Old Vic; and two for Joe Penhall's Blue/Orange, about to transfer to the Duchess.
But the real jewel in the National's crown is undoubtedly its revival of Arthur Miller's All My Sons which earned a whopping six nominations, more than any other single production. These include several of the dramatic biggies: Best Actress (for Julie Walters), Best Supporting Actress (for Catherine McCormack), Best Supporting Actor (for Ben Daniels) and Best Director (for Howard Davies).
Walters is in lofty company in the Best Actress category, with Jessica Lange (for Long Day's Journey into Night, Helen Mirren (for Orpheus Descending), Harriet Walter (for Life x 3) and Julia Ormond (for My Zinc Bed) all in the running. A real race is brewing in the Best Actor category, too. Both Conleth Hill and Sean Campion, the stars of the hit Irish two-hander Stones in His Pockets, have been nominated along with Michael Gambon (for The Caretaker), Bill Nighy (for Blue/Orange) and Simon Russell Beale (for Hamlet).
Sam Mendes' Donmar Warehouse also fared well with nine nominations, including two in the Best Director category - Nicholas Hytner for Orpheus Descending and Michael Grandage for Passion Play. Its re-invention of Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along also received four nominations.
The 25th annual Laurence Olivier Awards will be presented on Friday, 23 February 2001 at the Lyceum Theatre. Clive Anderson will once again host the lunchtime ceremony. To maintain an element of surprise in the presentation of the awards, the winners of some categories will receive their awards in an unexpected location.
The Laurence Olivier Awards will be televised on BBC2 on Saturday, 24 February at 7.55pm in a star-studded program that will combine the awards presentation with highlights of the past year in London theatre. This is the first time the ceremony will be shown on a Saturday night.
The full list of nominations is as follows:
BEST ACTRESS
Jessica Lange for Long Day's Journey into Night at the Lyric
Helen Mirren for Orpheus Descending at the Donmar Warehouse
Julia Ormond for My Zinc Bed at the Royal Court
Harriet Walter for Life x 3 at the Lyttelton
Julie Walters for All My Sons at the Cottesloe
BEST ACTOR
Seán Campion for Stones in his Pockets at the New Ambassadors and at the Duke of York's
Conleth Hill for Stones In His Pockets at the New Ambassadors and at the Duke of York's
Michael Gambon for The Caretaker at the Comedy
Bill Nighy for Blue/Orange at the Cottesloe
Simon Russell Beale for Hamlet at the Lyttelton
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Gillian Barge for Passion Play at the Donmar Warehouse
Pauline Flanagan for Dolly West's Kitchen at The Old Vic
Catherine McCormack for All My Sons at the Cottesloe
Marcia Warren for In Flame at the New Ambassadors
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Ben Daniels for All My Sons at the Cottesloe
Chiwetel Ejiofor for Blue/Orange at the Cottesloe
Douglas Hodge for The Caretaker at the Comedy
Jason Watkins for A Servant to Two Masters at the Young Vic and now at the New Ambassadors
BEST NEW PLAY
Blue/Orange by Joe Penhall at the Cottesloe
Dolly West's Kitchen by Frank McGuinness at The Old Vic
Life X 3 by Yasmina Reza at the Lyttelton
My Zinc Bed by David Hare at the Royal Court
BEST NEW COMEDY
Cooking with Elvis by Lee Hall at the Whitehall
House/Garden by Alan Ayckbourn at the Lyttelton/Olivier
Peggy for You by Alan Plater at the Comedy
Stones in His Pockets by Marie Jones at the New Ambassadors and now at the Duke of York's
BEST NEW MUSICAL
The Beautiful Game music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, book and lyrics by Ben Elton at the Cambridge
Fosse conceived by Richard Maltby Jr, Chet Walker and Ann Reinking at the Prince of Wales
Merrily We Roll Along music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by George Furth, suggested by a play by George S Kaufman and Moss Hart at the Donmar Warehouse
The Witches of Eastwick book and lyrics by John Dempsey, music by Dana P Rowe based on the novel by John Updike and the Warner Brothers Motion Picture at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane
OUTSTANDING MUSICAL PRODUCTION
HMS Pinafore by Gilbert and Sullivan at the Savoy
Singin' in the Rain based on the MGM film, original choreography by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, screenplay and adaptation by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, songs by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed, West Yorkshire Playhouse at the Olivier
The King and I music by Richard Rodgers, book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, at the London Palladium
The Mikado by Gilbert and Sullivan at the Savoy
The Pirates Of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan in a new version by Joseph Papp, musical adaptation by William Elliott, as presented on Broadway by the New York Shakespeare Festival, at the Open Air
BEST ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Daniel Evans for Merrily We Roll Along at the Donmar Warehouse
Jimmy Johnston for The Pirates of Penzance at the Open Air
Paul Robinson for Singin' in the Rain at the Olivier
David Shannon for The Beautiful Game at the Cambridge
BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Nicola Hughes for Fosse at the Prince of Wales
Joanna Riding for The Witches of Eastwick at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Samantha Spiro for Merrily We Roll Along at the Donmar Warehouse
Josie Walker for The Beautiful Game at the Cambridge
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE IN A MUSICAL
Rosemary Ashe for The Witches Of Eastwick at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Rebecca Thornhill for Singin' in the Rain at the Olivier
Miles Western for Pageant at the Vaudeville
Taewon Yi Kim for The King and I at the London Palladium
BEST DIRECTOR
Howard Davies for All My Sons at the Cottesloe
Michael Grandage for Passion Play at the Donmar Warehouse
Nicholas Hytner for Orpheus Descending at the Donmar Warehouse
Trevor Nunn for The Cherry Orchard at the Cottesloe and at the Olivier
Ian Talbot for The Pirates of Penzance at the Open Air
BEST THEATRE CHOREOGRAPHER
Peter Darling for Merrily We Roll Along at the Donmar Warehouse
Bob Fosse and Ann Reinking for Fosse at the Prince of Wales
Stephen Mear for Singin' in the Rain at the Olivier
Meryl Tankard for The Beautiful Game at the Cambridge
BEST SET DESIGNER
Bunny Christie for Baby Doll at the Lyttelton and then at the Albery
William Dudley for All My Sons at the Cottesloe
Rob Howell for The Caretaker at the Comedy
Brian Thomson for The King and I at the London Palladium
BEST LIGHTING DESIGNER
Howard Harrison for To The Green Fields Beyond at the Donmar Warehouse and The Witches of Eastwick at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Mark Henderson for All My Sons at the Cottesloe
Paul Pyant for Hamlet at the Lyttelton
Hugh Vanstone for The Cherry Orchard at the Cottesloe and The Graduate at the Gielgud
BEST COSTUME DESIGNER
Gregg Barnes for Pageant at the Vaudeville
Alison Chitty for Remembrance of Things Past at the Cottesloe
Bob Crowley for Cressida at the Albery and The Witches of Eastwick at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Roger Kirk for The King and I at the London Palladium
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN OPERA
Gerald Finley for his creation of the leading role in English National Opera's world premiere of The Silver Tassie at the London Coliseum
The Kirov Opera for its season at the Royal Opera House
Mark-Anthony Turnage (composer) and Amanda Holden (librettist) for creating The Silver Tassie (English National Opera), a new work for a large company on an epic scale
Stefanos Lazaridis for his designs for The Royal Opera's Greek Passion and English National Opera's daring Italian Season
BEST NEW OPERA PRODUCTION
English National Opera's Pelléas and Mélisande at the London Coliseum
English National Opera's The Coronation of Poppea at the London Coliseum
The Royal Opera's The Greek Passion at the Royal Opera House
The Kirov Opera's War and Peace at the Royal Opera House
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DANCE
Matthew Bourne for his concept and dramatisation of The Car Man at The Old Vic
Deborah Colker for her choreography of Mix at the Barbican
Robert Parker for his performance in Birmingham Royal Ballet's Shakespeare Suite at the Royal Opera House
Michael Revie for his performance in Zurich Ballet's Mozartina at Sadler's Wells
BEST NEW DANCE PRODUCTION
NDT2's Indigo Rose at Sadler's Wells
Compagnie Montalvo-Hervieu's Le Jardin Io Io Ito Ito at the Barbican
NDT2's Mellantid at Sadler's Wells
Zurich Ballet's Mozartina at Sadler's Wells
— By Terri Paddock
What's On Stage, London
