The longlist for London Evening Standard Awards has just been published HERE. Any comments?

Pleased to see the very well deserved nominations for Branagh, Tyzack and Wilton and La Cage

Yup, they look about right to me.

Glad to see Will Keen nominated (though I haven't seen Waste yet) - he has been notably the best thing in several productions I have seen - he deserves some recognition and more high-profile stage roles.

There is a strong list of directors nominated, though how Alan Rickman got onto it I don't know - just a celebrity nomination I suppose - Ceditors was competent but no more.

Was just about to say that Jan, about Rickman - I would say that Creditors was poorly directed. Lots of reasons including the fact that the actors flitted from sofa to sofa for no reason, back of sides couldn't see actors' faces a lot of the time, all that kind of directorial stuff but more importantly, it lacked direction with a capital D, that is no real sense of the inner drama, the deeper significance, that it at all mattered.
Plays - please WOS people, don't put forward Never so Good or the suffragette play which were both run- of -the- mill, over blown and old fashioned.
I haven't see all the other nominations but would say that really we should give our Simon Russell Beale an award he can keep and polish annually regardless of everyone else and then we can give someone else an award too: the besides SRB award

The first thing that springs out from that list is that it's been a very bad year for musicals.

So true - I was having a discussion the other day about what was likely to be appearing on Children in Need this year and realised how little has made any real impact this year. How demoralising.

It has been a terrible year for musicals. Been a DAMN fine year for actors in plays though. There's at least four in that category I'd be happy to see win, and the same goes for Directors as well. I hope 'Black Watch' gets Best Play, I won't be surprised if 'Jersey Boys' get Best Musical, and I'm particularly looking forward to seeing who gets Best Newcomer.

Well yes, but as ever, I am completely baffled by how they define 'newcomer' because the vast majority of the nominees have extensive credits previous to their nominated performance - inc the RSC, National, Royal Court, lead TV roles etc etc. How exactly is 'newcomer' defined?

Is it wrong that this sounds like a plausible answer to me:

They go up to a set amount of people in the street and ask "have you ever heard of [insert name here]?", and if they get enough "no" responses, then they totally count.

... it is wrong, isn't it. XD

So the ES short list has been released (WoS front page lead story)....hmmmmm......I am a bit of a Jersey Boys fan so am disappointed it didn't make the short list but astounded that a musical I thought was average, and that closed early (Marguerite) makes it. Doesn't really make sense to me but hey ho!

Also disappointed Spacey didn't make the cut as I really enjoyed Speed the Plow. However the 3 short listed actors are equally accomplished!

Well, we can have the 'besides Simon Russell Beale' award and the 'besides Kevin Spacey' award. Both were outstanding this year. That leap into the pool of SRB deserves an award surely?

Well obviously Marguerite IS going to win the award for 'best musical' so you may as well get used to the idea.

Everyone else, there is no point in voting if Marguerite is not your choice because it won't win!!!

I'm most upset that Jonathan Slinger has disappeared in the transition from longlist to shortlist. For the past few months, I've been feeling increasing frustration on his behalf, hopefully more keenly than he himself has ever felt it. How one man can consistently turn in a wide array of different characters, each played utterly convincingly, each completely real, over the astonishingly short course of a four-day weekend, including the two greatest play characters named Richard, and then go to "Waiter" in "episode 1 of the BBC's regular autumn period drama" is a source of constant dismay to me.

But then, seeing as the productions I always root for at theatre awards never do so well (this year's Tonys was a particularly bad time to cheer on Team Sunday*), I'm terribly pleased that Michael Boyd and Lex Shrapnel are still in the running. If a little tangentially dismayed that Rupert Goold was (albeit necessarily, if you can only have three in a shortlist) dropped in favour of Michaels Boyd and Grandage, and John Tiffany.

*in the Park with George, up against Team Gypsy and Team South Pacific XD

I hope 'La Cage' wins Best Musical. On a theoretical level, I applaud 'Marguerite', but when all's said and done, it was just not really award-worthy. Sorry.

I'm betting La Cage will win - and very sorry to see Jersey Boys drop off the shortlist, though I do think the music (...not the book) for Marguerite was (is) better than Jersey Boys. (I'm not sure I agree that Marguerite is not award-worthy, but I do think La Cage edges it out.)

What - no Zorro??

Thinking back, Marguerite was just about my gloomiest afternoon of the year - and it wasn't just the rainy weather. La Cage, for me, would have worked just as well as a revue - cut out some of the dialogue, stick in a few more dance routines and I'd have been even happier with it. But Zorro had me stamping and finger-clicking all the way back up Charing Cross Road. It's a fix I tell you!!

I'm not from the UK and of all the plays nominated I've only seen Ivanov because I've been a fan of Kenneth Branagh for a few years now and I wanted to see him on stage but I honestly think that his nomination is very well-deserved because he did an oustanding performance when I saw him (and every other day of course!) and of course I hope he wins this award (and the whatsonstage award too!!!!!!!!)